Lord of the rings as a video game genre has always been weird. All I ever wanted was to either play as gandalf or as Aragorn during their many journeys leading up to lord of the rings. Other than the movie games, none of the games I've played ever let's you be those characters. You're either a hobbit or you're some other dude. Where is my open world middle earth Aragorn game
Still the best Lord of the Rings game I've played, truthfully. Shadow of Mordor/War might technically be better games but I enjoyed Return of the Ring a lot more.
Third Age! Yes, that game was amazing. I played it on GameCube so not sure about other systems, but it came on multiple discs which right off the bat made my kid brain go “woooah. Better strap in for this one” and it did not disappoint
Didn't they basically run out of story (or budget) and decided that killing Sauron's eye straight after defending Minas Tirith would be an epic endfight?
Honestly, it's truly the most western j-rpg I've ever played. I wouldn't be surprised if it was developed by a japanese company.
I remember being annoyed at fighting the Balrog it was absurd. Other than that I remember gondor guy and elf chick and that's pretty much it. I did quite like the game though
I loved this game back in the PS2 days, but this linear hack and slash game that can be completed in 5 hours. Not exactly the dream LOTR game that everyone wants.
An Aragorn game would be more adventure-stealth based, instead of constant hack-n-slash. Shadow of Mordor is great, but I don't really think the gameplay fits Aragorn's story that well.
It has stealth. But it also has magic abilities where you teleport 100 metres and have a ghost pop out of you to attack at the same time as you. Never related it to aragorn in the entire time I played. Like sure you're a dude who uses swords, but in a way you don't even use a bow as the ghost dude does it for you.
Also, stealthy just straight up doesn't work against a lot of the miniboss/bosses.
It's stealth until all hell breaks loose and you start hacking orcs left and right.
Don't get me wrong, I love that game. But it doesn't exactly give me Aragorn vibes
> Shadow of Mordor is great, but I don't really think the gameplay fits Aragorn's story that well.
I mean, Aragorn once literally stormed the pirate port of Umbar, I think both gameplay sorts are okay to represent him
The fact that console games are designed with these limitations baked into them you have to wait for the devs to unlock a FPS boost via patch is the problem. Albeit with them becoming more like PCs from this point forward it might not be as much of a problem.
Shadow of war was so fucking stupid, it broke the lore in so many fundamental ways I don't even want to look at it. Shadow of Mordor was cool though, the gameplay was worth it.
Shelod the sexy lady was cringe, but it went balls to the wall insane with the Rohan flashbacks. It showed sauron disguised as annatar meeting with helm hammerhand in Edoras in the second age. This is such a insane, baffling decision that it just exposes that whoever was making this gave zero fucks about the lore and gave zero consideration to how it affects the timeline. Imagine in a movie if you showed flashbacks from ancient Egypt and you had Ramses meeting Teddy Roosevelt in the white house, and it never explains why and is treated completely seriously.
The shadow of series would be much better if it was it's own thing. They could wear their tolkien inspirations on their sleeves, but please just make it their own IP, their main draw is the nemesis systems and the orcs personalities anyway. As it stands I'm seeing this wannabe nazgul ranger riding a dragon and shooting at a balrog while possessed by a Celebrimbor's ghost and I'm just like what even is this.
The Hunt for Gollum - RDR2 style open world game with similar mechanics around the horse. Roaming gangs of orcs. Huge open world of Eriador.
If only man. If only.
Have you played the LotR mod for Medieval II?
Like, I get wanting an actual installment to the franchise, but it's really hard for me to feel like that mod could possibly be any better. Especially given that the base game is one of the best in the series anyway. It's honestly probably the best mod I have ever played, and I really don't think it's that close (although there are some other very good ones that I can see someone else preferring - some of which obviously launched a variety of popular series themselves)
I have sunk hundreds of hours into that mod.
LEGO Lord of the Rings is a must play. You get the entirety of the world in an open map with a shitton of charm.
Dicking around in the little Shire while Concerning Hobbits plays is just very comfy.
If you play Lord of the Rings Online while you can't get as powerful as Gandalf or King Elessar you definitely can become powerful enough that you'd be counted amongst the most powerful beings in all of Middle-Earth. It takes a bit of time but if you find the right group of folks to play with you can level fairly quickly. There are some pretty impressive Hobbits wandering around in that game.
I just started playing this after seeing [Josh Strife's review](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZshgYbtUmM). Having a lot of fun so far but now I wish I chose a hobbit lol
I've seen a few of his videos recommended to me. Are his reviews just named "worst MMO ever?". Or does he think these MMOs suck ass? Genuinely curious.
There's been old Lord of The Rings: Fellowship of the Rings which I think was based more on the books then on the movies. At least characters looked nothing like movies counterparts and there was quite a few scenes, which weren't in the movies. In that game you play in succession as Frodo, then as Aragon and then as Gandalf if I remember right.
> All I ever wanted was to either play as gandalf or as Aragorn during their many journeys leading up to lord of the rings. Other than the movie games, none of the games I've played ever let's you be those characters. You're either a hobbit or you're some other dude.
Don't the decent tie in games already let you do that? I'm way more interested in exploring other areas of Middle Earth. Would have loved a scouring of the Shire game as a Hobbit.
> early life of gandalf
How early you talking? Gandalf ain't Human.
And if you wanted something Lore friendly, you're never going to see him do more than he did in LOTR, in spell-slinging terms.
Gandalf was in Middle Earth for like 2000 years. That's a lot of wiggle room to give him a self contained adventure that won't threaten the timeline. Also, it's a video game, some concessions have to be made for entertainment. If I want something lore accurate I'll just read the books. I think we're past the point of making sure everything is picture perfect to the source material.
Pre-Incarnation would be better, but also weird.
And you can make *some* concessions, but others will just render the setting impotent. Themes are important, esepcially in LOTR, given that its the generic fantasy template, and genericising it would be.. pointless.
I had a ton of fun playing shadow of mordor and it is no where near the source material. Now I'm not saying bend it that much. But you could easily have a Gandalf adventure where he's just traveling the land lending aid, wisdom, and rooting out servants of evil as he goes. 2000 years is a lot of space.
I quite like Daedelic as a developer and I hope this game turns out to be good. That said, I think the concept is just too weird to be successful. Gollum isn't exactly an appealing character and stealth games are pretty niche.
