The Lord of the Rings franchise, by J.R.R. Tolkien, is a world of magic and darkness. The warring sides of good and evil battle over complete domination of the universe in the form of a single ring. The one ring to rule them all was originally crafted by Sauron in order to rule all the species of Middle-Earth. On Smeagol's birthday, he went fishing with his cousin Deagol in a riverbank, where Deagol finds a beautiful ring. Smeagol, under the influence of the ring, demands that Deagol gift it to him as a birthday present. When Deagol refuses, Smeagol strangles him and takes the ring to be forever under its influence. So is the origin of the creature Gollum.
It was announced that Gollum would be getting his own Lord of the Rings game in March 2019, with a couple trailers releasing since. This new action-adventure title from Daedalic Entertainment will see a new version of Smeagol that is based more on the literature and less on the popular film series. Since it isn't reliant on the lore in the movies, it's possible that players will see a much more compassionate Gollum in this new title. This story will follow the part of Gollum's story that begins with his days as a slave until he interacts with the elves in Mirkwood.
The Teaser
The trailer opens to a Daedelic Entertainment title card. Then it fades in to a cave floor littered with the carcasses and skeletons of fish and other small critters. The camera transitions to a cave painting of two figures standing together before moving on to the single figure bowing in worship to a large circle. Gollum can be seen atop a tall stone pillar, his shadow cast on the wall behind him beginning to flutter across the walls. Gollum crawls to an opening and peeks out as his eyes go wide at what he sees in front of him. A volcano erupts and a murder of crows flies by the entrance to his cave, startling him back inside. As the camera distances itself from Gollum and centers the volcano, the title card for the Lord of the Rings Gollum trailer is shown.
While it may not show gameplay or any mechanics, it gives an idea of the world where Gollum will live in the Lord of the Rings Gollum game. In his waste littered cave, Gollum catches fish with his long fingers and eats them raw like an animal. Gollum will be in his pale and shriveled form, torn between his hunger for the ring and whatever remains of his Hobbit nature. It's the brief glimpses into Smeagol's more human side that gives Gollum any sense of sympathy, because in those moments we see what came before. What serves as a warning of man's greed in the Lord of the Ring's franchise will be coming back to a new generation.
Not the Movie's Middle-Earth
Developer Daedelic Entertainment has dedicated itself to creating a world inspired by the books as opposed to the movies, where games like Middle-Earth: Shadow of War have found a solid foundation. That being said, players will have an impact on the narrative as they make decisions for the monster based in those two personalities of Gollum. The screenshots show that the choices will be based in part in the simpler Smeagol or his power hungry counterpart Gollum. While this will affect animations, the world, or in-game dialogue, this game stays true to the source material. Daedelic hopes that this game can serve as an authentic prequel to the Lord of the Ring books, and so Smeagol's destiny is pretty set in stone.
The screenshots show a slightly cartoonier Middle-Earth with a Gollum that looks mostly the same. Sneaking appears to be a big part of the gameplay, which plays into the lore as Gollum has never been stupid enough to charge headfirst in battle, instead preferring the sneak attack. There are also nests of spiders, beautiful landscapes, and Orc encampments throughout the world of Lord of the Rings Gollum.
There have been many good and bad games from the Lord of the Rings franchise, spanning across any given period of Middle-Earth history. Even still, this an interesting take on a character that has never seemed like much of a protagonist in the canon. However, if Daedelic Entertainment can manage to pull at that sympathetic thread while staying true to the literature, it may be able to add a new depth to Gollum's 65 year old character.
The Lord of the Rings: Gollum will launch in 2022 for PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.