The further you'll get, the more Epic Scenes you'll unlock. These are short videosequences from The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers and Return of the King, commented by Ian "Gandalf" McKellen himself. The will to collect them all keeps you going on until the end. They also look a lot better than the ingame graphics, that are just mediocre. The previous LOTR-action games looked a lot more impressive. You' characters aren't very detailed (they even look blurry in several cutscenes) and the special effects lack the wow-factor. Of course, great graphics aren't a requirement for the genre, but if EA can make their other games look good, why not this one? Final Fantasy X-2 and Star Ocean: Till the End of Time already proved us that RPG and great visuals can go hand in hand.

The Lord of the Rings: The Third Age is a pretty enjoyable RPG with superb audio, but it's not a must-have. But since there aren't many RPG's these days, it can keep you busy till better RPG's arrive (Xenosaga 2 anyone?). Beginners should definitely give this game a go, before trying more advanced (and more difficult) games.