The Lord of the Rings: The Third Age

Lord of the Rings fans are to get their own RPG with turned based combat, courtesy of Electronic Arts.

The company has announced The Lord of the Rings, The Third Age role-playing game is under development for release in late 2004. 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. The game will be available for PlayStation 2, GameCube, Xbox and Game Boy Advance.

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 a turn-based battle system as they fight, encountering the demonic Balrog in the Mines of Moria or defending the fallen city of Osgiliath.

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 King game. The Game Boy Advance version is being developed by Amaze Entertainment.