The Lord of the Rings: Gollum appears to share Gollum’s conflicted persona. In a twenty minute distant preview, I obtained to see its Gollum aspect: contextual stealth takedowns, ledge shimmying, and “Gollum imaginative and prescient,” but additionally its Smeagol aspect: an open-ended, combat-free platforming puzzle towards a placing fantasy backdrop. Which one will in the end win out is difficult to say after such a brief look.
The demo begins in one of many recreation’s two major places: Mordor, realm of Sauron, volcanic moonscape, iron orcish retains, all that jazz. I used to be a bit unsure earlier than the demo at how effectively this gray and purple hellscape may carry half of a recreation, however Daedalic’s accomplished a good job injecting extra colour, some yellow sulfur and even a little bit of greenery that differentiates its Mordor from Peter Jackson’s portrayal.
The Mordor phase largely covers Gollum’s tutorial, so it is potential the stealth gameplay may have extra tips up its sleeve, however I am nonplussed. On strategy to an orc fortress, Gollum prompts “Gollum Imaginative and prescient” to spotlight enemies, a function acquainted to anybody who’s performed a triple-A recreation prior to now 10 years. Gollum scurries from cowl to cowl in concealing bushes, climbs up a excessive ledge to keep away from a guardpost, and kills an orcish sentry with a contextual stealth takedown.
All of it provides me an impression of a totally standardized 2010s stealth-action design, and I haven’t got notably excessive hopes for this facet of the sport. Each Batman and Murderer’s Creed have trod and re-trod this terrain.
The Mordor portion concludes with the reveal of Gollum vs. Smeagol ethical selections. I do not know if there’s an express Gollum/Smeagol morality meter like one thing out of Knights of the Outdated Republic, However LotR: Gollum does monitor these selections and it’ll affect story beats.
However to what finish? The presenters additionally confirmed that the principle plot factors are set in stone, the curse of prequels in every single place elevating unlucky implications on how Gollum justifies present. I am not offered on the terrible little hobbit’s “star energy” because it have been. As iconic as Andy Serkis’ portrayal was, even that interpretation would not make for a compelling lead for a complete videogame, and this is not Andy Serkis we’re speaking about right here, however a Serkis-esque celeb impersonation. The presenters cite Gollum and Smeagol’s crosstalk as a solution to fill silence throughout gameplay and extra organically ship the type of “hm, I assume that is the place I’m going subsequent” barks we have come to count on from our chatty videogame protagonists, however the schtick is already sporting on me by the mid-point of the 20-minute presentation.
Silver Linings
The second portion of the demo is a little more promising. The court docket of Thranduil within the Mirkwood kinds the opposite major setting, and I am fairly taken with its look, one thing midway between the elven environments of Peter Jackson’s motion pictures and the Dreaming Metropolis from Future 2.
This portion additionally would not have any enemy characters, as a substitute displaying Gollum navigating the elf king’s empty bedchamber. It is the type of open-ended platforming puzzle I actually loved in Prince of Persia: the Sands of Time, with the participant being left to chart a path by means of a cavernous fantasy impediment course. Gollum has to climb to the heights of the large chamber, leaping from handholds on a shifting orrery excessive above the ground. This a part of the Gollum demo stirs one thing in me, strikes me as a recreation I’d really need to play.
After which the demo ends. After years of simply present as a reputation and pre-rendered idea footage, Gollum’s first look was divided between visions of an uninspired stealth-action recreation and an intriguing throwback platformer. It is troublesome to inform which method the ultimate recreation goes to lean, however I come away from its public reveal unenthused by the combo thus far.
