We may also release a first CG teaser trailer, giving you a better look at this recording on Gollum, and the Mordor he finds himself strangling himself.
The Lord of the Rings: Stoll Gameplay by Gollum
Gollum will be a game widely played in two distinct states – either stealthily making your way past the various heinous threats that exist in Mordor, and creating healing shocks as the warring personalities of Sméagol and Gollum fight for control.
The former should be familiar to many: “The game mixes stealth with vertical climate parkour,” explains lead game designer Martin Wilkes. “If you want a reference, you might think of it as Prince of Persia. It’s mostly a non-combat game, but Gollum will be able to take out enemies stealthily. However, this will not be easy and always comes with great risks. We “I want the players to weigh these meetings carefully. After all, Gollum’s strengths are simply not fighting.”
That focus on simply fighting over means you will not take on enemies directly – instead you will rely on deleted items, environmental hazards, and even newfound friends for help. Wilkes continues: “Gollum does not use weapons, but he can repel enemies with throwables. In parts of the game he will also take advantage of the capabilities of special allies and can use the environment to his advantage.”
That mention of “special allies” is interesting – will we meet famous characters along the way?
“You will!” says lead story designer Tilman Schanen. “We can’t wait to talk about this, but it’s still a bit early for that. Given the scope and timeline of our narrative, we need to think carefully about who Gollum himself might meet, where and when. This means that for the most part, they will play smaller – but in some cases very important – roles in the story. “
The Lord of the Rings: Narrative Gameplay by Gollum
Between those stealth sections, Gollum will be forced to make decisions and dialogue choices, choosing from answers suggested by both his softer Sméagol personality, and the Gollum psyche that emerged after being damaged by the One Ring. So, do those decisions mean there is a branching story to play through?
“There it is,” Schanen explains. “Also, the decisions you make affect the feel of the game. You always play as Sméagol or as Gollum as the ‘dominant’ persona and that can affect animations, soundcapes, certain gameplay situations, and a -game-dialogue. “
Daedelic makes it clear that the source material does not change – this is a prequel to the books of the Lord of the Rings, which means that Gollum must reach a certain place at the end of the game, but the journey there may change:
“We naturally stay within certain limits,” Schanen continues. “It will not be the case that you will destroy Middle-earth, because you have never made a Sméagol choice. Ultimately, of course, the fate of Gollum will be determined by the books. But you can and will have decisions, for example for others. “NPCs in the game. Some decisions will have a bigger impact, others very small. Just like in real life.”
Wilkes adds that it is a “moral” system of morality as seen in other titles with narrative focus (although we will not see any physical changes in the character, a la Fable), “but a little more twisted than in most other games. It’s not as simple as, ‘Choose Sméagol to be good, choose Gollum to be evil. Our first rule is to stay true to the character ( “at least our interpretation of him. Since playing two personalities in one character, choosing sides will give you some control. But it’s more than maneuvering a truck with two flat tires and trying not to drive off a cliff.”
The Lord of the Rings: Gollum’s level design and structure
Middle-earth is an enormous place, and we’ve seen other games adapt it as an open world, but Gollum will take a slightly more curated approach.
“The game is mostly structured into sets of levels and hubs,” Wilkes explains. “When Gollum arrives at a new location, the places he can go from this hub are restricted until he or she works his way in (for example, the prisons of the Dark Tower), finds secret passages or information, or succeeds in his way. to schedule in otherwise restricted areas.
“Some levels are fully open in all three dimensions and can be explored freely, while others are more linear, but often with alternative routes, where players, for example, can decide whether they prefer to lure some guards or take a risky parkour route in vertical heights to continue the next segment. “
The idea seems to be to balance player choice with allowing puzzle solving and maybe even platforming, with Wilkes saying that, “Verticality plays a big role in our levels, and the excellent climbing skills of our main character do not give us not only epic views, but also this dimension really opens up for the players from a gameplay perspective. “
As for the appearance of the world itself, Daedelic’s environments are inspired in part by JRR Tolkien’s own drawings, but without exceeding expectations of what Middle-earth should look like because of the film series:
“Peter Jackson’s films are fantastic, but our game is based on the original book license,” says Wilkes. “The source material for both is of course largely the same. Our world follows the same descriptions and is also inspired in part by the same works of art as the films. Their impact on popular culture has been tremendous, so we need to be thinking of players who ‘ maybe only Middle-earth knows of the two film trilogies. “
Art director Mathias Fischer adds, “Our approach is therefore to create a unique and distinctive style, but at the same time not completely deviate from the iconic shapes known from the films. Sauron’s Dark Tower will still look like a tower and not as a broad fortress, even if the books would allow such an interpretation. “
The Lord of the Rings: Gollum’s Story
So what are we doing all this stealthing and inner warring in front of? We previously knew the game would be set in the relatively unexplored time period before we meet Gollum in the Lord of the Rings books, and now we know how this new story begins, with Schanen explaining:
“We begin our story in parallel with the first book, when Frodo is still in the Shire and knows nothing about everything. Gollum wins at that moment after Mordor is still desperate in search of Bilbo Baggins and the Ring. Unfortunately, he is caught by servants of Sauron and this is basically where our story begins.
“Gollum’s overall goal in the game?” adds Wilkes. “Well, that’s a little more complicated. Of course, Gollum wants to escape his captors and take the Ring again (and hopefully get his hands on some nice fish along the way). After some time, however, the Sméagol site causes problems and distractions and opens new ones. , conflicting goals that we can not yet talk about. “
The Daedelic team says they have worked closely with Middle Earth companies to stay respectful of Tolkien’s work (a process that has apparently been “an absolute pleasure”), but they have to create their own story if they just go due to a lack of direct source material:
“We follow Tolkien’s story fairly strictly and only take some freedom for purposes of gamification or sometimes simplification,” says Schanen. “Tolkien does not describe Gollum’s story until he appears in great detail in the book. We draw mainly from small notes in the appendices and second-hand reports of characters like Gandalf. Since we have to fill in many gaps, it gives us a little creative freedom to pursue our narrative vision.
“At the same time, we would never have had the opportunity to work on this project if that vision were not in line with the source material. Think of it as taking a few verses from the Bible and expanding them into a novel without changing the general story. “
And what about Gollum himself? As many pointed out after the first screenshots appeared, the character seems to have a slightly broader eye on the version that made Andy Serkis famous. As it turns out, that’s more or less the point. Fischer explains the purpose of designing her anti-hero:
“With Gollum himself, our goal is to make him relatable, because players have to slip into his skin during an entire match. That’s why our Gollum looks less creepy (and has more hair) than the movie version. . “
The Lord of the Rings: Gollum will hit PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC in 2021Joe Skrebels is the Executive Editor of News of IGN. Follow him on Twitter. Do you have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please email [email protected].
