There’ll be more to do than stealthily scurrying through caves. We can’t wait for this new adventure.
The Big10
STORIES EVERYONE’S TALKING ABOUT
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Precious new glimpses of Gollum Raw and wriggling screens reintroduce a classic character Skulking out of the shadows, it’s our first look at the confirmed PS5 title Lord Of The Rings: Gollum. First announced in March last year, it’s still a way off yet, with a release window set for some time during 2021. However these new screens definitely look very precious as they offer an early glimpse of the in-game action and UI. As the titular former ring-bearer, you navigate dialogue choices and dank caves. Gollum may be small and scrawny but in your hands he’ll need to be tricksy too if you want to avoid detection by orcs and oversized spiders alike.
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In JRR Tolkien’s original text, Gollum is a solitary creature given long life and twisted beyond all recognition by the One Ring’s influence. Often seen speaking in the third person or otherwise referring to himself as ‘we,’ your most important dialogue choices are with yourself. The developer has previously stated that these inner dialogues (monologues?) occur frequently throughout chapters as you fight with yourself over the best way to handle a situation, all leading up to major decision points. We’re told that it’ll be harder to hear the reasoning of, say, the Sméagol side if you’ve spent a lot of time siding with the Gollum side beforehand. At the very least it’ll be
THE GAME WILL DRAW DIRECTLY FROM THE BOOKS.
in character for this particular videogame protagonist to start muttering to himself about what he should do next.
team talk I’m all for taking established, popular characters and turning them on their head, but so far I’m not seeing the unique perspective Daedalic has said it hopes to offer on the character. I’m looking forward to being surprised the closer we get to 2021. Jess Kinghorn Staff Writer
RING HOLLOW Currently in development at Deponia developer Daedalic Entertainment, the project is the result of a partnership with Middle-earth Enterprises, a part of the Saul Zaentz Company. This non-Warner partnership means the game will draw directly from the original books, not from the films – though with Hobbits being basically small people, and Gollum a mutated Hobbit, the game and film versions of him do have clear similarities. Not satisfied with simply recreating recognisable moments, the developer is hoping to offer a unique take on the central character while remaining true to the source