New Gollum Game Confirmed for 2021 Launch

Almost a year ago, Daedelic announced that it would begin work on a game set in the Lord of the Rings universe, one which focuses on the world's dual personality character. Now in August of 2020, the game is coming back into the limelight with a brand new trailer and hints about the gameplay.

The trailer is only a reveal for the game, so it does not feature much gameplay or story, but is rather intended to get fans excited for future material without causing too much speculation. However, there are a few key details that have been revealed.

First of all, the game will be more story-driven and less violent than other LOTR games like Shadow of Mordor and War. It will be heavily stealth focused, forcing players to sneak their way around enemies using the world around them, rather than attacking enemies directly.  IGN was able to snag an exclusive interview with the game designer and other staff, featured on their IGN Now show and their official website.

"The game mixes stealth with vertical climbing parkour," explains lead game designer Martin Wilkes. "If you want a reference you might think of it as similar to Prince of Persia. It is mostly a non-combat game, but Gollum will be able to stealthily take out enemies. However, this will not be easy and always come with big risks. We want players to carefully weigh these encounters. After all, Gollum’s strengths lie in cunning, not combat."

Between these stealth sections of the game, Gollum will be forced to make decisions and dialogue choices, which will be proposed from both Gollum and Smeagol personalities. 

These choices will ultimately affect the direction that the game takes, though the game's ending is set to reconnect with the LOTR universe. Wilkes elaborates on the types of choices players will be presented with, saying: "It's not just choosing to be Smeagol or Gollum as an entity. It's not that easy. Each personality is being attacked by the other; each has to defend himself. You will have maybe two, three or four conflicts per chapter that lead to a final decision point. And at this final decision point, it will be harder to pick Smeagol, for example, if you've always fought for the Gollum side before [and vice versa]."

Finally, players have also been told that the upcoming title will be based off of Tolkien's books, as a prequel, rather than idolizing the Peter Jackson films. While these mean that characters might follow a similar overall storyline, characters such as Gollum and the Nazgul will have in-game looks that players are not used to. 

The idea of the new game is to balance player choice with stealth, puzzle solving and even some platforming throughout the game. Wilkes states that "Verticality plays a big role in our levels, and the outstanding climbing skills of our character not only provide us with epic views, but also really open up this dimentsion for the players from a gameplay perspective."

Gollum will be taking full advantage of the upgraded consoles in 2021 when it launches on the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and PC.

Kieran Mouritsen
Editor, NoobFeed