What is The Lord of the Rings: Gollum about?

Gollum is a famous character from the original works of J. R. R. Tolkien. He makes an appearance in The Hobbit and has an essential supporting role in The Lord of the Rings. In this new action-adventure game, however, Gollum is the main character.

The Lord of the Rings: Gollum puts the player in Gollum’s bare feet to explore his split personality between the once-hobbit Sméagol and the mad-driven Gollum while following his quest for the Ring.

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What is The Lord of the Rings: Gollum about?

The Lord of the Rings: Gollum is based on what happened to Gollum between The Hobbit and the beginning of The Fellowship of the Ring books and movies, which was never told by J. R. R. Tolkien. Gollum only appears in The Two Towers movie onward and has several small moments in The Fellowship of the Ring book.

In The Hobbit, Bilbo finds Gollum in his lair and is able to escape him after a riddle game that Gollum proposed. Bilbo’s last riddle led Gollum to notice he had the Ring, but it was too late for him, as Bilbo manages to escape with the Ring. After that, Gollum is left only with the Baggins name to cry out as he left with the Ring.

He decided to leave his lair and look for Bilbo after some years and it’s probably when the game will begin. Players will be able to see in detail what happened with Gollum while Frodo and the Fellowship of the Ring traveled to Mordor before they split up at the hill of Amon Hen.

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The description of Gollum on Steam mentions Mordor, the Mouth of Sauron, the demon-spider Shelob, and the dungeons of Legolas’ father, which are the possible settings that are part of Gollum’s journey before he finds Frodo and Sam.

In the books, Gollum traveled to Mordor to find Bilbo but was captured and tortured for information about the Ring. He only revealed two words — “The Shire” and “Baggins” — which led Sauron’s Black Riders after Frodo.

After Gollum was released from Mordor, he was captured by Aragorn and taken to Gandalf. That’s when Gollum is then taken to Mirkwood, in Legola’s father’s kingdom. But during an orc attack, Gollum escaped and went back on his journey to find the Ring.

Since Gollum’s body is small and weak, players will have to rely on his stealth and wits to deal with orcs and elves he will face. Plus his sharp senses and abilities that using the Ring gave him over time might come in handy.

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Another important aspect of the game is Gollum’s duality, with Sméagol representing the good and Gollum the bad. Players will likely have to choose between some action options that can either bring Smeágol or Gollum to the spotlight.