Almost a year ago, the world received news that we would once again be returning to the beloved fantasy realms of Middle-Earth. No, I’m not talking about the Amazon produced series, I’m speaking about The Lord of the Rings: Gollum, a video game that will see players embody the iconic role of corrupted Hobbit Smeagol and his devilish alter-ego Gollum. Produced by Daedalic Entertainment, the game is set before the events of Lord of the Rings and will chronicle Gollum’s adventures (misadventures?) before he comes into contact with Frodo in Fellowship of the Ring. How the game will actually play is still a mystery but with the release of a few screenshots, we can at least partially understand the tone the game is going for.
The actual character model of Gollum looks more…cartoony than I would have expected, definitely drawing some inspiration from Andy Serkis’s portrayal of the character. He’s grey, greasy, got those big eyes and his hair seems to have grown out a little longer than we’re used to seeing. Maybe all the stress of tracking the ring sped up the balding process, that would suck for him. Doesn’t exactly have much else going for him, right? We can see that there appears to be some kind of dialogue system in play, with the choices split between Smeagol and Gollum, demonstrating his split personality.
We can also see what appears to be some kind of heavily industrialised area, something that’s often synonymous with Mordor and Sauron’s orc armies. Oh, and there’s a load of spiders. Big ones too. Which leads me to believe that Shelob will probably be encountered at some point. Could also just be some generically huge spiders, which is difficult to say with Lord of the Rings. We do know the game will be incorporating its fair share of stealth mechanics and nimble movement which makes sense; Gollum isn’t exactly the sort to wield Andúril and cleave enemies in twain. Lord of the Rings: Gollum is set to release in 2021 on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X.
You can check out the full gallery of screenshots right here.
Last Updated: May 5, 2020
Jac7
May 5, 2020 at 12:05
It would do great for continuity to stick to the Shadow of Mordor/War art direction. I love the character designs in those games
Llama In The Rift
May 5, 2020 at 12:02
Designing a cartoony looking game to demonstrate next gen systems is a…..bold choice.
CodeDisQus
May 5, 2020 at 18:19
I’ll be honest…..not sure anyone wanted t his, but hey….lets see what they come up with
Nharzhool
May 6, 2020 at 16:30
Somewhere in those two years finishing your master’s degree, you should have learned the difference between “its” and “it’s”. Though, the second-to-last sentence would suggest that you did, but perhaps didn’t quite grasp the concept of proofreading.