Topic: EA Announces The Third Age

[Robert]

Turn-based Lord of the Rings action heads to a GameCube near you.

EA TO RETURN FANS TO MIDDLE-EARTH IN THE LORD OF THE RINGS, THE THIRD AGE ROLE-PLAYING GAME

Epic Adventure Lets Players Choose Their Own Path Through the Events of New Line Cinema's Acclaimed Trilogy

Chertsey, UK. April 27, 2004 - Return to Middle-earth to forge a new adventure... Electronic Arts announced today that The Lord of the Rings, The Third Age role-playing game is under development for release in late 2004. The epic quest, in which players will take on the roles of new characters choosing their own path through Middle-earth while interacting with the heroes and villains of the trilogy, will be available for the PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system, the Xbox® videogame system from Microsoft, Nintendo GameCubeTM, and Game Boy® Advance under the EA GAMES brand.

Based on New Line Cinema and Peter Jackson's acclaimed film adaptations of J.R.R. Tolkien's classic The Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Lord of the Rings, The Third Age videogame allows players to adventure through Middle-earth, building a party of heroes as they journey. Players battle on the side of the Fellowship, but can unlock additional encounters where they fight on the side of Sauron as they progress. In the game, players will interact with the characters of the Fellowship in a unique structure, taking on individual quests while intersecting the major events of the film trilogy that drive the story forward. Parties will traverse through both familiar and seldom-glimpsed locations, using an innovative turn-based battle system as they fight, encountering the demonic Balrog in the Mines of Moria, defending the fallen city of Osgiliath, or trying to destroy Helm's Deep.

The Lord the Rings, The Third Age, is being developed by EA's Redwood Shores studio, the same studio that developed the hit The Lord of the Rings; The Return of the KingTM game. The Game Boy Advance version is being developed by Amaze Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a Griptonite. For more information on EA's The Lord of the Rings games, visit the official franchise website at http://lordoftherings.eagames.com.

Under an exclusive licensing agreement with New Line Cinema, EA has the rights to create and publish interactive entertainment games based on the movie trilogy. A real-time strategy game for the PC, The Lord of the Rings, The Battle for Middle-earthTM, is under development for release in late 2004.
 

[Oldskool]

Darn, by the third age, I thought they were talking about the ENTIRE third age. Also, the storyline wouldn't fit in with the movie (It might fit in with the book...) in many ways. Unless these new charactors were Gondorion soldiers at Osgilith, and somehow got away from the Balrog, I'm not sure its possible. But is it a turn-based RPG? It seems to be, despite the fact that the word RPG is not mentioned once.

[reyontoyeny]

I guess this was "The Lord of the Rings Trilogy 2004" game that was advertised at the end of the Return of the King game.

[Krazie26]

Is it supposed to fit in with the story? I didn't get that impression.

[mouse_clicker]

God damn I hate EA- the movies were magnificent, but unfortunately from them have spawned millions of little things that have almost completely trivialized Tolkien's life work. I actually heard about a guy at a book store who exclaimed upon seeing The Lord of the Rings "They made that into a book now?" I wasn't a big fan of EA to begin with but now they're just leeching off the LotR license and it's pissing me off. Everyone, do me a big favor and don't buy this game. Thanks. ^_^

[Djunknown]

They can't be stopped. They've dabbled (and tackled) most genres in existance, looks like the RPG is next! Lest they royally screw this up, chalk up a couple mil for EA again.

If there's a weakness, it might be the GBA version. speaking of which, connectivity anyone ^_^ ?

[SatansNemesis]

Am I the only one who, though thrilled with the new turn based stuff, is more dissapointed that they won't be making the trilogy game in the same action style as the last 2? I was really looking foreward to more co-op mode.

[Krazie26]

MMORPG is already on the way as I'm sure you know, so I guess you could say they already have an RPG coming down the pipeline.

Sorry bud.

[KDR_11k]

An MMORPG and a normal RPG aren't conflicting products. Many RPG fans wouldn't touch an MMOG with a ten metre pole.

[the_zombie_luke]

At first I thought EA would simply combine the ROTK and Two Towers games, and maybe add a few new levels. I was hoping for an epic action game, especially since the first two games hinted at  the possibility of how magnificent giant battles would be. I don't hate RPG's, but I hate random battles, and add a lack of a save points, and you have a masochistic game that punishes the player. Maybe this game will let you save anywhere, but since EA is making it, I am expecting it to have many flaws.