Lord of the Rings: The Third Age (Hands On) (GameCube) Preview

The first most impressive feature of Third Age, is in fact how good the game looks. Return of the King did not look bad, best not mention The Two Towers though, but Third Age surpasses both of them, with such detailed and cleanly crafted character models, with believable facial expressions and other details. Also, it is good to know how much better the GameCube version looks compared to the PS2, which look far more rough and rushed than the GC version. The animations are looking superb, fluid and finished, the special magic attacks look beautiful, and even better arrows that your warriors have succumb to from the enemy, stay stuck in them till the end of the battle. Out of battles, you can even change your appearance to any one in your party, which is a nice effect.

Third Age's battle system works very well, mainly due to its simplicity, the few options include standard Attack, Swordsmanship, which is a specialized attack to your character, Special, the magic your character can perform from heal to attack increase and Item, obviously where you can use various objects you have picked up, like Kings' foil or Ent Wood. Some attacks, namely Special and Swordsmanship use up Action Points, which can only be replenished along with HP by using items. The battle animations are brilliant, ranging from different camera angles, with impressive sword clashing sounds. A slight flaw is how when someone dodges an attack, no dodging takes place, the person striking simply doesn't get close enough, which seems quite weak the first time you see it.

At first the control system seems a little awkward, the A button is the standard select, as well as change party appearance, X is used to cancel options, and Y is used to give hints during a fight. It is a bit odd to leave the B button out, but it soon settles after a period of play. Weapons can't be bought in the game, and are only found when enemies are defeated, which also gives your character experience points and new moves. The moves learnt tend to vary on how you have fought and your style of combat, which is another good feature.

The game is broken into various quests, which can be fulfilled relatively easy, whether by reaching a certain point or attacking a band of orcs. After which you get to view some footage from the Lord of Rings trilogy, narrated by Ian McKellen, the actor who played Gandalf, as he explains the story so far. The plot itself is a bit devious, you are introduced to the world of Middle Earth, and the Gondorian soldier, Berethor, who is riding in the woods, is suddenly attacked by Ring Wraiths. It is a bit of a hard battle, mainly as they are immune to your attacks and one hit from them kills you. The game doesn't end that soon though, as the she-elf Idrial appears and casts a horse made of water to attack the servants of the dark lord, an attack similar to the one Arwen used in the Fellowship of the Ring. Once she has rejuvenated Berethor, the two set off after the Fellowship, and it goes on from there.