Lord of the Rings: Gollum makes no sense as a game concept in 2022. The upcoming action-adventure game from Daedalic Entertainment will follow the story of Sméagol, the famously corrupted character from the Lord of the Rings trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien, as he survives the caverns of Middle-earth. The game was first announced to the public in March of 2019, to almost universal skepticism about its concept. Upon further inspection, bringing Gollum into the spotlight as the protagonist feels like the wrong direction for the Lord of the Rings video games.
On the surface, Lord of the Rings: Gollum has an uphill battle of public expectations to assuage and conceptual hoops to leap through. The story of Sméagol, and his slow transformation into Gollum, are equal parts tragic and unsettling. This may make it hard to sympathize with Gollum as the lead in his own game.
Because Lord of the Rings: Gollum takes place after the events of The Hobbit and before the Lord of the Rings trilogy, it will not include Sméagol's redemption arc, essentially focusing on his descent into the caves of Middle-earth and his fracturing personality. The news caused quite a stir in the gaming community not only for its choice of the protagonist but its left-field turn from the established body of modern Lord of the Rings games.
Middle-earth Series Set A High Bar For Lord Of The Rings Games
In 2014, Monolith Productions released Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor, an original action-adventure game inspired by J.R.R. Tolkien's expanded notes on the world of the Lord of the Rings. The game received widespread acclaim for its original storytelling, engaging combat, and revolutionary Nemesis system, which Monolith may bring back in Wonder Woman. Shadow of Mordor told an unprecedented new story in the Lord of the Rings world and inspired an equally engaging sequel in Middle-earth: Shadow of War in 2017.
The Middle-earth games were broad-spanning action epics, following the Gondorian Ranger Talion and the Elf Lord Celebrimbor as they cut a swath through Sauron's legions of evil. Their journey brought them through a sprawling, cinematic open-world and pit them against fearsome Uruk captains in exciting battle clashes, an experience very much synonymous with the Lord of the Rings movie series. Meanwhile, the first trailer for Lord of the Rings: Gollum focused on his personality struggle. In a series that has established itself, in film and video games, as a reliable source of excitement, action, and epic war, making a video game about a tiny, groveling former hobbit hiding in caves feels very much out of place.
With more details becoming public as 2022 begins, the flaws in Gollum's concept are beginning to show. Because of the game's setting, it is highly unlikely that it will feature the series' most famous hobbit characters like Frodo or Sam. The game's first trailer showed Monolith's character design will be extremely faithful to the movie version of Gollum, but other characters like Gandalf look nothing like the LOTR movies. Between its departure from the action-heavy tone of the LOTR series to its focus on an antagonistic minor character, the future of Lord of the Rings: Gollum appears to be lost in its own caves.