There’s nothing else to say really, except to say that I’m not mad at The Lord of the Rings: Gollum. I don’t think it’s some greedy money grab, a worthless piece of trash, and the worst game ever. There is a ton of effort and quality here. It’s just buried under nonsense, which I suspect only exists because of market pressure.
The Lord of the Rings: Gollum
Daedalic Entertainment · May 25, 2023
About
The Lord of the Rings: Gollum™ is an official adaptation based on the literary works of J.R.R. Tolkien.
He's got nothing more to lose… How far will he go to retrieve his Precious?
Taking place in parallel to the events described in The Fellowship of the Ring ™, The Lord of the Rings: Gollum is an action-adventure game and an epic interactive experience. You play as the enigmatic Gollum on his perilous journey and find out how he outwitted the most powerful characters in Middle-earth.
THE UNTOLD STORY
He has survived dangers most wouldn't dare talk about, driven by the singular desire to once again hold in his hands what was stolen from him. Although his desperate quest is a central part of the story crafted by J.R.R. Tolkien, it has never been told in detail. For the first time, follow the untold story of Gollum: an experience that stays incredibly faithful to the books. From his flight from Mordor, where he escaped the Mouth of Sauron and the demon-spider Shelob, to the dungeons of the Elvenking Thranduil, Legolas' father, Gollum has had many adventures and encounters on his extraordinary journey.
ACTION AND STEALTH
After being corrupted by the Ring over hundreds of years, Gollum has developed exceptional agility and sharp wits. Use his unique skills to explore and infiltrate legendary locations and dizzying heights. Find your way past the Orcs as you climb the Dark Tower of Barad-dûr and give the Elves the slip in the mysterious Mirkwood.
While Gollum is no fighter, he is more than capable of strangling a careless enemy when the opportunity presents itself… or of finding a more creative and less risky way of getting out of trouble.
ONE CHARACTER, TWO PERSONALITIES
Gollum is one of the most fascinating characters in The Lord of the Rings universe. In 500 years he has experienced events that would destroy the toughest of beings. But Gollum doesn't break; he bends, he adapts…
Tortured by his split personality, he can be vicious and wicked as Gollum, yet friendly and cautious as Smeagol. It's up to you to decide which of his personalities will triumph in the difficult moral choices that will dictate the future of your precarious alliances.
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Critic reviews
- As long-time Middle Earth fans, we really wanted to give Gollum a chance, in spite of the negative reviews. Unfortunately, what we got was a mediocre game at best, that is being dragged down even further by inexcusable technical issues and corporate greed. The $60 price tag for the base game is an insult and we suggest voting with your wallet and simply not buying Gollum. Poor Sméagol deserves better than this.
- 1.5Overall, The Lord of the Rings: Gollum had nearly endless potential to be great but it instead became the prime example of why beta testing a game before release is important. With issues like stuttering or momentary lag spikes all pointing to a severe lack of optimization, this game was doomed to be a flop from the start. The only hope for this game now is not just a quick patch but a massive overhaul to fix its biggest issues.
- The Lord of the Rings: Gollum is an abject failure as a stealth and traversal game, continuously tripping over itself with technical incompetence to such an extent it’s virtually impossible to recommend. Featuring monotonous climbing and sneaking mechanics, cheap deaths from heights akin to a paddling pool, a boring structure, plain and uninteresting characters, a host of technical blemishes, mostly-poor visuals, a woodpecker-quality soundtrack, and an overall dismal and trying experience, The Lord of the Rings: Gollum is absolutely atrocious.
- 2.0There is no joy in Lord of the Rings: Gollum. It is a linear stealth platforming experience where none of its systems are designed to make either sneaking or platforming a smooth process, let alone a fun one. In fact, it is actually a frustrating game to play as a result of its issues. Assuming that Gollum’s myriad bugs one day get ironed out, nothing can really save it from its poorly executed gameplay core and baffling mission structure. Boring, clunky, and pointless, The Lord of the Rings: Gollum should have been cast into the fires of Mount Doom long ago. At least Gandalf’s hat looks neat.
- 3.0At its core as well, Gollum as a protagonist was never going to be all that enticing, despite his intriguing personality in the books. The surrounding game and narrative had to be absolutely stellar to sell Gollum as a compelling protagonist, and Daedalic fails full stop here. And it's a shame because the team are very obviously Tolkien fans aiming to tell a good story set in Middle-earth.
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