When the Future Game Show: Spring Showcase event was happening, thousands of fans tuned in ahead of time to see developer Daedelic Entertainment's pre-show trailers and sneak peeks at its upcoming games. The main attraction by far was the promise of new gameplay footage for Lord of the Rings: Gollum. When the new teaser dropped, there wasn't much gameplay involved, but fans were still let in on a surprise about The Lord of the Rings: Gollum. After a title card for Daedelic Entertainment shows and a swarm of bats fly across the screen, players can finally hear the voice of this new incarnation of Gollum. As it turns out, Lord of the Rings: Gollum will be leaving the classic voice of the character behind.
Most of the trailer takes place in some form of Orc settlement, where Gollum seems to alternate between walking freely and sneaking around by climbing on banisters. There is also brief scene where Gollum gets chased by spiders as he runs toward the exit of a cave. But what will stick out the most to Lord of the Rings fans is the new voice to accompany the polished image that the developer is seeking to give Gollum. In the trailer, everyone's favorite creep spouts a few lines begging "Don't look at us!" and lamenting over the lost ring.
What's the Difference?
The image that the Lord of the Rings movie trilogy wanted to give Gollum was to lean into the disgusting and creepy side of the character. Daedalic Entertainment has made it clear on multiple occasions that it seeks a departure from that version of Gollum in lieu of something closer to the books. However, it wasn't clear what the developer meant, as the new character design for Gollum looks largely the same to his on-screen counterpart, albeit a little smoother in its art style. This voice seems to be taking a similar sympathetic route by turning up the pained quality and turning down the salivating tendencies.
In so many words, the voice sounds much more like that of a protagonist than the slimy quality of the movies' Gollum. The voice in Lord of the Rings: Gollum is much gentler on the ears and likely won't provoke a disgusted reaction from the audience who will be spending a long time with him. He seems to be in a lot of pain, whether it be the constant split in his personality or a physical reaction to losing his Precious. What's apparent is that Daedelic Entertainment is trying to promote a friendlier image, and that includes making Gollum a little easier on the eyes and ears.
Andy Serkis
The original and most iconic voice for the character of Gollum is obviously Andy Serkis. No one could have played the creepy character on screen better than the man who got the voice from his cat throwing up a hair ball. Andy Serkis managed to accomplish everything that the film versions of Gollum wanted to, so it's curious why it doesn't seem to be his voice behind the classic character. In line with Daedelic Entertainment's wish to depart from the movie's portrayal of the character:, Lord of the Rings:Â Gollum likely chose to go forward with a new voice actor that could provide a new, gentler voice for Gollum.
It's hard to determine how good the voice acting will be in the game with only a few lines of dialogue released so far. However, the Lord of the Rings: Gollum gameplay preview showed stealth, non-linear levels, and NPC allies are all featured in the game. Whether or not the new voice benefits the iconic character, the game is shaping up to be an adventure in Middle-earth unlike any other.
The Lord of the Rings: Gollum will launch in 2022 for PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