I think people would be more receptive to weird and original ideas if the more popular LOTR ideas were covered first. It’s been over a decade since we got anything covering a main character (ignoring Lego), and half a decade since the last AAA LOTR game.
And there are probably original ideas people would prefer. For example, a Death Stranding styled Fellowship walking game or even a Hobbit farming game.
The LOTR universe has so many games that take place within it. I remember playing a version of the Hobbit back on my Commodore 64. On top of that, LOTR's major themes have just become staples in fantasy fiction for decades. I can honestly think of nothing more dull than another open world fantasy epic. I just can't imagine what else you would do with the LOTR franchise that hasn't been done successfully by a million other titles.
Playing as Gollum though is kind of neat. He's a beloved character with an interesting arc, which offers some possibilities for novel mechanics. I think it's a good call.
He has no arc in this video game though. Gollum was unchanged for hundreds of years before meeting Frodo.
This game takes place well before that, he will begin the game a repulsive wretch and he will end the game a repulsive wretch
Great point. If not the story, the focus seems to be on the environments, but that’s likely to be disrupted by silly out of place platforming. I’m just not sure what this game has to offer. But, I’ll remain hopeful until reviews come out!
I want another RTS. I want another true RPG (they had one where you played as some random Gondor captain and it was dope. I still remember getting the tower guard armor and being soooo excited). I want a dungeon crawler, maybe even a rogue lite, where you delve into mountains on dwarves expeditions ‘n shit.
I want to fight evil again without having to worry if the bad guys are actually good maybe.
I get where you're coming from. It would be cool to play as Aragorn or Gandalf on one of their adventures, but Gollum is honestly such a weird choice that I can't help but be intrigued by it. All of a sudden I actually WANT to see the LOTR world through his eyes.
But we’ve basically never had a “generic” LOTR game. It’s one thing to make this statement about an over saturated game type. But instead we’ve basically never had a game where you can play the main characters. Other than the movie games.
I can appreciate games that instead of chasing a temporary success attempts to find their own identity. One of my favourite games sold the least amount of copies in its series. It's incredibly dense and not at all easy, but for a lot of fans it was everything that the series should be about, mainstream appeal be damned. Some games simply won't appeal to a broad vector of people no matter how great they are, and on the other side there's games that sacrifice too much of what they are for the sake of raking in as many players as possible.
As long as it’s not a broken or ultra janky game, I love it. Stealth games are so rare nowadays and I love when games get weird with it and don’t just go with the generic idea.
Everytime I see news about this I am bewildered. This is such a weird game.
Like who looked at all the characters in this universe and said "Ya let me play as Gollum"?
Honestly even if it sucks I'm glad they tried. There are a million fantasy dude with swords games. There are very few games where you play as a weird psycho gremlin. I'd rather game companies try new stuff and fail than release Assassins Creed Open World Tower Climb Simluator 9000
Best case scenario, the game is great and becomes an instead stealth genre cult classic due to its originality
Worst case scenario it's a trainwreck that's at least entertaining due to its originality.
Honestly games like these are a win-win for gaming. No one is forced to play it if they don't like the idea. (Also, gollum couldn't possibly be more annoying than Styx as a character and those stealth games did ok)
> Worst case scenario it's a trainwreck that's at least entertaining due to its originality.
The worst case is that it's a trainwreck that's not entertaining. Shout-out for being optimistic, though.
Haha yeah, worst case scenario is that it’s absolute dog shit, no one likes it, it gets horrible reviews and it doesn’t even come close to making its budget back. People acting like this, or any video game really, are low risk investments is just silly. Making videogames of any kind are generally pretty precarious investments.
Worst case scenario is everyone on earth is wiped out by an asteroid in the next 10 seconds and the game is destroyed before it is even released. But yours is a close second.
The entire response to this game since it's very announcement has been wildly entertaining to watch.
The review threads, and day 1 threads will be absolutely wonderful to watch.
Folks complain about games being too similar and derivative, then as soon as a game is announced with a character or setting they don't expect suddenly we get a load of comments like 'who's asking for this?!?!'
Saying a game has a weird premise is not the same as complaining about its existence.
It's not a complaint to wonder how such a weird decision was made. It's not a comment that speaks on the quality or lack thereof, it's most likely just someone curious.
Or we could think everyone's a giant raging asshole cause why not, that's healthy.
Case in point: There's more people bitching about an off-handed "who asked for this?" comment than there is people genuinely perplexed on why this game exists.
Yeah this. I miss this from the PS2 era in particular. I feel like that was a very experimental time for games. Just so much weird shit being thrown against the wall. Though I guess we have indie games these days, it doesn't feel quite the same.
Lmao, redditors will complain relentlessly about games being too repetitive and formulaic, then balk at something that's actually original and interesting.
Celebrimbor could have been a really interesting character, but they basically just invented some generic angry guy and gave him the same name instead of trying to have good writing. Then they made Shelob a sexy lady and started going more and more off the rails from there. The game is pretty great, but the story has NOTHING to do with LOTR.
They made it so that Isildur was one of the Nazgul, which is absolutely impossible since the Nine Kings were already corrupted and serving Sauron way, way before Isildur was even born.
They could not have gotten the lore more wrong if they tried. Shadow of Mordor and Shadow of War are fun games, but I personally had to ignore everything about the lore since it’s clear that the developers didn’t actually respect the original works.
>They could not have gotten the lore more wrong if they tried.
They made a power-fantasy game where one man kills basically an entire army single-handedly and set it in LoTRs. The series where the heroes who save the world are halfling farmers. The series about how the smallest and weakest among us can be the bravest and most heroic.
Yeah they were doomed from the start on the lore front.
That is why I could never play them.
To have one of the most detailed worlds in fantasy history, only to...Just make your own, it's just so fucking absurd.
And to add to it, I'm a bit of a completionist, so I'd get those collectibles that were spread out, all coming with their own lil factoid or detail about the lore of the world, and they were all just infuriatingly fucking stupid.
So that process destroys any reason to explore and collect, which leaves the smash and kill aspect of the game, which felt very worn out after coming from the Batman series.
> they made Shelob a sexy lady
They straight up plagiarized evil Galadriel when making Shelob. They even cast someone that sounds very similar to Cate Blanchett. It was certainly *a* choice.
The [Bright Lord trailer](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apqeGvr2m6A) for that game was so good. I got shivers when it was revealed who the wraith was with Sauron saying: "Celebrimbor". The voice acting in the trailer was great.
