Developed by Daedalic Entertainment, who you may know as the creators of the point-and-click adventure series Deponia, Lord of the Rings: Gollum has been in active development for some time. The German developer has worked hard over the last few years to transform The Lord of the Rings: Gollum into what could be the next hit in Tolkien's Middle-earth universe, one that has had a surprisingly solid experience when it comes to video games. . . The Lord of the Rings: Gollum should be a canon story in Middle-earth mythos. It follows the titular creature after discovering the One Ring, set before the events of The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. As such, it's possible that the game fills in the story-focused gaps presented here or provides additional context to the events of Tolkien's books.
Come to the point
- What is it? An action-adventure video game centered on the character Gollum, set before the events of The Lord of the Rings.
- When can I play it? The game currently has a tentative release date of 2021.
- What can I play in? The game is scheduled for release on PC, as well as PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X.
Lord of the Rings Gollum release date
While we don't have a concrete date yet, it seems like we're closer to the game's release than we think. The Lord of the Rings Gollum is scheduled for a tentative release in 2021. This could coincide with Amazon's Lord of the Rings TV series, which is also scheduled for a 2021 release. The show will also take place before the events of novels, which means it could serve as a companion to The Lord of the Rings: Gollum.
Lord of the Rings Gollum Trailer
While there hasn't been much visual feedback on the game so far, Daedalic has released a trailer that gives fans a taste of the game's visual style and the types of environments we can expect us to explore.
What we know so far
There are still few valuable details about what will eventually become Lord of the Rings: Gollum. However, what Daedalic Entertainment has revealed so far is promising. Much of the game will revolve around stealth and platforming. Gollum himself won't get many exploitable abilities. True to character for him, he will be small and relatively lively, making him the perfect choice for stealth play, really. As much as we'd love to see the little guy suplexing an orca, that probably won't happen. Players will also need to make decisions at certain key points through choices and actions displayed in thought bubbles around the main character. What we find interesting is that the choices will be shared between Gollum's split personalities. From what we've seen, we can choose to remove Gollum and select options that are more in line with Smeagol (his original form of him before contacting The One Ring). Instead, players can enjoy the wild Gollum with more cunning and aggressive picks. It seems like a clever system that makes a lot of sense for Gollum in particular, which leads us to think that the game could end up being an interesting character study. It's not yet clear how much these decisions will affect the overall story, but we can imagine that Gollum's personality will change over time depending on which side of him he chooses to invest in the most.
![El señor de los anillos Gollum]()
(Image credit: Daedalic Entertainment)
Features of The Lord of the Rings Gollum PS5 DualSense
One of the reasons players may want to pick up the PS5 version of The Lord of the Rings: Gollum is the inclusion of features made possible by its DualSense controller. That is, the haptic feedback offered by the controller triggers. Feedback from Daedalic's Jonas Husges indicates that the haptic feedback functionality of the triggers will be tied to Gollum's stamina. The more Gollum gets tired while he's running, the more resistance will be applied to triggers, indicating that the creature is getting tired. One wonders if this will be a superficial feature just to dive in, or if there is something more ambitious at play here. For example, players may need to manage Gollum's stamina in order to run more effectively. Another possibility is that we may have to deal with increased resistance on the triggers to sustain extended periods of speed. This inclusion also indicates the type of stopped pieces that we can see during the game. In general, you don't run very stealthily, after all, unless you've been spotted and have to act like a Nazgûl chasing a Hobbit. There may be sequences where the player is sued as part of the story, with no alternative remedy. In this case, the haptic feedback from the DualSense could add another layer of challenge as players fight to keep Gollum moving.
Lord of the Rings Gollum ray tracing and visual effects
Daedalic has confirmed that current-gen builds of Lord of the Rings Gollum will place ray tracing front and center as a graphical feature. The developer hinted that ray tracing could be used dynamically in the game's level design. An example has been attributed to how ray tracing lighting can help and hinder the player in their stealthy endeavors. Shadow passages can be used to safely maneuver from the enemy, while moving light sources can expose Gollum at any time. If this is indeed the case, we may see Lord of the Rings Gollum transform into a unique and challenging stealth game that could pave the way for other developers to consider how to best use ray tracing in a game-oriented way. A certain latent stealth action franchise comes to mind. As for the overall visual style of the game, it's certainly a step beyond the grainy photorealism we're used to seeing in Middle-earth projects. It's not overly cartoony, but it definitely falls somewhere between that and a more realistic look. Gollum himself looks incredibly adorable, for example.
![El señor de los anillos Gollum]()
(Image credit: Daedalic Entertainment) From the screenshots posted by Daedalic, it appears that the game's environments have a sense of impressive scale. There are numerous scenes where the camera is tilted up, immediately emphasizing how small Gollum is in comparison, while evoking the immense journey that unfolds before him. Regarding the game's environmental progression, Daedalic has confirmed that the opening level will be Barad-DUR, a fortress in Mordor where Gollum is held captive. The hellish landscapes of Mordor won't be the only place we visit though, as Daedalic has promised a variety of areas in Middle-earth. Many of these environments will likely be large and explorable, providing multiple quest lines for players to discover. The Lord of the Rings: Gollum has been working on Daedalic for a while and the release of him doesn't seem to be that far away. What we've seen so far looks promising, and hopefully Daedalic can deliver a unique stealth adventure that fits right into Tolkien's mythos. As always, we'll keep you posted on any news related to the game as it gets closer to release.