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Lord Of The Rings: Gollum - Hands On Preview

IbizaPocholo

IbizaPocholo

NeoGAFs Kent Brockman


The Narrative and Gameplay of Gollum: A Sneaky Platformer​

Gollum is an upcoming video game based on J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings universe. It is a stealth-based platformer with a strong focus on narrative elements. In this preview, we get a glimpse of what the gameplay and story elements of the game are like.

Stealth and Platforming Elements​

Stealth is a significant part of the game. The player must use various tactics to distract enemies, such as throwing stones to create noise or sneaking past them by using Gollum's climbing abilities. The gameplay loop involves a lot of sneaking around, and players must be careful not to get caught. Some levels are more open, allowing players to tackle them in their way. However, the focus remains on stealth-based gameplay.

The Story Elements​

Gollum may not seem like an obvious choice for the main character, considering he is small, weak, and not an iconic character like Gandalf or Frodo. However, the game's co-writer explained that Golem's character allows players to explore places in the Lord of the Rings universe that even characters like Gandalf have not seen.

The story focuses on Golem's journey and his internal dialogue with Smeagol. In the level showcased in the preview, players meet a character named "Candleman" and must decide whether to make him an ally or deceive him. The dialogue between Golem and Smeagol is a crucial part of the narrative and affects the game's later stages.

The game's co-writer stated that Gollum's decisions would not have the same impact as games like Mass Effect or Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. However, the decisions players make in the game will affect who lives, dies, and whom they meet, resulting in a personalized narrative experience.

Variety in Level Design​

The preview showcases two levels. The first level involves escaping a group of elves and is set in a lush green environment. The second level is set in a gritty castle and focuses more on the story. Both levels are complete opposites of each other, providing a good bit of variety in what players can expect to see.

Overall Impression​

Gollum's gameplay mechanics are engaging and unique, combining elements of stealth and platforming. The story elements make the game feel more immersive and add to the overall experience. However, the preview only scratches the surface of what the game has to offer. It remains to be seen how the narrative elements and gameplay mechanics will work together in the final game.
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The Lord of the Rings: Gollum will launch on PlayStation 5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and PC on May 25.
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ZoukGalaxy

ZoukGalaxy

Member
IbizaPocholo said:
Golem's gameplay mechanics are engaging and unique, combining elements of stealth and platforming. The story elements make the game feel more immersive and add to the overall experience.
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sleepy cat GIF

Seems as "engaging" as a soviet old tank.

My bad, a soviet tank is actually more engaging.
 
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Party McHardy

Party McHardy

Member
I love the books/films and I love stealth games but I still have no desire to play this. Maybe I’ll pick it up on sale on day.
 
TheInfamousKira

TheInfamousKira

Reseterror Resettler
The only reason I'd put my hands on this would be to toss it on the return counter after beating whomever sold it to me in error severely with the case. But that might be a Mormon thing.
 
P

polybius80

Member
at least its not a gollum that identify himself as non binary, has an homosexual relationship with frodo and uses a hipster haircut
 
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Heimdall_Xtreme

Heimdall_Xtreme

Jim Ryan Fanclub's #1 Member
FunkMiller said:
Again... why this shit, instead of a Medieval Gear Solid game with Aragorn going around the north killing Sauron's servants? It's all there in the book.

Who the fuck wants to play as the little shit goblin, who everybody hates?
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I always had the idea that Gollum was a popular character.

I think the one that is most popular is the dwarf viking Gimli
 
J

jaysius

Banned
Budget AAA title at it's worst, this only abuses dumb fans that are jonesing for more LOTR content, shameless and fucking disgusting.
 
worldwithpyramids

worldwithpyramids

Member
Gameplay seems janky and animations are a bit wonky, but I don’t get why people are angry about this game? Particularly because it’s a game centered on playing as Gollum? Don’t think it’ll be great but people seem overly harsh.
 
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Raven117

Raven117

Member
FunkMiller said:
Again... why this shit, instead of a Medieval Gear Solid game with Aragorn going around the north killing Sauron's servants? It's all there in the book.

Who the fuck wants to play as the little shit goblin, who everybody hates?
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This. Who the fuck thought this was a good idea?
 