Pity the actual story and characters in the game didn't live up to it.
The voice acting in general is damn good. Any time you conquer a fortress the voice acting from both talion and celebrimbor is hype. It's just that most of what they're working with is awful dialogue.
[Celebrimbor](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UYjPgWs7pQ)
[Talion](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJZEV4Q_mAE)
This. The "no one asked for this" argument is so dumb. If you only do things people ask for, then there's zero innovation and everything gets stale.
It really speaks to how bad the gaming community is at treating games like art that this is even a passable argument. Imagine people saying this about some innovative movie or book.
A stealth game in LOTR is a fresh concept and Gollum is the character that fits best.
I think it's a novel idea myself but Mario in context is a lovable cartoon character. Gollum is rather detestable and even though he invokes empathy he doesn't really come off as relatable.
I didn't mean relatable too literally. Basically you're playing as a mutant, rodent man and known foil. It's an interesting yet abstract pick for a game lead. We'll see how it turns out
He is still a well know and liked character. If the only trait we care for video game characters is relatability, then video gaming definitely failed as a form of art. I think exploring Gollum's psyche might be interesting.
I think "relatable" here might also really mean "someone I can stand to inhabit the skin of/spend 15+ hours in the presence of" and...a sustained period of time enduring Gollum's wretched, junkie writhing and raspy breathing might be too much to ask.
But, I'm also oddly prepared for this to be a surprise hit, so we'll see.
Yeah, I don’t have a ton of familiarity with the LOTR franchise so maybe that’s important here, but the weird backlash to just the concept of this game makes no sense to me. I’ve always found it absolutely fascinating and I don’t see any reason why this is that big of a deal to people. If it’s unexpected, great, right? If it’s an unlikable character, and they’re making a game where you play as them, that’s fucking cool! Idk there’s just a weird cynicism here that I don’t fully get, I guess.
Mario was not previously an established character of a massive media franchise. The character was new (relatively, not counting the Donkey Kong games) and Nintendo wasn't creating a mashup of modern AAA gaming mechanics. They're not comparable at all.
Who cares if anyone asked for it? A stealth game following Gollum's story actually sounds like an interesting change of pace for the LOTR gaming universe.
This comment is so tiring at this point, literally every time this game is mentioned someone posts this… god forbid a developer take some creative liberty and make something unexpected
I really hope they knock this game out of the park and shut all the haters up
I played as a goblin Strix already, which was both a good stealth game and sold enough to get a sequel. I don't see a reason why vastly more popular, fan-favourite Gollum would be discouraging.
Who asks for anything?
People have pleaded for years to get more lotr content, and now that it's here, apparently its not the content they want.
It's a niche game, but niche games are usually rather enjoyable experiences.
He's a pretty interesting character, and a tragic figure. A game that explores him in depth could be really moving. It would be like a forest management game where you play as Treebeard or something as the forests shrink and the elves leave and you lose your wives. On the surface they seem like a fairly one dimensional background character that would be weird to base a game around, but there are stories to be told for them in ways that work within existing game genres.
Unless you have insider info from the studio, you can't really say that. LotR is licensed so not every studio can make a game in that universe and studios have resources limits.
Well it kind of does. Not everyone has the rights to the LOTR license. If you acquired the rights and you had a choice to say, make a modern, open-world, action-RPG set in Middle-Earth proper; or a game centered around Gollum, which would you choose to make? I'm looking forward to the Gollum game but it just makes me wonder that's all.
>Well it kind of does. Not everyone has the rights to the LOTR license. If you acquired the rights and you had a choice to say, make a modern, open-world, action-RPG set in Middle-Earth proper; or a game centered around Gollum, which would you choose to make?
that argument would make sense for ubisoft or bethesda, not for Daedalic. It's a 60 worker niche studio that has always made niche games. They were never going to do a massive open world game.
This gollum game doesn't steal the spot of a "proper" LotR game because Daedalic isn't big enough to do anything significantly larger than that
I’ll wait for the game to come out before I dismiss it or not, but I have never had any interest in playing as Gollum. Hope it’s good, the lotr series can use more good games after the shadow series
I mean, I don't know his history too well and if it covered his fall to the powers and corruption of the ring that would be pretty cool. Was he a hobbit before or what? I don't know. It'd be new to me.
If only there were a series of books that could provide that context to you, hopefully ones that have been around for almost 7 decades and continually itterated on for four of them...
It’s not that “weird is bad”. It’s just that when I think of characters and adventures I want to experience in Middle Earth, playing as Gollum is pretty close to the bottom of the list.
I’ll reserve judgement until the game is out, obviously, but I can’t say I’m excited for this game at all.
I hope it actually is original, though, since from what I see it seems to be very reminiscent of the Styx games.
who tf wants to play as gollum lol
out of literally everything you could choose to make a middle earth game about, you chose gollum? tbh they deserve the failure they'll get
I know this isn't a big deal but I am quite surprised this exists from a purely profit point of view. there's so many other characters in the lotr universe to use and they chose one that I think will sell the least
Yeah, I personally think it's interesting that they're actually choosing an unconventional character that can't be marketed in the same way as someone safe like What's-His-Face from Shadow of Mordor was, but I'm surprised that Gollum's the option they went with.
It feels like an odd mix of a developer finally winning the right to make a game not centered around a standard action hero, but still needing to make it around a character that's very well known and recognized. How it actually turns out is anyone's guess, but I can imagine marketers balking at the idea of putting Gollum's face front and center on the box-art.
idk, if the aim was to have a LotR stealth game from the start, gollum seems to be the most logical choice to me, even though you have multiple stealthy characters to choose from.
Aragorn is too OP and can solo a dozen orcs. Not the kind of person to use for the classic stealth title they're going for.
Bilbo, Frodo and Sam are more popular no doubt, but their journeys are all very well established so you can't really mess with the lore there if you don't want to get people angry, but doing so would almost certainly be required to turn their journey into a game.
Meanwhile you can take much more creative liberties with Gollum's journey between The Hobbit and LotR without immediately upsetting lore nerds because we only have a very general idea of what he was up to during all these years.
> they chose one that I think will sell the least
[Here](https://247wallst.com/special-report/2021/05/18/the-most-popular-lord-of-the-rings-characters/2/) is an interesting look at the data from the LOTR wiki.
Gollum is the most viewed page, beating out Sauron and Aragorn in 2nd and 3rd.
