Review: ‘The Lord of the Rings: Gollum’ flings its disappointing, broken husk into Mount Doom

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I remember when The Lord of the Rings: Gollum was announced all the way back in 2019. When the first “cinematic” trailer dropped at the 2021 Game Awards, everyone else was skeptical. Cringing. Mocking. But me? “Wow, a Gollum-centric game? There are so many possibilities! This will be jam-packed with all kinds of lore and let us explore a Middle-earth from the perspective of one of the franchise’s best characters!”

Initially, I thought it would be a full-blooded narrative adventure in the vein of Telltale’s The Walking Dead or Don’t Nod’s Life is Strange, both of which chart somewhere in my top 30 games of all time (but don’t ask me about specific placements at the moment). But an action/stealth game? Okay! That could work, I guess! I mean, it isn’t as though Gollum can wield a sword with any level of expertise — or win any kind of fair one-on-one engagement with most of LotR’s best and brightest.

No, Gollum is a bastard. One that’s tragic and sympathetic, sure, but a bastard all the same. We all remember how he got the One Ring, and it sure wasn’t something he acquired over a nice conversation. With a character that’s heavily rooted in trickery, manipulation, and relying on his ability to catch unsuspecting enemies off-guard, Daedalic Entertainment had an intriguing challenge ahead of it. Many games try to incorporate stealth and end up creating a janky, floaty disaster of a final product. But surely, with such a beloved IP that already has a shoddy track record when it comes to making a compelling video game, there’s no way this can fail!

I’ll start by saying that Gollum’s vocal range is surprisingly good! It’s no Andy Serkis, of course, but when Gollum is struggling between himself and Sméagol, you can hear that pain and