A brand new Lord of the Rings game is in the works. Unlike some of the past titles that have explored J.R.R Tolkien’s famous fantasy universe, this one will star Gollum. While still mostly under wraps, we do have a few hints and clues at what to expect from the upcoming console/PC game down below.
EA carried the Lord of the Rings license for quite a few years. But it was only able to make new Lord of the Rings games that were based on the popular Peter Jackson films. Rights to the story from the books is a separate matter all together. That’s where many of the more recent takes on the legend have spawned including the upcoming Gollum title.
New Lord of the Rings Game in the Works:
Daedelic, a publishing/development company out of Germany, have reached into the Tolkien IP in order to craft its latest project. As we mentioned above, the new Lord of the Rings game will take a much less familiar format than the battle hardened gameplay in the Middle Earth games, for example. Due to this being, for all intents and purposes, completely separate from the Jackson blockbusters, the game will feature a different take on the major landmarks and characters of Middle-Earth.
Considering the game is still early in development, Daedelic doesn’t have much information on the new Lord of the Rings game for us just yet. However, we have gleamed a few interesting details from a recent interview with the company’s CEO.
The image above is the only official visual we have from the game thus far.
What we Know So Far:
Gollum isn’t exactly the warrior type, so we can only assume this new Lord of the Rings game is some kind of artistic exploration title or something that focuses on stealthy like mechanics. The game is set during what sounds like a time when Gollum or Smeagol (as he is also known) was just beginning the internal struggle with the Ring. Daedelic says it is “telling his story before we learn about what happens to him in the books” and went on to say this is “definitely new content” that has yet to be explored in any medium.
An action/adventure where you play as Gollum is quite a unique approach…It’ll be a cool player experience. It opens up a different perspective. Every decision we make comes from what makes sense for the character.
New Lord of the Rings Gameplay Possibilities:
It sounds as though the development team is focusing, at least to some degree, on Gollum’s split personality. While it will inform the story overall, CEO Carsten Fichtelmann is hinting that it will, also factor in to the gameplay itself. Fichtelmann went on to say this is something “you’ll play in the game. You’ll come to decisions you have to make, and you’ll have the two voices talking to you”. This is apparently a “hint” at how the game will play.
9to5Toys’ Take:
But don’t get overly excited yet. This new Lord of the Rings game is still a ways out. A 2021 release date has been thrown around so it is more than likely still in the very early stages of development. An IP like Lord of the Rings is just asking for game makers to dive in, so it is nice to see studios flexing its creative muscle in Tolkien’s brilliant fantasy world. However, there’s just something about the idea of the playing as Gollum that seems underwhelming to me. Sneaking around in the shadows as the titular character just wouldn’t have been on the top of my list for a new Lord of the Rings game concept. But, as usual, only time will tell and anything that brings us back to Middle-Earth and The Shire sounds like a good thing to me.
As always, our Games/Apps Guide is filled with deals and new products every day of the week. And we have some deep deals on LotR films in today’s iTunes movie roundup.
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