The Lord of the Rings: Gollum™

The Lord of the Rings: Gollum is an action-adventure game developed by Daedalic Entertainment. The game, set in the fictional world of Middle-earth created by J. R. R. Tolkien, takes place in between the events of The Hobbit and The Fellowship of the Ring. The player controls Gollum through a series of locations, such as Cirith Ungol, Barad-dûr, and Mirkwood, as he attempts to find Bilbo Baggins and retake the One Ring whilst battling and avoiding Sauron. The Lord of the Rings: Gollum released on 25 May 2023 for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S. The game was a commercial failure and received negative reviews from critics. It was ranked by Metacritic as the worst game of 2023.

Story

Set in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth, The Lord of the Rings: Gollum tells a story that unfolds in the years between the events of The Hobbit and The Fellowship of the Ring. The player takes on the role of the wretched, ring-obsessed creature Gollum, following his desperate travels after the loss of his precious One Ring to Bilbo Baggins. Consumed by the desire to reclaim it, Gollum makes his way across perilous corners of Middle-earth, from the shadowed passes of Cirith Ungol to the dark heart of Barad-dur and the tangled depths of Mirkwood. Along the way he must slink past guards, scale treacherous ledges, and hide in shadow and long grass to survive, for capture by the servants of Sauron means certain doom. Throughout his ordeal, the player also navigates the fractured mind of the creature himself, choosing between the scheming Gollum and the more pitiable Smeagol as two warring halves vie for control.