The Lord of the Rings: The Third Age is a 2004 role-playing video game developed by EA Redwood Shores for the PlayStation 2, Xbox and GameCube. A turn-based tactics version of the game was developed for the Game Boy Advance by Griptonite Games. The game was published on all platforms by Electronic Arts, and released worldwide in November 2004. The game is a loose adaptation of Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings film trilogy; The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), The Two Towers (2002) and The Return of the King (2003). As it is not an adaptation of J. R. R. Tolkien's 1954 novel The Lord of the Rings, anything from the novels not specifically mentioned or depicted in the films could not be represented in the game. This is because, at the time, Vivendi Universal Games, in partnership with Tolkien Enterprises, held the rights to the video game adaptations of Tolkien's literary works, whilst Electronic Arts held the rights to the video game adaptations of the New Line Cinema films. The game received mixed to positive reviews. Most reviewers praised the graphics, but many found the storyline and character development weak, and the gameplay somewhat too derivative of Final Fantasy X. Gameplay As with many role playing games, gameplay in Third Age is split into two different modes; third-person exploration through a 3D overworld, and combat mode, consisting of turn-based gameplay. Progression through the game is built around "Quests." Every area features multiples quests which must be completed in order to progress to the next area. All areas also feature several optional sidequests which do not have to be completed for progression, but which can yield substantial rewards if they are. When the player is in third-person mode, the HUD displays a map with the current objectives (primary and secondary) marked on it. As the player moves through the environment, one of two icons can also appear on-screen. If the Eye of Sauron appears, it means the player has a chance to encounter a random battle; the darker the eye, the more likely a battle will occur. If a blue Palantír appears, it means the player is approaching a story battle; again, the darker the icon, the closer the player is to the battle. However, not every scripted battle is indicated beforehand by a Palantír icon. The Third Age is an RPG in the style of the games in