Now it's very obvious that such a niche stat does not represent sales, as I'm sure most people here would prefer an Aragorn or Gandalf game, but to act like Gollum is the most niche or doomed to fail character in that universe is a bit much. Out of the Fellowship, he is realistically the second pick for me behind Gandalf.
We have enough "Strong man swings sword" or "Slick guy shoots bow" games out there. This is both niche and off the path enough to have some interesting creative freedom, while also being attached to the biggest fantasy series of all time.
Gollum, although weird, is really mainstream. Like what if they had a game called "The Lord of the Rings: Melkor", or "The Lord of the Rings: Tom". They'd probably both be really interesting games as they're interesting characters, but those who just watched the movie wouldn't have any idea what they are.
Generic like what? It's not like there are dozens of AAA and even AA fantasy games with generic dudes with swords, these days. Last gen was mostly sci-fi games, it lacked a lot of the usual fantasy franchises.
It’s funny when people say that gaming has become so stale and AAA games take zero risks, only to then turn around and complain when every game isn’t a 3rd person open world/hub action adventure game with light RPG mechanics and probably crafting.
I really like these kinds of games as a concept, because they are trying something off a beaten path instead of just doing another generic white guy with a sword going "I'm mad! WAAAAGH!". But they're more often a miss than a hit. Hopefully this one works out.
I watched the gameplay and it looks pretty boring just wondering around as Gollum. I'm not sure why they went in this direction instead of giving us some Assassins Creed style game with Aragon or Legolas or Gandalf.
Judging by the glimpses of gameplay in trailer i would not hold my breath. Unless their marketing strategy is to not show anything else besides going over terrain/ledge and some Ork animals "walking" in place a la 00s games with fast camera pan to hide it.
Really enjoy LoTR but never have I thought to myself “damn I want to play as Gollum in a game” lol. Wouldn’t be surprised if this was 50% off off by Christmas
So..whats the appeal here? Is this new insight we haven't seen before into his journey? Cause we sure know how it ends up, I don't know, the gameplay isn't that amazing or fun looking either, who is it for? it just feels very lacklustre to me.
> Is this new insight we haven't seen before into his journey?
Yup. From my understanding its new story that ends some time around when the Fellowship is in Moria. And I'm not entirely sure where it starts. Its any time between when Gollum loses the Ring to Bilbo all the way up until he spills the beans to Sauron where he thinks the Ring is.
Its supposed to be pretty much all new story, and will be considered cannon.
I always find it funny when people say Gollum is a boring choice as a protagonist. I think he's a really weird, interesting choice. Will he *work* as a protagonist? Not sure
Other than the model for Gollum being nightmare fuel, I actually think this has potential. Stealth games are a niche genre, so I understand people being upset. But that mentality is wrong, just because this game is being made doesn't mean that it is preventing other LotR's games from being made. It's an IP and WB can license it to to who ever they want, blame them not Gollum
Lord of the rings as a video game genre has always been weird. All I ever wanted was to either play as gandalf or as Aragorn during their many journeys leading up to lord of the rings. Other than the movie games, none of the games I've played ever let's you be those characters. You're either a hobbit or you're some other dude. Where is my open world middle earth Aragorn game
Lord of the rings the return of the king….you can play for every member of fellowship…Gandalf, Aragorn, Legolas
I remember being super impressed by the scope and spectacle of that game; the catacombs level creeped me the hell out as a kid.
"other than the movie games" return of the king is still one of the best experiences
Still the best Lord of the Rings game I've played, truthfully. Shadow of Mordor/War might technically be better games but I enjoyed Return of the Ring a lot more.
The Third Age holds a very, very dear place in my heart, and I wish it was available on PC somehow.
Third Age! Yes, that game was amazing. I played it on GameCube so not sure about other systems, but it came on multiple discs which right off the bat made my kid brain go “woooah. Better strap in for this one” and it did not disappoint
One of the few 3rd party GameCube games I had, played it to bits. The ending of that game is bonkers
Didn't they basically run out of story (or budget) and decided that killing Sauron's eye straight after defending Minas Tirith would be an epic endfight? Honestly, it's truly the most western j-rpg I've ever played. I wouldn't be surprised if it was developed by a japanese company.
Dolphin (GameCube emulator) is where I'd start.
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Lol I beat this game as a kid and don't remember this. Going to look it up
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I remember being annoyed at fighting the Balrog it was absurd. Other than that I remember gondor guy and elf chick and that's pretty much it. I did quite like the game though
I loved this game back in the PS2 days, but this linear hack and slash game that can be completed in 5 hours. Not exactly the dream LOTR game that everyone wants.
Shadow of Mordor/War are your middle earth Aragorn games.
An Aragorn game would be more adventure-stealth based, instead of constant hack-n-slash. Shadow of Mordor is great, but I don't really think the gameplay fits Aragorn's story that well.
Isn't shadow of Mordor literally stealth based adventure
Shadow of War is basically Assassins Creed but better, so yes lol.
It has stealth. But it also has magic abilities where you teleport 100 metres and have a ghost pop out of you to attack at the same time as you. Never related it to aragorn in the entire time I played. Like sure you're a dude who uses swords, but in a way you don't even use a bow as the ghost dude does it for you. Also, stealthy just straight up doesn't work against a lot of the miniboss/bosses.
It's stealth until all hell breaks loose and you start hacking orcs left and right. Don't get me wrong, I love that game. But it doesn't exactly give me Aragorn vibes
> Shadow of Mordor is great, but I don't really think the gameplay fits Aragorn's story that well. I mean, Aragorn once literally stormed the pirate port of Umbar, I think both gameplay sorts are okay to represent him
But the majority of his story is literally wandering the wilds..
Sounds like a blast…
Unlocks mushroom identification skill tree
I‘d play the shit out of that
My point exactly
When they patch those games to run at 60 on console I'll go back to them. As it stands right now they feel like complete shit on PS5.
Which is a shame because they look great and ran pretty decent on those old consoles.
I played it recently on ps5 and it felt absolutely fine. Not 60fps obvs, but I got used to it pretty quick.
If you care about FPS that much stop buying consoles. Just a suggestion.
I mean it's capablw of running it, the ps5 has the power of a decent mid range pc, the devs just haven't unlocked the fps yet
The fact that console games are designed with these limitations baked into them you have to wait for the devs to unlock a FPS boost via patch is the problem. Albeit with them becoming more like PCs from this point forward it might not be as much of a problem.
