Daedalic Entertainment announced last year that they would be developing something interesting in the form of The Lord of the Rings: Gollum which is exactly what it sounds like - an action-adventure video game in which players control the main character - Gollum (or Smeagol, depending on your behavior).
Daedalic Games has taken the time to speak with Edge for a new issue of their magazine and in doing so they revealed a bit that was unknown about the game and the company's contract when it comes to Middle Earth.
While there haven't been any designs of Gollum released yet, he has been said to not take inspiration from the Andy Serkis Version people know from the movies, and instead the inspiration will be drawn from the literary character in which Tolkien created in the first place, trying to hone in on the Author's vision rather than the movie director's.
Art Director Mathias Fischer gave had the following to say on the matter.
“Tolkien didn’t give a size reference for Gollum to begin with, so in the first illustrations, he’s gigantic! He’s like a monster emerging from the swamp.”
Meanwhile, Martin Wilkes, a Game Designer on Lord of the Rings: Gollum, goes on to discuss the duality of the character's personality and how that will factor into players playing as both Gollum and Smeagol at once, including what kind of choices and freedom the player will have to act out.
“It’s not just choosing to be Sméagol or Gollum, because for Gollum as an entity it’s not that easy. Each personality is being attacked by the other; each has to defend himself. You will have maybe two, three or four conflicts per chapter that lead to a final decision point. And at this final decision point, it will be harder to pick Sméagol, for example, if you’ve always fought for the Gollum side before.”
Daedalic's CEO dropped the bomb that while they clearly won't be working on a Lord of the Rings: Gollum sequel, there are plans for other similar titles as the company has a contract to produce several Middle Earth games.
While we don't know what they will be just yet, its interesting enough that there are more confirmed to be happening before the first one is even released. Here's what CEO Carsten Fichtelmann had to say.
“Maybe the next game is - obviously not Gollum 2. That doesn’t make sense. It could be some other character. But it will be comparable to what we’re now trying with Gollum.”
Hmm... what other characters whould you guys like to see Daedalic Entertainment tackle and what do you think of these comments? Let us know below!
The Lord of the Rings: Gollum will be available on PS5 and XBOX Series X in 2021.