The Lord of the Rings: Gollum Will Show New Parts of Middle-Earth
The Lord of the Rings: Gollum will introduce a new look into the fan-favorite character. The Lord of the Rings has naturally blossomed throughout the video game industry within the last 20 years thanks to the mega-successful movies. Even though there have been rather successful attempts like the Mordor series and sour ones like Conquest, developers are always trying out new angles to this property. The latest entry is called The Lord of the Rings: Gollum and it is being developed by Daedalic Entertainment. This came as a surprise to many because even though Gollum is a beloved character to the franchise, nobody really saw him having the potential to lead his very own game. Well, it looks like that the developers have some grandiose plans for the corrupted little hobbit. This game will serve as a prequel to Lord of the Rings and it will follow Gollum on a personal quest that will show how he obtained the One Ring.
Any fan of The Lord of the Rings knows that Gollum isn’t exactly a hardened warrior. A survivor, yes but you won’t see him charging the fields to take on a horde of Uruk-hai or anything else. He was always more of a scavenger. A broken-down creature that who’s main purpose is self-gratification and quenching the perpetual lust of greed. This is going to be a character piece of sorts, which explores the inner workings of Gollum’s mind and the constant struggle of dealing with two warring personalities. A fresh trailer just dropped and it gives a fairly detailed look into the gameplay mechanics and how this iconic character is going to control.
A Touch of Madness
It is known that the two egos of Gollum and Smeagol will indeed inter-twin with the gameplay. It will have something to do with branching internal dialogues and decision-making that might ultimately affect the course of the game. Stealth appears to be a key factor to progressing through the areas. Slinking into the shadows, scurrying on ledges, and ducking behind objects will most likely be the main control scheme to The Lord of the Rings: Gollum. Based on what the footage entailed, the areas seem to be rather large in scope, teeming with pathways and alleys. The level design will be full of contextual environmental hazards that players can use to their advantage. Whether or not players can set this up through careful observation like Agent 47 in the Hitman series, or more like something that’s done on the fly remains to be seen.
More than likely, the decisions that players will make will be weighted upon whether or not certain characters die. If pushed far enough, Gollum is known to attack and even kill. Of course, it solely depends on who is making the ultimate decision, Gollum or Smeagol? The recent trailer of the Video Game Awards of 2021 gave a taste of how this will play out in the game. Gollum was trying to sneak into a stronghold that was crawling with orcs. He made his way across a rafting high above, with a bubbling cauldron of molten iron teetering at the edge of it. Below was a group of jabbering orcs standing there minding their own business. A simple environmental takedown was lined up and that is when he started arguing with himself. Should he just hide and wait or dump the fiery liquid onto the unsuspecting victims? Of course, he chooses the latter. This is how The Lord of the Rings: Gollum will basically be formatted.
Perilous Precious
Every fan of The Lord of the Rings knows that Gollum will go to impossible lengths to get a hold of “his precious.” Based on what decisions players make, it will cause one of the two personalities to gradually overtake him. The PlayStation 5 haptic feedback system will also play an integral part in the gameplay. Players will actually feel the physical limitations of Gollum as he tries to get around with depleted stamina. The resistance on the buttons will increase, which reflects the strain that Gollum feels. The story will apparently begin at the dark fortress of Barad-Dur. Gollum is being held in captivity there and players will be tasked with breaking free and escaping. Then, the game will stretch out to other parts of Middle-Earth in which Gollum will meet other characters of the IP that ranges from elves to humans.
When it comes to lore, The Lord of the Ring: Gollum will be showing Gollum mid-way through his transformation process. This is why his character model doesn’t look exactly like he did in the movies. Therefore, it appears that Andy Serkis won’t be reprising one of his most cherished roles. Gollum will move, sound, and look different than his cinematic counterpart. Speaking of which, the art design of this game isn’t reaching for hyper-realism, either. The developers have decided to go for a more animated aesthetic. Thusly, the supporting characters of this story will have a very different look than what everyone is used to. The developers are making these well-known characters their own by giving a new spin on them. There will also be characters that were mentioned in the book that no one has seen before, letting this game be the first time fans are will actually see them.
Meddling in Middle-Earth
The developers of this game are clearly fans of The Lord of the Rings material. They picked an interesting timeline to tell this story, which provides plenty of gaps for them to fill in. Different hidden avenues throughout Middle-Earth are going to be explored for the first time with The Lord of the Rings: Gollum. The game is striving to give an intimate portrayal of Gollum and his journey. Therefore, whenever fans watch the movies again, they will have a newfound connection with the ghoul. Even though this game has been under development for a while, there still isn’t a release window established, yet. It appears that they are pretty far into the process and games won’t have to wait too much longer. This game will be available for the PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo Switch, and PC upon launch.
