Much like The Two Towers and The Return of the King, both released by EA in 2003, The Lord of the Rings: The Third Age delivers one of those "What if" experiences. Instead of just watching Gandalf fight the Balrog in the bowels of Moria, you actually get to take him out yourself. Instead of sitting back and watching Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli defend Helm's Deep, you get to step in and do it yourself.

But is it the dream RPG everyone hoped it would be? Does The Third Age distil the essence of the film trilogy and pump it into a complex RPG? Has the emotional depth of the characters and story survived the translation?