Daedalic Entertainment has released its first developer diary for The Lord of the Rings: Gollum, taking a deeper look at Daedalic's vision of Middle-earth and the familiar locations and characters within. The Lord of the Rings: Gollum tells an original story set eight years prior to the events of The Lord of the Rings books and movies. It's a unique opportunity for Daedalic to present a Middle-earth unlike any other. This first developer diary offers insight into what that Middle-earth looks like.
In The Lord of the Rings: Gollum players will take on the role of Gollum himself, a once-Hobbit that's long been corrupted by the power of Sauron's One Ring. The events of The Hobbit, in which Bilbo Baggins first encounters Gollum in the Misty Mountains and takes his "precious" ring, have occurred many decades prior to the events of the game. As such, The Lord of the Rings: Gollum players will be meeting a Gollum desperate, angry, and thrust into a Middle-earth he'd long been separated from.
The first developer diary for The Lord of the Rings: Gollum starts by acknowledging the creative team's greatest challenge, which is that the game has three target audiences. It's targeting both fans of J.R.R. Tolkien's original works, Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings movies, and fans of video games in general. Lead artist Mathias "James" Fischer notes that Daedalic is working to create a style that "everyone likes," balancing classic epic fantasy visuals with Tolkien's ability to ground fantasy in reality. At its heart, however, The Lord of the Rings: Gollum will be Daedalic's own vision.
Daedalic describes its approach as "fairy-tale realism" from the perspective of Gollum himself. 3D/Character Artist Diana Varro describes how characters and creatures may seem more friendly or threatening depending on how Gollum sees them. The result is a sort of "distorted reality" to all that Gollum is seeing, as a creature of the shadows thrust into a world much bigger than he knows.
Brief teases of various creatures from The Lord of the Rings: Gollum are shown, from squirrels and badgers to worgs and more nightmarish. Daedalic says it's both respectful of the source material yet also embracing the opportunity for original ideas where presented. The great Spider Shelob is one such example, described as more slender and feminine yet undoubtedly as monstrous as the one seen in The Lord of the Rings films.
Gollum is an obvious focus for Daedalic. The dev diary mentions finding a balance between the predator half of Gollum and the friendlier half which is Smeagol. He'll visually be similar to the Gollum fans know well, but also presented in new light as Daedalic tells its original story. Daedalic is clearly embracing its opportunity to professionally work within Middle-earth, and understanding of what that means.
The Lord of the Rings: Gollum releases May 25 on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S, with a Switch version to follow later.
