Fun fact: I can do a great impersonation of Gollum from Lord of the Rings. Funner fact: Doing it at a funeral may not have been the best time to showcase my talent. Gollum’s an odd character when you think about him, a pale and vicious little savage who exists for a singular purpose in life, as the Hobbit formerly known as Smeagol cares for nothing but the precious ring that warped his mind, body and soul.
He’s not exactly hero material, what with his ragged teeth and a loin-cloth so dank that not even an episode of Fear Factor would ask you to take a whiff of it. He’s tragic, that’s for certain, but he’s also mentally unstable and prone to violence. So how do you even begin to make a video game about him? That’s the challenge that Daedalic Entertainment have on their hands with the character, but the studio reckons that they’ve got a neat idea on how to approach the idea of Gollum for some good ol’ video game storytelling.
“Conflict is important for storytellers and that’s already in the character,” Daedalic CEO Carsten Fichtelmann said to Games Industry Biz.
We have these two characters talking to him constantly. We think we have a unique approach, and if we do this game right I don’t think there’ll be much space for anyone doing a Gollum game, because we’ve already done it.
While Daedalic describes their Gollum game as an action-adventure title, don’t expect to see their take hew to close to the cinematic version that was voiced by actor Andy Serkis. Instead, expect to see a Daedalic take on the character, with a visual style that avoids going “too deep into the uncanny valley,” as “it’s very important to us to create a game that’s still fresh in 20 years.”
I’m intrigued. With Gollum, you have a tragic character with an interesting story to tell, albeit one that won’t see the little fella assaulting war orcs with twin daggers forged by Elven blacksmiths from another plane of existence. You’ve got a vicious little psychopath, a maniac with a singular purpose to pursue and the drive to do anything necessary, even if he’s aware of the horrific actions that he’s about to take against those filthy hobbitseses.
It’s kind of looking in a mirror for me, now that I think about it.
Last Updated: March 27, 2019
SagatatiaRZA
March 27, 2019 at 15:42
Mini-game idea: smash as many fish against rocks as you can in 20 seconds
Llama In The Rift
March 27, 2019 at 16:37
End Game: Bite as many fingers off with rings on them to find the real precious.
Admiral Chief
March 28, 2019 at 07:56
That sounds precious