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The Lord of the Rings: The Third Age for Xbox Original
The Lord of the Rings: The Third Age for Xbox Original is a role-playing game with turn-based combat set in Middle-earth. You follow Berethor and a group of new companions who travel alongside the events of the film trilogy. Their journey crosses familiar places and characters, but you do not constantly control the original Fellowship. Between confrontations you explore environments, find equipment and prepare the group for what awaits ahead.
During battles you choose an attack, skill, medicine or other action each turn. The order displayed on screen helps you decide who needs attention first. Health and action points are separate resources: using a powerful skill may leave fewer options later. You change the composition of your active party and develop different weapon techniques and supporting powers. What matters is therefore how the companions complement one another, not merely how hard one hero can hit.
After certain victories you can replay battles from the evil side and earn rewards for your group. A second player can join the turn-based battles with their own Xbox controller; this does not turn exploration into a free-roaming joint adventure with two independent characters. This is the console RPG from 2004, not the differently structured Game Boy Advance game bearing the same name.
Region and language
Our Xbox Original games are PAL editions and come with a Dutch or English box, unless stated otherwise. By default, you receive the version for the European market. We note it in the product details if the region is different or the box is in another language. In almost all cases, the game is playable at least in English, and often in the other five common European languages too.
Manual
The Lord of the Rings: The Third Age for Xbox Original includes the manual unless the product title states otherwise. If the booklet is missing, the title says “No Manual”. This lets you see before ordering whether the game comes with a manual.
The manuals included with our games usually contain at least English and often around six European languages. The exact languages vary by edition, so Dutch is not always included. The booklet explains the controls and the main rules. You can use it to check how to control the game, which actions are available and how its different features work.
The history of The Lord of the Rings: The Third Age
Electronic Arts released The Lord of the Rings: The Third Age in 2004 for Xbox, PlayStation 2 and GameCube. EA Redwood Shores built on its work on the earlier film games, but chose a role-playing game with turn-based battles this time. Executive producer Steve Gray said at the time that the desire for such an adventure already existed during The Two Towers. The film trilogy now offered a complete world in which to place that different style of play.
Rather than replaying the entire film with the same heroes, the game followed a company of its own. Their route sometimes trailed the Fellowship and at other times intersected familiar events. This allowed room for party development, equipment and skills alongside recognisable film footage and locations. Combat offered a different pace: you could consider a turn without simultaneously having to perform fast sword combinations.
According to the makers, the three home-console versions shared the same foundation. The simultaneous Game Boy Advance release was a different game and should not be confused with them. The Third Age therefore occupies a separate place among the action-focused film adaptations. This original Xbox disc shows how the same licence could also support a party RPG, with its own travelling company and replayable battles on the other side of the conflict.
Similar games for Xbox Original
The Return of the King and The Third Age use familiar places and enemies from the film world on Xbox Original. The Return of the King has you attack, dodge and perform combinations directly. The Third Age distributes decisions across turns and develops a party through equipment and skills. The difference is therefore not just the story, but above all how you prepare and execute a confrontation.
The Two Towers and The Third Age connect film footage to playable battles in Middle-earth on Xbox Original. The Two Towers focuses on direct sword action with familiar heroes. The Third Age follows new companions and leaves more room for turn-based decisions and party development. Both bring back recognisable enemies, but in The Third Age the right support can matter more than the rhythm of an attack button.
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and The Third Age let you develop a party with different skills on Xbox Original. Knights of the Old Republic gives considerable weight to conversations, choices and a pausable combat system. The Third Age uses clearly consecutive turns and a route alongside film events. Both require team choices, but offer a different balance between your own decisions and a predetermined journey.
Sudeki and The Third Age offer a fantasy world and multiple heroes with different roles on Xbox Original. Sudeki has battles play out as direct action and combines close-range weapons with ranged attacks. The Third Age lets you choose each turn and follow the participants' order. Appropriate equipment helps in both, but Sudeki demands more movement and immediate actions from the player during a fight.
Fable and The Third Age make a hero or party stronger through battles, new possibilities and equipment on Xbox Original. Fable revolves around one protagonist and gives their behaviour visible consequences in the world. The Third Age focuses on a travelling company within the film world of Middle-earth. Your main choices concern how the party fights and grows rather than what life story one hero develops.
