The Lord of the Rings: The Third Age (GameCube) Review

For those of you that know nothing about the world of Lord of the Rings, never fear, as Third Age’s storyline is barely anything to do with the main adventure that we all know and love in all honesty. So that means it is a definite no-no for those looking to witness the gay banter between Frodo and Sam. Instead everything is focused on a band of ‘heroes’ Gandalf has ordered to basically clean up in the background as the Fellowship progresses. The lead character is Berethor, a soldier of Gondoria who has lost his nearly all his memory (just recalling his search for Boromir and having Gandalf ‘in’ his head, showing him little movie sequences…*ahem*) and he is later joined by Idrial (one of Galadriel’s elves), Elegost (a Dunedain ranger), Hadhod (a dwarf with links to Moria) and Morwen (a Rohan villager woman, with secret ties to Berethor). And there you have it – basically no story, just fragments of the movie trilogy played to you as Berethor tries to remember what he cannot…remember!

When it comes to the graphical stage, there should really be no one who can put on a better show than EA, what with its hefty coffers and wealth of top class game creators under its wing. And to some extent this is true, as the technology found within Third Age is impressive for the most part. The locales that you traverse are all faithful to their movie counter-parts thanks to intricate detailing; character models are quite sturdy in nature (although their facial expressions leave something to be desired – although they are vastly improved over the horrific FIFA 2005 faces!) and move without any dreaded ‘jerkiness’; the movie clips are well-compressed and clear, which comes as a massive relief after seeing the terribly glitch-fuelled Def Jam: Fight for New York intro scenes; and the overall speed of the game is more than satisfactory. But you have definitely seen better on the GameCube – Square Enix’s first GC attempt, Crystal Chronicles, blows EA’s first attempt right out the window! But then again, EA triumphs with its attention to armour and weapons changes, unlike most RPGs…

One of the main aspects of the movies, part of the reason many believe them to be so magical, is the soundtrack. Just as James Horner brought a haunting, yet soul-wrenchingly beautiful score to Titanic, Howard Shore crafted an epic range of what can only be described as 'stirring anthems' that swept through the entire extravagant trilogy. So how could EA possibly work to improve upon what was already perfect? How on (Middle) Earth could the Third Party genii make pieces that fitted each of the games scenarios better than in the big-screen version? Well, EA certainly did not want anyone to answer that question and decided instead to make the right choice in keeping Mr Shore's orchestral movements in tact, slotting the rousing and moving pieces in at the right times to produce a fantastic experience. And with the abundance extra voice acting from the likes of Ian 'Gandalf' McKellen and various 'unknowns' who do a damn fine job with the small range of speech they are allotted, plus the plentiful supply of *clinks*, *clunks*, *grunts* and other sound effects give Third Age a well-rounded 'sound' section, and another area to boast about!

The main question, though, is how does it play? Are we looking at the downfall of Square Enix or is it merely another case of Electronic Arts milking a license, but not really taking full advantage of it? Hmm, I would probably say 'somewhere in the middle'

And then there is a team-based overdrive move, called 'Perfect Mode', whereby when your special bar is completely full, your team of three on-screen fighters unleash a special joint attack, kind of like Symphonia's similar system. Then there are the skills that you can learn over time, which add a pleasing incentive to battle often