The Nacon Connect 2023 was an opportunity to learn a little more about the unique scenario concocted by the German developers of Daedalic for this intriguing The Lord of the Rings: Gollum. By offering an unpublished story centered on a well-known character, while advocating the fact of wanting to be faithful to JRR Tolkien’s book trilogy, the studio is playing a real balancing act.
Beyond Good and Evil
The trailer released during Nacon Connect 2023 shed a little more light on Daedalic Entertainment’s narrative intentions. The promise of a long journey for Gollum is becoming clearer, with much more varied landscapes than what has been seen in the last official communications. Barad-dûr, the forest of Mirkwook (or Forest of Great Fear in Jul’s language – or almost -), the elven city of Rivendell and the dark corridors of Arachne’s burrow seem to be so many playgrounds for Sméagol.
The presence of iconic figures such as Gandalf, still Gray at this time, the Nazguls, Thranduil (the father of Legolas) have been confirmed by the latest trailer, as well as that of a slew of Uruk-hai and the Dark Lord. Trailer which takes care to underline that the adventure of Gollum should be morally ambiguous enough, in order to fit the complex psyche of the character. Sméagol should forge surprising alliances with the elven people, and a short extract seems to refer to the possibilities of crucial choices which should have an impact on the adventure. The gameplay will remain essentially centered on infiltration, an organic weakness of the antihero requires.
Gollum will try to find its Préccccccccieeeeeeux in the course of the year 2023 on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S and PC. A Nintendo Switch version was also previously announced.