New Trailer For THE LORD OF THE RINGS: GOLLUM Offers an In-Depth Look at the Game

I’ve got a new “Gameplay Overview” trailer for you to watch for Daedalic Entertainment’s upcoming game The Lord of the Rings: Gollum, which is set in J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle Earth. This trailer offers us an in-depth look at the game and the adventurous story that it’s going to tell.

The game will “feature a branching narrative, and expand on the hints given by J.R.R. Tolkien about the Stoor-formerly-known-as-Sméagol to create a brand new Lord of the Rings story that aims to fit alongside the books.” As you’ll see in the trailer, this is a beautifully designed game filled with vibrant details.

Daedalic Entertainment CEO Cartsen Fichtelman previously talked about the game, explaining that it “follows the path of Gollum and what happens before Frodo and his companions find him trailing them in the Mines of Moria… We’ll tell his story until he first shows up. Sometimes they mention some things that happen to Gollum, but nobody knows exactly what happened. That’s our task, explaining what exactly happened there.”

Game producer Harold Riegler explains, “Gollum has always fascinated us. While being completely essential to the story written by J.R.R. Tolkien, Gollum’s long chase for his precious ring has never been told in detail. Yet his incredible journey from Mordor, through Mirkwood, to the Mines of Moria, takes players to places they haven’t seen before, while setting the stage for events that ultimately decide the fate of all Middle-earth.”

When talking about the gaming experience, Fichtelman explained, “When you play Gollum, you’ll play Sméagol at the same time. You need to make some decisions, maybe some decisions that are more or less from Sméagol, and some that are from Gollum. You can decide for yourself what you’d like to see more. When you decide some things, it could be—this is reflected in the mechanics. The game forces you to convince yourself and find one of these two positions. When it comes to other iconic characters in the universe, in Middle-earth, we’ll see what happens around Gollum.”

It’s also explained that it’s not just “choosing to be Sméagol or Gollum, because for Gollum as an entity it’s not that easy. Each personality is being attacked by the other; each has to defend himself.” It’s also explained that “the decisions you make affect the way the game feels. You always either play as Sméagol or as Gollum as the 'dominant' persona and that can influence animations, soundscapes, certain gameplay situations, and in-game dialogue.”

It was also made clear that the game will not change any of the source material. It just expands on it. Lead narrative designer Tilman Schanen explains:

“We naturally stay within certain limits. It won’t be like you’re going to end up destroying Middle-earth because you never made a Sméagol choice. In the end, of course, Gollum's fate is pretty much determined by the books. But your decisions can and will have effects, for example, for other NPCs in the game. Some decisions will have a bigger impact, others very little. Just as in real life.

"We follow Tolkien's story quite strictly and only take some freedom for purposes of gamification or sometimes simplification. Tolkien doesn't describe Gollum's story before he appears in the book in great detail. So mainly, we draw from small notes in the appendices and second-hand reports from characters like Gandalf. Since we need to fill in many gaps, it gives us quite a bit of creative freedom to pursue our narrative vision.”

The Lord of the Rings: Gollum currently doesn't have a release date, but it's slated to launch in Fall 2022. It will be releasing on Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, and PC.