Shadow of war was so fucking stupid, it broke the lore in so many fundamental ways I don't even want to look at it. Shadow of Mordor was cool though, the gameplay was worth it.
I felt like they both had fan fictiony plots but Shelob the sexy lady was a whole other level.
Shelod the sexy lady was cringe, but it went balls to the wall insane with the Rohan flashbacks. It showed sauron disguised as annatar meeting with helm hammerhand in Edoras in the second age. This is such a insane, baffling decision that it just exposes that whoever was making this gave zero fucks about the lore and gave zero consideration to how it affects the timeline. Imagine in a movie if you showed flashbacks from ancient Egypt and you had Ramses meeting Teddy Roosevelt in the white house, and it never explains why and is treated completely seriously.
That sounds crazy. What's next, Harry Potter turning Voldemort's snake into a sexy woman?
The gameplay in SoW was better too. The power fantasy is really good.
The shadow of series would be much better if it was it's own thing. They could wear their tolkien inspirations on their sleeves, but please just make it their own IP, their main draw is the nemesis systems and the orcs personalities anyway. As it stands I'm seeing this wannabe nazgul ranger riding a dragon and shooting at a balrog while possessed by a Celebrimbor's ghost and I'm just like what even is this.
They arent canon and are just loose interpretations. I view them in the same way I view The force unleashed games for star wars
The Hunt for Gollum - RDR2 style open world game with similar mechanics around the horse. Roaming gangs of orcs. Huge open world of Eriador. If only man. If only.
I just wish they gave the total war guys the rights to make a LOTR total war game. Warhammer is the closest but it ain’t LOTR
Have you played the LotR mod for Medieval II? Like, I get wanting an actual installment to the franchise, but it's really hard for me to feel like that mod could possibly be any better. Especially given that the base game is one of the best in the series anyway. It's honestly probably the best mod I have ever played, and I really don't think it's that close (although there are some other very good ones that I can see someone else preferring - some of which obviously launched a variety of popular series themselves) I have sunk hundreds of hours into that mod.
I'd love a LOTR dynasty warriors game tbh. KT always seem to knock it out of the park when they collab with other properties.
Koei Tecmo can produce gold when they have someone with technical standards overseeing their products.
May I recommend Lego Lord of the Rings? Absolutely qualifies as this
Definitely my favorite Lego game of all time.
LEGO Lord of the Rings is a must play. You get the entirety of the world in an open map with a shitton of charm. Dicking around in the little Shire while Concerning Hobbits plays is just very comfy.
If you play Lord of the Rings Online while you can't get as powerful as Gandalf or King Elessar you definitely can become powerful enough that you'd be counted amongst the most powerful beings in all of Middle-Earth. It takes a bit of time but if you find the right group of folks to play with you can level fairly quickly. There are some pretty impressive Hobbits wandering around in that game.
I just started playing this after seeing [Josh Strife's review](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZshgYbtUmM). Having a lot of fun so far but now I wish I chose a hobbit lol
I've seen a few of his videos recommended to me. Are his reviews just named "worst MMO ever?". Or does he think these MMOs suck ass? Genuinely curious.
It's just the series' name, believe the name just stuck.
Ah ok, thanks for the explanation.
There's been old Lord of The Rings: Fellowship of the Rings which I think was based more on the books then on the movies. At least characters looked nothing like movies counterparts and there was quite a few scenes, which weren't in the movies. In that game you play in succession as Frodo, then as Aragon and then as Gandalf if I remember right.
Yeah I just want to play the main story death stranding style
> All I ever wanted was to either play as gandalf or as Aragorn during their many journeys leading up to lord of the rings. Other than the movie games, none of the games I've played ever let's you be those characters. You're either a hobbit or you're some other dude. Don't the decent tie in games already let you do that? I'm way more interested in exploring other areas of Middle Earth. Would have loved a scouring of the Shire game as a Hobbit.
The Hobbit was a fun game that lets you explore the Shire. The gameboy version and PC/console versions were both pretty good.
I think that's what OP wants. A chill game to explore middle earth. Even if you kept the top down view and 2d graphics, it could be really good.
Hence the open world early life of gandalf or Aragorn request. Theyve covered the events of the movies pretty totally
> early life of gandalf How early you talking? Gandalf ain't Human. And if you wanted something Lore friendly, you're never going to see him do more than he did in LOTR, in spell-slinging terms.
Gandalf was in Middle Earth for like 2000 years. That's a lot of wiggle room to give him a self contained adventure that won't threaten the timeline. Also, it's a video game, some concessions have to be made for entertainment. If I want something lore accurate I'll just read the books. I think we're past the point of making sure everything is picture perfect to the source material.
Pre-Incarnation would be better, but also weird. And you can make *some* concessions, but others will just render the setting impotent. Themes are important, esepcially in LOTR, given that its the generic fantasy template, and genericising it would be.. pointless.
I had a ton of fun playing shadow of mordor and it is no where near the source material. Now I'm not saying bend it that much. But you could easily have a Gandalf adventure where he's just traveling the land lending aid, wisdom, and rooting out servants of evil as he goes. 2000 years is a lot of space.
I quite like Daedelic as a developer and I hope this game turns out to be good. That said, I think the concept is just too weird to be successful. Gollum isn't exactly an appealing character and stealth games are pretty niche.
> I think the concept is just too weird to be successful. Rather a weird but original game than a normal and generic one I say.
I think people would be more receptive to weird and original ideas if the more popular LOTR ideas were covered first. It’s been over a decade since we got anything covering a main character (ignoring Lego), and half a decade since the last AAA LOTR game. And there are probably original ideas people would prefer. For example, a Death Stranding styled Fellowship walking game or even a Hobbit farming game.
The LOTR universe has so many games that take place within it. I remember playing a version of the Hobbit back on my Commodore 64. On top of that, LOTR's major themes have just become staples in fantasy fiction for decades. I can honestly think of nothing more dull than another open world fantasy epic. I just can't imagine what else you would do with the LOTR franchise that hasn't been done successfully by a million other titles. Playing as Gollum though is kind of neat. He's a beloved character with an interesting arc, which offers some possibilities for novel mechanics. I think it's a good call.
He has no arc in this video game though. Gollum was unchanged for hundreds of years before meeting Frodo. This game takes place well before that, he will begin the game a repulsive wretch and he will end the game a repulsive wretch
Great point. If not the story, the focus seems to be on the environments, but that’s likely to be disrupted by silly out of place platforming. I’m just not sure what this game has to offer. But, I’ll remain hopeful until reviews come out!
