EA announces Lord of the Rings RPG

Electronic Arts has today announced the development of The Lord of the Rings, The Third Age for all current-generation consoles and the Game Boy Advance. Currently scheduled for release this fall, the title is described as a role-playing game in which players assume the role of new characters embarking on a quest in Middle-earth. The game is based on the New Line Cinema and Peter Jackson film adaptations of The Lord of the Rings trilogy, so players will have plenty of opportunities to interact with key characters from the movies as they progress.

Players will initially employ the game's turn-based battle system while on the side of the Fellowship, but they will also be able to unlock additional encounters in which they side with Sauron. Assembling an increasingly large party of characters as they make their ways through the game, players will travel through both familiar and relatively unknown locations on their quests, including the Mines of Moria, the fallen city of Osgiliath, and Helm's Deep. A number of the individual quests in the game will intersect with major events from the movies, thus allowing players to witness events, such as the attack on Helm's Deep, from a new perspective.

The console versions of Lord of the Rings, The Third Age are being developed by EA's own Redwood Shores studio, while the GBA version is in development at Griptonite. We'll bring you more information on all four versions of the game as soon as it becomes available.