There's a lot of highly anticipated games coming out in 2022, but The Lord of the Rings: Gollum may be one of the most unique. Although lots of developers have created Lord of the Rings games in the past, Daedalic Entertainment has struck upon the unique idea to make a game starring the elusive and troubled Gollum. The Lord of the Rings: Gollum will offer fans a stealthy action-adventure game exploring Gollum's life after he loses the One Ring. It will be interesting to see Middle-earth through the eyes of a secondary character like Gollum rather than from Bilbo, Frodo, or Aragorn's perspective.
Daedalic made a great choice by tapping Gollum to star in its Lord of the Rings game, but there's another LotR character who deserves the spotlight: Gandalf. Although Gandalf orchestrates many of the events of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, he's also absent from the story frequently, tending to matters across Middle-earth. It'd be great to see some of these journeys from Gandalf's perspective, or even to chart Gandalf's earliest adventures in a new Lord of the Rings game. Gandalf seems like a good character to explore after Daedalic is finished with Gollum.
A Gandalf Game's Potential
When it comes to story content, a Lord of the Rings game about Gandalf has a lot of options. Since Gollum explores the titular protagonist's life in the early parts of The Lord of the Rings, a Gandalf game could focus on Gandalf's life around the same time when he began to study the One Ring. The Hobbit provides good material too; players might control Gandalf as he supports Thorin Oakenshield's quest and investigates Sauron's return. Beyond that, Daedalic could focus on Gandalf's early days when Sauron was at his most powerful, or even weave all three time periods into a game that spans Gandalf's life.
The mechanics of a Lord of the Rings game about Gandalf would be unique, too. In Lord of the Rings lore, Gandalf is meant to serve as an advisor rather than commanding mortals to act in certain ways, although he's still more than willing to do battle. A game about Gandalf's adventures in Middle-earth might be divided between adventure sections with heavy dialogue, where players have to convince important characters to make certain decisions, as well as action sequences that blend Gandalf's capable swordsmanship with magical powers.
Exploring Middle-earth in New Ways
The Lord of the Rings: Gollum is an interesting project because it focuses on a character whose life and journey aren't always visible, in spite of their importance. Gollum will look at Middle-earth differently because it's informed by the titular character's experiences. A Gandalf game could do the exact same thing, and perhaps to an even greater extent due to Gandalf's long life and remarkable experiences. Gandalf has spent so many years shaping the events of The Lord of the Rings and Tolkien's other stories that he's more than worthy of his own game.
It would be great to see The Lord of the Rings: Gollum start a new wave of LotR games. Middle-earth is a classic fantasy world filled with interesting characters and lore that can easily inspire compelling games like Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor. Hopefully Gollum's creative perspective will encourage other developers to explore the LotR world, especially from the perspective of characters like Gandalf who only get the stage to themselves on rare occasions. For now though, The Lord of the Rings: Gollum looks like a game that all fans of Middle-earth should try thanks to its unorthodox protagonist and the corners of his world that it will visit in new ways.
The Lord of the Rings: Gollum releases in 2022 for PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