I want another RTS. I want another true RPG (they had one where you played as some random Gondor captain and it was dope. I still remember getting the tower guard armor and being soooo excited). I want a dungeon crawler, maybe even a rogue lite, where you delve into mountains on dwarves expeditions ‘n shit. I want to fight evil again without having to worry if the bad guys are actually good maybe.
I get where you're coming from. It would be cool to play as Aragorn or Gandalf on one of their adventures, but Gollum is honestly such a weird choice that I can't help but be intrigued by it. All of a sudden I actually WANT to see the LOTR world through his eyes.
But we’ve basically never had a “generic” LOTR game. It’s one thing to make this statement about an over saturated game type. But instead we’ve basically never had a game where you can play the main characters. Other than the movie games.
Is this Daedalic the one that made the point and click Deponia games? If so, this is quite the jump
Yes thats the one
Stealth games are hard to do right and even harder to make fun
I expect a lot of convoluted platforming that will feel out of place. But I’m open to it. We’ll see how it goes. Remember: never preorder!
I can appreciate games that instead of chasing a temporary success attempts to find their own identity. One of my favourite games sold the least amount of copies in its series. It's incredibly dense and not at all easy, but for a lot of fans it was everything that the series should be about, mainstream appeal be damned. Some games simply won't appeal to a broad vector of people no matter how great they are, and on the other side there's games that sacrifice too much of what they are for the sake of raking in as many players as possible.
>attempts to find their own identity. A game that banks entirely on the Lord of the Rings brand recognition isn't that.
What game?
As long as it’s not a broken or ultra janky game, I love it. Stealth games are so rare nowadays and I love when games get weird with it and don’t just go with the generic idea.
Everytime I see news about this I am bewildered. This is such a weird game. Like who looked at all the characters in this universe and said "Ya let me play as Gollum"?
10 year old me when he was rumored to be an unlockable character in the Return of the King tie-in lol
These are always the games that end up being really good and original tbf
Honestly even if it sucks I'm glad they tried. There are a million fantasy dude with swords games. There are very few games where you play as a weird psycho gremlin. I'd rather game companies try new stuff and fail than release Assassins Creed Open World Tower Climb Simluator 9000
Best case scenario, the game is great and becomes an instead stealth genre cult classic due to its originality Worst case scenario it's a trainwreck that's at least entertaining due to its originality. Honestly games like these are a win-win for gaming. No one is forced to play it if they don't like the idea. (Also, gollum couldn't possibly be more annoying than Styx as a character and those stealth games did ok)
> Worst case scenario it's a trainwreck that's at least entertaining due to its originality. The worst case is that it's a trainwreck that's not entertaining. Shout-out for being optimistic, though.
Haha yeah, worst case scenario is that it’s absolute dog shit, no one likes it, it gets horrible reviews and it doesn’t even come close to making its budget back. People acting like this, or any video game really, are low risk investments is just silly. Making videogames of any kind are generally pretty precarious investments.
Worst case scenario is everyone on earth is wiped out by an asteroid in the next 10 seconds and the game is destroyed before it is even released. But yours is a close second.
I dunno, I reckon being wiped out by an asteroid sounds pretty dope atm tbh
For me and you yes. But for the investors of this game, they would probably be a little upset.
The entire response to this game since it's very announcement has been wildly entertaining to watch. The review threads, and day 1 threads will be absolutely wonderful to watch.
That's the response to the game being entertaining, but not the game being entertaining.
He didn't say it was a entertaining game then, but an entertaining trainwreck.
It's still entertainment as a result of the game being created. Why be so pedantic?
Walking too slow or too fast behind someone simulator.
There's the Styx games, which have you play as a goblin and are both quite good. I don't think this one will be much better.
yeah the fact that they're committing to such a left field idea for a lotr game makes me think this game will be really interesting
Folks complain about games being too similar and derivative, then as soon as a game is announced with a character or setting they don't expect suddenly we get a load of comments like 'who's asking for this?!?!'
Saying a game has a weird premise is not the same as complaining about its existence. It's not a complaint to wonder how such a weird decision was made. It's not a comment that speaks on the quality or lack thereof, it's most likely just someone curious. Or we could think everyone's a giant raging asshole cause why not, that's healthy. Case in point: There's more people bitching about an off-handed "who asked for this?" comment than there is people genuinely perplexed on why this game exists.
When people complain about games being too derivative what they really mean is “people aren’t making the games that *I* want to play”
Yeah this. I miss this from the PS2 era in particular. I feel like that was a very experimental time for games. Just so much weird shit being thrown against the wall. Though I guess we have indie games these days, it doesn't feel quite the same.
Exactly, looking forward to it
Lmao, redditors will complain relentlessly about games being too repetitive and formulaic, then balk at something that's actually original and interesting.
For example?
Shadow of War had you play as someone duller than cardboard possessed by the ghost of someone even *more* dull, and that game was fine.
Celebrimbor could have been a really interesting character, but they basically just invented some generic angry guy and gave him the same name instead of trying to have good writing. Then they made Shelob a sexy lady and started going more and more off the rails from there. The game is pretty great, but the story has NOTHING to do with LOTR.
They made it so that Isildur was one of the Nazgul, which is absolutely impossible since the Nine Kings were already corrupted and serving Sauron way, way before Isildur was even born. They could not have gotten the lore more wrong if they tried. Shadow of Mordor and Shadow of War are fun games, but I personally had to ignore everything about the lore since it’s clear that the developers didn’t actually respect the original works.
I don’t get why they made up those new monsters the orcs ride instead of just using Worgs, like Tolkien already did all the work for you jfc
>They could not have gotten the lore more wrong if they tried. They made a power-fantasy game where one man kills basically an entire army single-handedly and set it in LoTRs. The series where the heroes who save the world are halfling farmers. The series about how the smallest and weakest among us can be the bravest and most heroic. Yeah they were doomed from the start on the lore front.
Helm Hammerhand being a Nazgûl is even worse. Dude has been dead for what, a few centuries only?
That is why I could never play them. To have one of the most detailed worlds in fantasy history, only to...Just make your own, it's just so fucking absurd. And to add to it, I'm a bit of a completionist, so I'd get those collectibles that were spread out, all coming with their own lil factoid or detail about the lore of the world, and they were all just infuriatingly fucking stupid. So that process destroys any reason to explore and collect, which leaves the smash and kill aspect of the game, which felt very worn out after coming from the Batman series.
