The Lord of the Ringsis a seminal fantasy franchise with an enormous J.R.R. Tolkien legendarium to fall back upon for lore and inspiration. Characters including Aragorn, Gandalf, and Frodo have all become iconic due to the amount of times they are on-screen throughoutThe Lord of the Rings’ trilogy. However, Peter Jackson’s work has also somewhat discredited the source material given how much fans rely on the IP’s theatrical run over Tolkien’s original novels.
The Hobbittrilogy demonstrated that spreading a single novel into three movies was a poor decision, and introduced the idea thatThe Lord of the Ringsand its iconography is more a lucrative IP to be exploited than anything else.Amazon’sThe Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Powerwas bold enough to carve its own path and deliver on content that has not been covered before, butThe Lord of the Rings: Gollumis treading on iconography known to fans without much new to speak of, which could be its downfall.
RELATED:The Lord of the Rings: Gollum Could Be Repeating a Big Mistake from Resident Evil 3 Remake
The Lord of the Rings: Gollum Needs More Than Its IP to Stand Out
BecauseThe Lord of the Rings: Gollumfeatures instantly recognizable characters and locations, it is easy to assume that the premise was decided upon for the sake of brand identity. If true, this could just become a cheap game idea without some other kind of power fantasy hook that fans would like to see, akin to Monolith Productions’Shadowgames.
It is unclear which parts of the license were offered to Daedalic, or what the original pitch forLord of the Rings: Gollumwas, but Gollum has never really a character whom fans have strongly desired to play before. Likewise, Gollum’s narrative has already been told, makingthe prequel narrative inThe Lord of the Rings: Gollumredundant. Players will know precisely where Gollum ends up at the end of the story, which could easily result in choices feeling insignificant since that outcome cannot be canonically rewritten.
IfThe Lord of the Rings: Gollumwas stripped of the brand name, one could argue it’s just a banal-looking stealth game with the only stand-out mechanic being its inner-dialogue morality system. Though if choices are not dynamic and engaging, this mechanic too will pale in comparison to games that have better encouraged player choice.
IfGollumis a worst-case scenario for fans, it might foster fears thatThe Lord of the Rings’ upcoming gameswould all become banal reflections of their favorable movies, rather than fantastic titles expanding upon a larger-than-life IP. Games such asStar Wars Jedi: Fallen OrderandHogwarts Legacyhave demonstrated how an IP can churn out games that are wholly original and fresh while being a part of a massive franchise.
By contrast,The Lord of the Rings: Gollumdoesn’t appear to have nearly as much personality and originality that those other IP-branded games offer. Of course, Daedaliccould pleasantly surprise fans, butThe Lord of the Rings: Gollum’s latest preview suggests the game likely won’t be a huge blockbuster success akin toHogwarts Legacy. Hopefully future adaptations inThe Lord of the Rings’ IP dodge this same fate.
The Lord of the Rings: Gollumwill release on May 25 for PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
