Gollum, from Daedalic Entertainment, went on sale on May 25. Many things were said about it and, spoiler alert, I’m not going to say anything new: the game is as disastrous as they have remarked dozens of times. It’s not for nothing that it only has 36% positive reviews on Steam.
The Lord of the Rings: Gollum It is available for PC, PS4 and PS5, Xbox One and Xbox X | S and Nintendo Switch
Another open letter of apology
For some time now it has become customary for AAA game developers (or major indie titles) to launch, almost together with the game, an open letter apologizing to their community for the impossibility of playing the title in question.
The Lord of the Rings: Gollum was no exception to this rule. From Daedalic Entertainment they almost instantly apologized for the state of the title.. Now, are those apologies enough? Each one can choose whether to accept them or not, but at this point it is shameful that studios continue to release games in the state in which they do.
A few words from the ” The Lord of the Rings: Gollum™ ” team pic.twitter.com/adPamy5EjO
— The Lord of the Rings: Gollum (@GollumGame) May 26, 2023
Not just a question of performance
The main problem with Gollum does not lie only in his performance (which is almost the main criticism of AAA). In fact, in that sense I did not find any major drawbacks. The biggest problem with it lies in all its other points: story, graphics, gameplay.
The only thing that in my opinion can be highlighted is the music: nothing more than that.
Where to start? If we take into account that everything enters through the eyes, I dare to say that, graphically, Gollum is one of the ugliest games I’ve ever seen. Yes, Gollum is not exactly a pleasant creature to look at, but the molding that was done to him in this case exceeds all limits. He is a creature devoid of expression or emotion, something that will completely break the heart of any movie fan: there is nothing of that unpleasant Gollum but full of a strange charisma.
Now, the problem with its graphics doesn’t just lie in how Gollum looks: the whole game looks just as bad. The settings, the orcs… There is nothing that can be highlighted in a positive way in this regard.
It seems like a game that was developed (badly) back in 2010, they kept it in a box and only now did they find it and decided to bring it to light as it was.
And what about the gameplay!
If graphically the torture was not enough, the gameplay is added. Gollum is not exactly a strong creature, so it is logical that the action is not the heart of the game. Instead, he is a fast creature, capable of leaping high, holding on to dubious structures, and hiding in the shadows. Thus, the title is sold as a stealth adventure, but the reality is that it also fails in that aspect.
Starting from the base, the controls are extremely rough, so in many cases not falling into the void after a jump will depend purely and exclusively on luck. On the other hand, the levels are so poorly built that sometimes stealth won’t even be the solution to advance. Sometimes everything will come down to running as fast as possible to escape.
But, not all the bad ends there. Beyond the roughness of its controls or the poor design of its levels, the title quickly becomes boring.. Basically, regardless of how far we have advanced, the same structure is always repeated: go to a certain area, look for what has been entrusted to us, press the odd lever, hide from the orcs and return to our cell. End.
WORST
- Absolutely all the other points that surround the title.