We have finally been able to see in motion the Lord of the Rings: Gollum game based on movie. We tell you what we think, how we will play with Gollum and what we can expect from this production that promises to expand the history of this character. Its most interesting aspect? Your level design.
Playing with Gollum doesn’t seem like the most attractive proposition in the world, does it? In Middle-earth there are hundreds of heroes who seem better than him to star in a video game. A boat soon, I can think of five characters who, due to their strengths, powers and courage, would be perfect for it. But, curiously, there is the key to this video game. The Lord of the Rings video game based on Gollum stands out for how it takes advantage of the character’s weaknesses to train. Gollum is weak, creeping and with personality problems. He’s not ready for combat, so the only thing he can do is hide, ambush his enemies, be smart, and try to be very, very stealthy.
Daedalic, the team that develops it, has perfectly understood these peculiarities of the medium corrupted by the ring, preparing a video game of stealth, platforms, exploration and decision-making. We have been able to enjoy a presentation played by the producer in charge of the project. He warned us that the demo was old, it was ten months old, so it was impossible to get an idea of what the game will be technically like. Neither the animations nor the textures were yet to level. What did look very good was both the size and design of the sets, the art direction and the representation of the Tolkien universe reimagined by Peter Jackson.
The Lord of the rings: Gollum gameplay was reminiscent of a mix between Assassin’s Creed and Uncharted
The demo started with Gollum locked in Mordor. His mission was to escape and climb in search of the exit from the catacombs. The gameplay was reminiscent of a cross between Assassin’s Creed and Uncharted, only with a decrepit and skinny character. With the camera attached to his back, Gollum proved that he could climb and climb any cliff with great ease and without any mechanical complications. There were no limitations to develop these actions as it happens in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. The character is more limited when he walks, since he has to crawl, but that takes advantage of it so that no one can see him. The producer of the game explained to us that the most interesting thing about the title was in its level design, and so it was. At first, The Lord of the Rings: Gollum looks like a linear jumping and climbing game, but after passing the first section, the rest of the level is revealed. The area is very vertical, with many nooks and crannies to allow the character to get from point A to point B as it suits him best. The grace of this, as I said at the beginning of the article, is in the character’s limitations. Gollum can’t fight face to face. If an orc sees it and pounces on it, it kills it. Every movement you make generates noise. Their only weapons are shadows and jumping on their enemies from behind; yes, Gollum does not kill instantly, but as awkwardly as in the movies. I mean, it’s like playing Assassin’s Creed but with a character who is not all powerful, and that is interesting.
Because playing with Gollum forces us to have to study the level very well, to locate the places to climb, to study the movements of the characters and to advance, little by little, towards our destination. This one, by the way, is fixed on the map. I was able to speak for a few minutes with Jonas Hüsges, publishing director at Daedalic, to find out more about this game and his character. From what he explained to me, in The Lord of the Rings: Gollum there is no skill tree for the character to grow, nor is there the option of not being stealthy.
That is, if stealth is not your thing, this is not your game. From time to time we will meet a well-known character from Middle Earth who will give us a hand. But this is a story-centric game with a “done” character. The ease that Gollum has to climb, and the verticality of the scenarios, is conducive to the universe of Middle Earth. In the films we have been able to see many towering towers and mountains that will also meet here. Therefore, the key will be to climb, be stealthy and reach the next cutscene that will continue to develop the story.
The Lord of the Rings; Gollum and Smeagol, protagonists of the video game
In the narrative aspect, two things stand out. The first is that of the continuous conversations that the character has with his alter ego; also with ‘my precious’, which is how he refers to his beloved one-of-a-kind ring. Gollum does not stop talking to put events that he has just experienced in context. This bipolarity gives rise to the decisions that we have to make in the game. After some cinematic, we will have to decide who governs the body of the medium: if his macabre personality or the most docile. Depending on this, certain game events will change. I asked Jonas Hüsges if this would affect the endgame. He did not want to answer this, nor to whether the title would have final bosses in some of its areas. What he did confirm is that “to know the whole story of the game you will have to thoroughly explore the levels.” The truth is that this demo showed that Daedalic’s Gollum is faithful to the original material.
I’m not going to fool you. The first contact with Gollum has been somewhat decaffeinated. Presenting such a preliminary version of the game, being impossible to stand out from the graphics, I expected to see more playable muscle. It is true that some ideas look good. Controlling a weak character who can’t make a lot of noise moving around wide settings sounds nice, but neither the enemy AI nor the solutions Gollum adopts are new. The character sneaks under structures, climbs and kills by holding down a button. I already know these mechanics, and the presentation has not shown how differentially this character will use them. That Jonas Hüsges did not want to delve further into the level design or the narrative of the game, they make us not know if this titleit will bring something totally interesting.
For now, the only thing he seems to intend is to adapt Gollum to the video game with solvency, tell a story and allow us to take a walk through this universe. Because what is clear is that at the level of what counts, it does seem that it will be up to the task. And never better said, because Gollum’s climbing ability will allow us to have a good view of Middle-earth. But honestly, to this day, I only know that this Gollum is a title somewhere between Uncharted and Assassin’s Creed, with Middle-earth in the background, a weak, unhinged protagonist who has to make decisions about his personality from time to time when. That is to say, the character is well adapted to the video game, but it is necessary to know more about what it will offer new as such, as a video game. We are sure to find out in future events.
