Gollum is a pathetic creature. It’s not wholly evil, but it’s clearly not good either. His destiny is cruelly tied to that of the Ring, and his dedication to it takes him from Mordor to the mountain caves and back again. Possibly the most interesting character in Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings series, many are immediately quick to steal Andy Serkis’ scene-stealing motion-capture performance in Peter Jackson’s trilogy. would be reminiscent of But it’s time for this creature to have its next attack.
The Lord of the Rings is told from Frodo’s point of view, and Gollum has that trait as well. But what happens while he fights between Sméagol, the poor proto-hobbit who stumbled across Sauron’s Treasure years ago, and Gollum, a personality that emerges from the depths of his mind when approached? What kind of thoughts will dwell in his heart to know? of the ring? If The Lord of the Rings: Gollum was anything, it would be really boring.
Gollum (the game) feels outdated. The graphics are outdated and don’t mind a stylized approach to creating “realistic” orcs at the expense of more interesting mechanics, but facial animations are distorted and textures are flat , the physics are unreal. Clinging to the beam, Gollum’s legs droop stiffly, his hair regularly digs into his forehead, his entire lower half of his face, not just his mouth, occasionally moves, and audio arrives seconds later.
The trouble doesn’t stop there. I was told to turn off the Gollum Hair simulation for the game to run properly on PS5 (yes, this is a real setting and should be patched in time for launch). Many times I fell inside walls and ramps and was forced. Entire chapters had to be redone to move on, and jumping off a ladder often crashed into the ceiling, causing Gollum to fall and die. The latter is more of a design flaw than a glitch. If the player needs to jump from a high place, make sure the character can actually jump from the indicated point.
At least with a strong story based on Tolkien, can we forgive all of this? It’s based on some throwaway dialogue and it shows. There’s no narrative tension, and the first half of the game simply revolves around ‘Escape from Mordor’, which we already know what Gollum did, and which expands on it in a meaningful way. this is not allowed. At first I was hopeful because the scene where Gandalf interrogates Gollum introduced a nice framework, but nothing happened. We move from escaping the gray walls and red lava of Mordor too far to escaping the (admittedly more visually interesting) prison in the halls of Thranduil.
The game is as boring mechanically as it looks. The stealth missions are as outdated as the character animations, forcing you to do a lot of escort missions, as well as being in the shadows a lot. Throwing stones to distract guards wasn’t innovative or interesting ten years ago. The platform is similarly old-fashioned. Whether it’s climbing walls with specific patterns, jumping from one section to another, or swinging from conveniently placed beams, you know your drills. The only difficulty was when sections didn’t work as expected, but the problem was compounded by the fact that at the start you’d see long pan shots of the exact route you’d have to traverse through the level. There are no alternate paths and few interesting events.
Gollum’s decision is the most interesting part of the game, but it’s more due to its lack of quality elsewhere than it has its own merits. There is a fundamental dichotomy between Smeagol and Gollum’s choices, which can be either kind or mean. Share a small portion of the maggot-infested bread or keep it for yourself. Shout out to allies who helped you escape, or trap a nasty orc captive. You can see the image. I tried to play as Smeagol as much as I could, only stepping into Gollum’s realm when absolutely necessary, like saving the lives of my allies. Convincing the other half of Gollum’s brain, however, was always easy, with dialogue options reminiscent of Harry Potter’s Sorting Hat quiz about being put in Slytherin if you told him to kill a House Elf. Throughout, he says sticking to one personality has little bearing on future decisions, but if this game is in any way enjoyable, it’s worth revisiting to see another outcome unfold. will play. I don’t, so I won’t.
Not much for hardcore LotR fans. Seeing the inner workings of Mordor sounds fun, but in reality it’s boring because most of it is built in for gameplay. Want to see the orcs quarrel and Sauron’s cadres struggle for power? The moment you feel that it was made for the fans, the moment you climb the battle machine Grond, which is often met, but it leans too far to the side and becomes superficial fan service. I’m sure Sindarin is all top notch – I’m a lorehound, not a linguist – but what’s best for Tolkien fans is the main glossary, accessible from his menu, which you can use while playing. Most of the game’s context is explained. But no, Merian’s girdle is not a physical object.
Gollum isn’t a good game, but there are good games. When the Nazgul closed in on me in the early stages, I felt really panicked, but then I realized that this was Gollum’s capture site and there was no way to escape. Many of the exciting set pieces, including the fallen beast, are relegated to cutscenes that capture the terror that Gollum was feeling. Unfortunately, that’s all I felt throughout the game. Gollum’s characterization is poor, and you’ll likely end the game with exactly the same feelings towards Tolkien’s pathetic creatures at first. There are better things to do – the character designs are also a stunning interpretation of Tolkien’s portrayal, inspired by the eerie folk-horror vibe of the Elves of Mirkwood – but to save this boring game They are too few.
Score: 1.5/5. A copy of The Lord of the Rings: Gollum was provided by the publisher.