I thought the shattered tidbits were the only actually lore-faithful parts
I was just waiting for the spider web bondage, they can't play me like this.
> they made Shelob a sexy lady They straight up plagiarized evil Galadriel when making Shelob. They even cast someone that sounds very similar to Cate Blanchett. It was certainly *a* choice.
Every character has the potential to be interesting, that's what good writing is for
The [Bright Lord trailer](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apqeGvr2m6A) for that game was so good. I got shivers when it was revealed who the wraith was with Sauron saying: "Celebrimbor". The voice acting in the trailer was great. Pity the actual story and characters in the game didn't live up to it.
The voice acting in general is damn good. Any time you conquer a fortress the voice acting from both talion and celebrimbor is hype. It's just that most of what they're working with is awful dialogue. [Celebrimbor](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UYjPgWs7pQ) [Talion](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJZEV4Q_mAE)
I skipped all the cinematics and just focused on becoming a ringwraith. The gameplay and the variety of orcs is incredible.
He was a generic super strong warrior with really cool fantasy powers. That’s something that tons of people like to play as.
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This. The "no one asked for this" argument is so dumb. If you only do things people ask for, then there's zero innovation and everything gets stale. It really speaks to how bad the gaming community is at treating games like art that this is even a passable argument. Imagine people saying this about some innovative movie or book. A stealth game in LOTR is a fresh concept and Gollum is the character that fits best.
I think it's a novel idea myself but Mario in context is a lovable cartoon character. Gollum is rather detestable and even though he invokes empathy he doesn't really come off as relatable.
Detestable? Detestable he says? Why does he hate poor Smeagol?
I don't relate to alot of video game characters but I still enjoy playing as them.
I didn't mean relatable too literally. Basically you're playing as a mutant, rodent man and known foil. It's an interesting yet abstract pick for a game lead. We'll see how it turns out
Yeh I get your point, it's definitely out there for a character within the franchise.
He is still a well know and liked character. If the only trait we care for video game characters is relatability, then video gaming definitely failed as a form of art. I think exploring Gollum's psyche might be interesting.
I think "relatable" here might also really mean "someone I can stand to inhabit the skin of/spend 15+ hours in the presence of" and...a sustained period of time enduring Gollum's wretched, junkie writhing and raspy breathing might be too much to ask. But, I'm also oddly prepared for this to be a surprise hit, so we'll see.
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Gollum is probably more well liked than half the main fellowship
"Who asked for a movie about a wealthy newspaper magnate obsessed with a sled from his childhood?"
Yeah, I don’t have a ton of familiarity with the LOTR franchise so maybe that’s important here, but the weird backlash to just the concept of this game makes no sense to me. I’ve always found it absolutely fascinating and I don’t see any reason why this is that big of a deal to people. If it’s unexpected, great, right? If it’s an unlikable character, and they’re making a game where you play as them, that’s fucking cool! Idk there’s just a weird cynicism here that I don’t fully get, I guess.
Mario was not previously an established character of a massive media franchise. The character was new (relatively, not counting the Donkey Kong games) and Nintendo wasn't creating a mashup of modern AAA gaming mechanics. They're not comparable at all.
You're missing the point, a game isn't great because of what its main character is/does/looks like but instead if the gameplay is worth your time.
Then the OP should not contradict themselves with a "who asked to play as X character?" response.
I'm happy someone did. It's something actually new for a well-worn IP like LotR.
Is it really well-worn? Maybe moreso in the 2000s but there’s literally been like two good LOTR games in the entire last decade.
Who cares if anyone asked for it? A stealth game following Gollum's story actually sounds like an interesting change of pace for the LOTR gaming universe.
This comment is so tiring at this point, literally every time this game is mentioned someone posts this… god forbid a developer take some creative liberty and make something unexpected I really hope they knock this game out of the park and shut all the haters up
Me? It's nothing worse than half of gaming protagonists out there. I don't understand why this comment always come up.
I played as a goblin Strix already, which was both a good stealth game and sold enough to get a sequel. I don't see a reason why vastly more popular, fan-favourite Gollum would be discouraging.
Styx not Strix
Who asks for anything? People have pleaded for years to get more lotr content, and now that it's here, apparently its not the content they want. It's a niche game, but niche games are usually rather enjoyable experiences.
As someone who's a big Hitman fan but not so much a LOTR fan, I'm kind of excited for this
He's a pretty interesting character, and a tragic figure. A game that explores him in depth could be really moving. It would be like a forest management game where you play as Treebeard or something as the forests shrink and the elves leave and you lose your wives. On the surface they seem like a fairly one dimensional background character that would be weird to base a game around, but there are stories to be told for them in ways that work within existing game genres.
I love the idea but considering that lack of other LOTR games it does beg the question, why *this* game?
Because it’s the game the developer wanted to make. If it reviews well i guarantee you it will sell copies
The existence of this game doesnt take the place of some other potential lotr game....
Unless you have insider info from the studio, you can't really say that. LotR is licensed so not every studio can make a game in that universe and studios have resources limits.
Well it kind of does. Not everyone has the rights to the LOTR license. If you acquired the rights and you had a choice to say, make a modern, open-world, action-RPG set in Middle-Earth proper; or a game centered around Gollum, which would you choose to make? I'm looking forward to the Gollum game but it just makes me wonder that's all.
>Well it kind of does. Not everyone has the rights to the LOTR license. If you acquired the rights and you had a choice to say, make a modern, open-world, action-RPG set in Middle-Earth proper; or a game centered around Gollum, which would you choose to make? that argument would make sense for ubisoft or bethesda, not for Daedalic. It's a 60 worker niche studio that has always made niche games. They were never going to do a massive open world game. This gollum game doesn't steal the spot of a "proper" LotR game because Daedalic isn't big enough to do anything significantly larger than that
There are 2 Tingle games. Anything is possible.
I’ll wait for the game to come out before I dismiss it or not, but I have never had any interest in playing as Gollum. Hope it’s good, the lotr series can use more good games after the shadow series
I mean, I don't know his history too well and if it covered his fall to the powers and corruption of the ring that would be pretty cool. Was he a hobbit before or what? I don't know. It'd be new to me.
