Gollum devs apologize for underwhelming launch

The Lord of the Rings: Gollum, a stealth-action game based on the iconic character from J.R.R. Tolkien’s fantasy saga, was released on May 25, 2023, for PC and consoles. However, the game failed to impress critics and fans alike, who slammed it for its poor graphics, buggy gameplay, and lackluster story. The game currently has a dismal score of 36 on Metacritic, making it one of the worst-reviewed games of the year.

Also read: The Lord of the Rings: Gollum – A Disappointing Journey

In response to the backlash, devs of Gollum, Daedalic Entertainment issued a statement on Twitter, offering “sincere apologies” for the game’s disappointing quality and promising to fix the issues with patches. The statement reads:

At Daedalic, we understand that a game’s success relies on the enjoyment and satisfaction of its players. We genuinely value your feedback and have been actively listening to your voices, reading your comments, and analyzing the constructive criticism and suggestions you have provided.

The Lord of the Rings: Gollum was our biggest project to date and an honor to take on such an iconic IP. We are proud of what we have achieved but also acknowledge that we did not meet your expectations in some areas.

Our development team has been working diligently to address the bugs and technical issues many of you experienced. We are committed to providing you with patches that will allow you to enjoy the game to its fullest potential.

We thank you for your patience and support as we work hard to improve the game. We hope you will give us another chance to show you what we can do.

The statement also included a typo in the game’s title, calling it “The Lord of Ring: Gollum” in the first sentence, which added to the embarrassment of the situation.

The Lord of the Rings: Gollum is not the only project based on Tolkien’s world that has faced criticism recently. Amazon’s upcoming TV series The Rings of Power has been plagued by rumors of creative differences, budget overruns, and controversial content. The online retailer has reportedly spent a billion dollars on the show, which is expected to debut in 2024.

Meanwhile, another Lord of the Rings game is in development by Amazon Games and Embracer Group, a Swedish company that owns several studios such as THQ Nordic and Gearbox Software. The game is described as a free-to-play MMO set in Middle-earth, but details are scarce at this point.

Fans of The Lord of the Rings may have to wait for a while before they can experience a satisfying adaptation of their beloved franchise. Until then, they can always revisit the classic movies by Peter Jackson or read the original books by Tolkien.

What went wrong with Gollum?

The Lord of the Rings: Gollum had an interesting premise: playing as one of the most complex and tragic characters in Tolkien’s lore, exploring his inner conflict between his good and evil sides, and witnessing his journey from being captured by Sauron’s forces to escaping into Mirkwood forest.

However, the game failed to deliver on this promise in almost every aspect. The gameplay was dull and repetitive, consisting mostly of sneaking past enemies or distracting them with rocks or insects. The combat was clunky and frustrating, forcing you to rely on quick-time events or stealth kills that often failed due to poor detection or glitches. The platforming was imprecise and unresponsive, making you miss jumps or fall off ledges for no apparent reason.

The graphics were also subpar for a current-gen game, with muddy textures, low-resolution models, bland environments, and frequent pop-in. The animations were stiff and unnatural, especially for Gollum himself, who looked more like a puppet than a living creature. The sound design was equally disappointing, with generic music, weak sound effects, and inconsistent voice acting.

The story was also a letdown, as it barely explored Gollum’s personality or motivations. Instead, it focused on his interactions with other characters from Tolkien’s universe, such as Gandalf, Thranduil, or Shelob. However, these characters were poorly written and acted, often sounding out of character or delivering cheesy lines. The dialogue choices also had little impact on the outcome of the story or Gollum’s morality.

The game also suffered from numerous technical issues that made it even more frustrating to play. These included long loading times, frequent crashes, corrupted saves, missing subtitles, broken quests, invisible walls, clipping issues, and more. Some players reported that they couldn’t even finish the game due to these problems.

What are critics and fans saying?

The Lord of the Rings: Gollum received mostly negative reviews from critics and fans alike. On Metacritic, it has an average score of 36 out of 100 based on 23 reviews from critics, making it one of the lowest-rated games of 2023 so far. It also has a user score of 2.8 out of 10 based on 64 ratings from players, indicating overwhelming dislike.

Some of the most scathing reviews came from:

• IGN, which gave it a score of 3 out of 10, saying that “The Lord of the Rings: Gollum is filled with dull stealth, bad platforming, and a pointless story, and does little to justify why anyone should take the time to play it.”
• Tom’s Guide, which gave it a score of 1 out of 5, saying that “The Lord of the Rings: Gollum is an unwelcome throwback to the days when licensed games were synonymous with low quality. Thanks to its dreary gameplay, stilted story and unacceptable technical issues, slogging through its 12-hour campaign is about as much fun as walking barefoot across the fiery plains of Mordor.”
• GameSpot , which gave it a score of 4 out of 10, saying that “The Lord of the Rings: Gollum is a frustrating stealth game that squanders its potential. Its gameplay is tedious, its story is uninspired, and its presentation is lackluster. It’s hard to find any redeeming qualities in this precious-less adventure.”

Some fans also expressed their disappointment and anger on social media platforms such as Twitter, Reddit, or Steam. Some common complaints were:

• The game was too expensive for its quality, charging $60 for a mediocre experience that felt like an early access title.
• The game was too short for its price, lasting only about 10 hours with little replay value or extra content.
• The game was too boring for its genre, offering no challenge or variety in its gameplay mechanics or level design.

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