IAmNotFromDelaware

IAmNotFromDelaware

Member
worldwithpyramids said:
Gameplay seems janky and animations are a bit wonky, but I don’t get why people are angry about this game? Particularly because it’s a game centered on playing as Gollum? Don’t think it’ll be great but people seem overly harsh.
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After the amazing experience that was Shadow of War and Shadow of Mordor, many of us wanted more of that.

I'm trying to keep an open mind and I'm hoping it will be good but I simply can't see how controlling gollum would be fun at all.

Like getting a Batman game but we get to control Penguin.
 
Cyberpunkd

Cyberpunkd

Member
In before Steam review bombs when people will buy it for Aragorn and epic battles and realise they play as a little shit.
 
Inviusx

Inviusx

Member
Stunned by how much press this game has been getting relative to its percieved quality. I'm not saying this couldn't be a sleeper hit but the coverage for this game is odd, they are really hyping up a potential bomb here.
 
The Cockatrice

The Cockatrice

Gold Member
As a huge stealth gamer this looks like fucking trash or they picked the worst parts of the game to showcase. If youre going to make a stealth game, whats the most important thing? Fucking level design! What did they show? half an hour of walking a linear path behind guards. Lmao. I didnt enjoy Styx as much as others but the level design was quite good. If its not at the very least similar to that, then it can stay in the garbage bin.
 
Kev Kev

Kev Kev

Member
It looks pretty bare bones, but who knows, maybe it will be one of those games that is fun to play. I mean, if they have some fun platforming elements and some cleverly hidden collectibles to find, all mixed with stealth, that's enough for me to give it a shot. Hopefully it's on a service like GamePass or there is some way to not have to, you know, pay full price lol.

I dunno 🤷‍♂️ It does look a bit boring (it's looking like the 'Stray' of the LoTR universe lol) but I'll reserve judgement until I see a play through or actually play it myself.
 
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Games of Today

Games of Today

Member
I feel like the design of Gollum is more aligned with the book's version as far as I'm aware (I've never read them so correct me if I'm wrong.)

This also doesn't really seem like a game that was solely made to cash out on. It appears more along the lines of a game made for fans of the books and for people who are into the the lore that isn't told as much as the massive journey the Hobbits go on.

The gameplay doesn't look particularly great or interesting at all. But for some reason I could see this being a decent game to play while relaxing. It's along the lines of Journey to me or something with less intense gameplay and more of a focus on the story.

It's $49.99 on Steam though, OUCH. They would have had a decent chance selling it by starting with a price under $40.

Getting this on sale for like $24.99 or something would seem like a worth while deal.
 
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C

crackajack

Member
FunkMiller said:
Who the fuck wants to play as the little shit goblin, who everybody hates?
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Who the fuck wants all games to be the same? And is he really hated? He was a tragic figure, quite an average carefree Hobbit maybe pretty weak and fell for the ring immediately while Frodo was turned at the end. Do i see huge potential, no, but they chose him cause they had an idea and financing was convinced about it as well.
He might not fit the usual hero type and attract masses, but if it is budgeted correctly, it could be sort of like Returnal for Housemarque, not as small as their adventure days but since it is Nacon it hardly is AAA either, hoping for a niche success on a bit bigger budget and longer dev time than their previous games. It's not like we have tons of such kind of quirky games, while some Aragorn/Gimli/Legolas hack and slash and bow and arrow definitely exist in greater numbers.
 
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Fuz

Fuz

Banned
crackajack said:
Who the fuck wants all games to be the same? And is he really hated? He was a tragic figure, quite an average carefree Hobbit maybe pretty weak and fell for the ring immediately while Frodo was turned at the end. Do i see huge potential, no, but they chose him cause they had an idea and financing was convinced about it as well.
He might not fit the usual hero type and attract masses, but if it is budgeted correctly, it could be sort of like Returnal for Housemarque, not as small as their adventure days but since it is Nacon it hardly is AAA either, hoping for a niche success on a bit bigger budget and longer dev time than their previous games. It's not like we have tons of such kind of quirky games, while some Aragorn/Gimli/Legolas hack and slash and bow and arrow definitely exist in greater numbers.
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Agree.
No idea why people hate on this game so much and have such an hard-on on seeing it fail.
He's also a fantastic character and one of the greatest in all literature.
crackajack said:
the usual hero type
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AcclaimedIdioticFanworms-max-1mb.gif
 
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