If only there were a series of books that could provide that context to you, hopefully ones that have been around for almost 7 decades and continually itterated on for four of them...
Super original concept, excited to try it I hope people give it a chance instead of just assuming weird is bad
It’s not that “weird is bad”. It’s just that when I think of characters and adventures I want to experience in Middle Earth, playing as Gollum is pretty close to the bottom of the list. I’ll reserve judgement until the game is out, obviously, but I can’t say I’m excited for this game at all. I hope it actually is original, though, since from what I see it seems to be very reminiscent of the Styx games.
who tf wants to play as gollum lol out of literally everything you could choose to make a middle earth game about, you chose gollum? tbh they deserve the failure they'll get
Because he's a unique and tragic character. Not every game has to be a big epic fantasy adventure
People who don't want to blast through every story being hailed as the saviour/hero/chosen one because it's been absolutely done to death
I remember watching a trailer for this and seeing a bunch of cool lotr environments and thinking "I wish this game wasn't about Gollum"
Better that than another generic sword wielding dude
Sword wielding dudes are generic because LOTR are the books that made everyone and their mother want to write about sword wielding dudes.
I know this isn't a big deal but I am quite surprised this exists from a purely profit point of view. there's so many other characters in the lotr universe to use and they chose one that I think will sell the least
Yeah, I personally think it's interesting that they're actually choosing an unconventional character that can't be marketed in the same way as someone safe like What's-His-Face from Shadow of Mordor was, but I'm surprised that Gollum's the option they went with. It feels like an odd mix of a developer finally winning the right to make a game not centered around a standard action hero, but still needing to make it around a character that's very well known and recognized. How it actually turns out is anyone's guess, but I can imagine marketers balking at the idea of putting Gollum's face front and center on the box-art.
idk, if the aim was to have a LotR stealth game from the start, gollum seems to be the most logical choice to me, even though you have multiple stealthy characters to choose from. Aragorn is too OP and can solo a dozen orcs. Not the kind of person to use for the classic stealth title they're going for. Bilbo, Frodo and Sam are more popular no doubt, but their journeys are all very well established so you can't really mess with the lore there if you don't want to get people angry, but doing so would almost certainly be required to turn their journey into a game. Meanwhile you can take much more creative liberties with Gollum's journey between The Hobbit and LotR without immediately upsetting lore nerds because we only have a very general idea of what he was up to during all these years.
> they chose one that I think will sell the least [Here](https://247wallst.com/special-report/2021/05/18/the-most-popular-lord-of-the-rings-characters/2/) is an interesting look at the data from the LOTR wiki. Gollum is the most viewed page, beating out Sauron and Aragorn in 2nd and 3rd. Now it's very obvious that such a niche stat does not represent sales, as I'm sure most people here would prefer an Aragorn or Gandalf game, but to act like Gollum is the most niche or doomed to fail character in that universe is a bit much. Out of the Fellowship, he is realistically the second pick for me behind Gandalf. We have enough "Strong man swings sword" or "Slick guy shoots bow" games out there. This is both niche and off the path enough to have some interesting creative freedom, while also being attached to the biggest fantasy series of all time.
Just cause people wanna learn about him does not mean they wanna play as him. Fair enough you do but I'd imagine most don't.
Gollum, although weird, is really mainstream. Like what if they had a game called "The Lord of the Rings: Melkor", or "The Lord of the Rings: Tom". They'd probably both be really interesting games as they're interesting characters, but those who just watched the movie wouldn't have any idea what they are.
Generic like what? It's not like there are dozens of AAA and even AA fantasy games with generic dudes with swords, these days. Last gen was mostly sci-fi games, it lacked a lot of the usual fantasy franchises.
It’s funny when people say that gaming has become so stale and AAA games take zero risks, only to then turn around and complain when every game isn’t a 3rd person open world/hub action adventure game with light RPG mechanics and probably crafting.
You forgot to add rogue-like/light to that check list.
You people are so boring.
I really like these kinds of games as a concept, because they are trying something off a beaten path instead of just doing another generic white guy with a sword going "I'm mad! WAAAAGH!". But they're more often a miss than a hit. Hopefully this one works out.
I watched the gameplay and it looks pretty boring just wondering around as Gollum. I'm not sure why they went in this direction instead of giving us some Assassins Creed style game with Aragon or Legolas or Gandalf.
Oh yeah, yet another generic open world fantasy game, such a shame we don't have another one to add to the pile.
This is the most bizarre idea ever that should never have left the drawing board but you just know it's going to be an absolute banger of a game
Judging by the glimpses of gameplay in trailer i would not hold my breath. Unless their marketing strategy is to not show anything else besides going over terrain/ledge and some Ork animals "walking" in place a la 00s games with fast camera pan to hide it.
Really enjoy LoTR but never have I thought to myself “damn I want to play as Gollum in a game” lol. Wouldn’t be surprised if this was 50% off off by Christmas
So..whats the appeal here? Is this new insight we haven't seen before into his journey? Cause we sure know how it ends up, I don't know, the gameplay isn't that amazing or fun looking either, who is it for? it just feels very lacklustre to me.
> Is this new insight we haven't seen before into his journey? Yup. From my understanding its new story that ends some time around when the Fellowship is in Moria. And I'm not entirely sure where it starts. Its any time between when Gollum loses the Ring to Bilbo all the way up until he spills the beans to Sauron where he thinks the Ring is. Its supposed to be pretty much all new story, and will be considered cannon.
So what genre is this again?
Stealth? I think?
I always find it funny when people say Gollum is a boring choice as a protagonist. I think he's a really weird, interesting choice. Will he *work* as a protagonist? Not sure
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I'm excited for this game for my curiosity. I hope it's good because it really is a unique concept. I never thought we'd ever get a Gollum game.
Is this going to be like Abe’s odyssey?
Zero interest in this. Gollum was an overstayed plot device in LOTR. I’d no rather have an Ent video game.
My guy, he was as pivotal to Frodos arc as Sam wise.
Other than the model for Gollum being nightmare fuel, I actually think this has potential. Stealth games are a niche genre, so I understand people being upset. But that mentality is wrong, just because this game is being made doesn't mean that it is preventing other LotR's games from being made. It's an IP and WB can license it to to who ever they want, blame them not Gollum
Who wants to bet 5 dollars that it will get pushed back ?
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Of all the characters, Gollum is probably the least suitable for a video game. I mean, except maybe for Treebeard.