In the Lord of the Rings novels, Gollum was once a Hobbit named Sméagol who longed to be reunited with his favorite magic ring. This took him years and years, until he withered away and became another creature entirely, Gollum.
We haven’t had to wait quite that long for The Lord of the Rings: Gollum, which was announced in 2019 for a 2021 release before being delayed to this September, with a cinematic tease to tide Gollum-heads over in the meantime.
The first proper gameplay trailer, however, might be a little too good at simulating the wretched existence of the novels’ most tragic character. (By which I mean: It looks quite like the way a fishy old cave smells.)
Here is how developer Daedelic Entertainment describes The Lord of the Rings: Gollum.
The Lord of the Rings: Gollum is a story-driven action RPG where our twisted protagonist is on a quest to regain the only thing precious to him. Torn by his fractured psyche, players will have to manage both Sméagol and Gollum on a journey that will take him across famous locales, revealing more about his time as a slave below the Dark Tower and his stray with the Elves of Mirkwood, as he interacts with iconic characters from the series.
Unfortunately, none of that really shows in this trailer, which makes the game look like all the stealth levels from every game released in the last 20 years stitched together in a single package, starring Gollum instead of Nathan Drake/Lara Croft/one of several men/clones with the codename “Snake.” Which is great if you like video game stealth sequences as they are often presented, less so if you do not.
The Lord of the Rings: Gollum will be available Sept. 1, 2022 on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S and Nintendo Switch at a later date.
