Nacon and Daedalic Entertainment have announced that The Lord of the Rings: Gollum will release for PC, PlayStation 4 and 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S on May 25, with a version for the Nintendo Switch coming out later this year. A new 38-minute gameplay showcase video has been released where one of the game’s developers and a co-author provide a tour of some of its features and background story.
Description (via Steam)
“The Lord of the Rings: Gollum™ is a story-driven action adventure. Take on a perilous journey as Gollum, chasing the only thing that is precious to him. Gollum is skillful and cunning but also torn by his split personality. One mind, two egos – you decide!”
The Lord of the Rings: Gollum has players taking on the role of the tortured middle earth character Sméagol as he escapes the Dark Tower and encounters the Elves of Mirkwood. Players will have to use stealth mechanics to evade and manipulate enemies, while also experiencing the character’s ongoing torment to be good or evil as he transforms into Gollum. Daedalic Entertainment CEO Carsten Fichtelmann shared a bit on this in an interview with PC Gamer.
“When you look at our history with storytelling games, it was obvious that we needed to do something where the protagonist has a conflict going on,” says Fichtelmann. This is also something you’ll play in the game. You’ll come to decisions you have to make, and you’ll have the two voices talking to you. He may change his mind, and this is a clue about how it will play.”
A long road to travel
The Lord of the Rings: Gollum was originally revealed in 2019, then planned to release in 2021 which then became its official announcement year, and later planned for a September 2022 release before being pushed out to this new date so the developers could add further polish to the game. The team in the showcase video does say that the game is still in Beta and getting improvements such as camera controls, movement, and graphics. They also add that even though the game is exploring a new story the developers strived to respect and be true to the original source material by J.R.R. Tolkein. Fichtelmann previously said that “We’re concentrating on the character of Gollum, and we’re telling his story before we learn about what happens to him in the books. So it’s definitely new content that we’ll see.”
Discussion (11 replies)
Join Discussion →Nope... No thank you. Pre defined story and ending.
Didn't stop me from emjoying the movies...
Those were adaptations. This is a prequel. I can't stand prequels in videogames. Makes everything you do pointless as no matter what you do the end point is completely fixed.
Uh, unless a game has multiple endings (which most do not) aren't ALL games fixed to have a specific end?
This is an ending you know before the game is ever released. The protagonist isn't going to die, loose a limb, or anything that would make the sequel to this prequel be different.
Unless they IMMEDAITELY go to a different realm/reality. Then why call it a prequel?
I can only think of two surprise plot twists that wasn’t telegraphed from a mile away in all my years of playing video games
Samus removing her helmet at the end of Metroid.
Aerith’s death.
Every other game - yeah you pretty well know the ending before you start, just not necessarily how you get there from here
But you don't know how.
Its about the journey.
Kind of like playing to become Darth Vader.
I guess I do understand the gripe if there is zero surprise to be had in the sense of the ultimate result.
Agreed. I also agree that some prequel games can come across as very uninspired and lacking in story content but I've also played some that do a decent job of building upon the lore. One of my favorites still is Star Wars Bounty Hunter for the PS2 which provided a good amount of background for Jango Fett and Count Dooku while introducing some interesting characters.
If you have a fixed ending that you already know that means everything you do and anything that happens in the game is of no consequence.
Most games these days have some sort of player choice that alters the ending. But even if the ending is fixed like in The Last of Us, you still have the illusion that what you do matters, because you don't already know how the story continues.
To me prequels are no-win scenario games.
I'm good with a new story in the world at various points in time. That's fine. Just don't use characters that are deep in the known story. Problem solved.
Hogwarts Legacy does it.
The Shadow of Mordor and it's sequel.
And I'm sure many others I'm not remembering.