The Lord of the Rings: Gollum Video Game Review
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- čas přidán 26. 08. 2024
- I've now spent a week with The Lord of the Rings: Gollum. While I have an appreciation for the lore (at times pretty deep-cut), it quite simply falls short of what a Middle-earth game should be. Here's my thoughts...
#lordoftherings #gollumgame #gollum
Have you played LOTR Gollum? If so, what are your thoughts on it?
I won’t be purchasing it. Very disappointed. Good review.
I've got it on my Steam wishlist.. but i'll be waiting until it goes on sale.
What I'm really getting tired with is the constant. "It's not Jackson. So it sucks" attitude from the reviewers.
RoP and the new films should of been made to look unique and we could put a beatuiful line under Jacksons work and say thank you. We'll always refer back to these films but we want to see others views..
At least the game has the bottle to try to make something look like their own version but at a cost to the Jackson fans who will bash everything that doesn't have his "look"
An interview with Christopher.
"Would you father enjoyed the Jackson films?"
"No !! Tolkien is supposed to be about your own mind bringing Middle Earth to life. To put it in to a format like film takes all that away and we only get 1 persons perspective and that is what he would of hated."
So all the people who want nothing but more Jackson arn't Tolkien fans but Jackson fans...
I want more new concepts as we move forward.
@@fingersTitan you sir are not a Tolkien fan either. Cause what Rings of Power did was in no shape or form made to honor the source material in any way. We hold Jackson’s trilogy to high esteem because they stayed as truthful to the source material as they could and they actually showed love and respect to the source material.
We have played games like Shadow of War and Shadow of Mordor which are not Jackson copied, they changed some of the lore and story and yet people loved it, first game won game of the year. So your take is wrong. This is a horrible game that should never have been made as no one asked for it. There’s so many other stories and important characters that a game can explore and can be better.
War in the north game was also great, and it gave its own original story.
If any poor goofy soul bought it, he should throw it in the garbage can🤡🤡
Third Age Total War with the Divide & Conquer mod is the game you should try! I would love to watch that
This game must be taken deep into Daedalic Entertainment and cast back into the fiery chasm from whence it came.
It's a bit sad to see this .... Even if this is not the best game, this studio has released some of my childhood classics - Deponia (1-3), Harvey's neue Augen and Edna bricht aus (Sry I don't know if these game titles have an English translation... It is a German company after all)
Those games were made with such care and love - it's just a classic... But ... Deadalic does better with these point and click games than 3D games ...
@@kazemitsuki3325the project was just way to big for them.
@@airstuck3929 that's probably it....
Would love to see reviews for other popular Tolkien games! Shadow of Mordor, Shadow of War, both Lego titles. There's a huge backlog of Tolkien games with tons of review potential.
I've been thinking of doing some gameplay streams of some of my favorites!
I have a early 2000s Trivial Pursuit LotR edition. 75% of the answers are Aragorn
The old games like battle for middle earth or even the movie adaptation to videogames were awesome, lotro is also great, I just don’t have time for that at the moment. And the shadow games were great, not lore wise but middle earth and everything else was on point, just not the characters in themselves. The Lego games are fun to.
@@NerdoftheRings In the final review score of the game should include how lore accurate the game's story is to the LOTR source content. This score could make a part of the final aggregate review score or a separate score just to outline its lore accuracy.
@@NerdoftheRings do you play PC games and are you into mods if so I can recommend a mod that Tolkien fans can enjoy also there's an upcoming mod that I believe Tolkien fans will love
Copies of Gollum: Boil them, Mash them, Stick them in the bin
please don't boil DVDs.
They may release some nasty smoke!
Off to the E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial pits with you! lol.
NIN-TEN-DO!
I would just hit it with a hammer and throw it away
Because of its price tag and when it came out, I think it's reasonable to compare Gollum to Jedi Survivor for some perspective of what quality is fair of us to expect as the gamers. Both are full-priced 2023 games based on a fan-favourite lore to draw from. So in terms of gameplay and story, these games should really be close to being on par with one another. Oof.
They charge 10 for lore and emotes as well. Some folks are paying 70. Why anyone wants emotes in a single player game I do not know.
You are a lot more open minded and forgiving than this game deserves to be. They can't charge as much as they did then issue that apology. I'd like to this this wasn't the developer's fault and it was a corporate decision.
Oh wow corporate greed and lack of oversight leads to people getting the shaft??? What a surprise.
Have you even played the game?
@@cube2foxI don't need to be stabbed to know I won't like it.
@cube2fox "How do you KNOW that being punched in the face sucks if you've never experienced it?" That's what tf you sound like 💀
@@DopeioThePhoneBoi The person who actually played the game is less hard on it than all the commenters who haven't played it but feel the need to give exaggerated opinions ("face punch").
Wouldve been cool to be open world survival starting right when he gets the ring. Tranforming into gollum the farther u play
Id love for you to cover the 2003 The Hobbit game. I think its the best adaptation of that book and as a kid it was actually my gateway to Middle Earth. Super underreted imo
That game has a pretty cool speedrunning community
Man that would be awesome! Still my favorite game of all time, and the first I ever played.
incredible game
That was my gateway to Middle Earth, too!😃
Yes, love this game. I emulate it from time to time
A massive open world game of Arda does exist, it's called The Lord of the Rings Online. :P
Probably one of the most honest and well put together reviews I've ever heard. Appreciate the review for sure!
Agreed! I love when he said that we live in a society today where everything is either exceptional or trash and no in between! Which really is an insult to the people that put their hearts into trying to make something special. Yes they failed but their intentions were not to trick people.
Bro this game is so trash the studio shut down 😂
I think that this review is incredibly fair. Lorewise, it holds up really well, but man it was a drag to play.
One reason that I'm more forgiving of the Middle-Earth games' egregious lore breaks is that the games don't claim to be adaptations. Those come off as "Hey we really like Tolkien's universe and we'd like to make a fan fictiony love letter to it in the form of a fun game". I think that if a piece of media markets itself as an adaptation, it should strive to be as close to the source material as close as possible. And I can't really say much different from what people have already said about the Nemesis system.
But yeah, there was so much lost potential with this game.
I am excited for the upcoming Return to Moria game after I watched your interview with the devs. Just hope to see more gameplay of it soon.
Bypassing all of the comments about the game to point out that *you* are the reason I keep coming back to this channel. Beyond just your delivery and voice being pleasant to listen to as you discuss your passion, but you are such an incredibly positive and empathetic person. I'm not sure what exactly it was, but I needed to hear that optimistic "we may get an all time classic" bit in a sense beyond just games. Thank you for your work!
Seconded. The other day I kept one of your videos in the background while I was puttering about the house, and mum came in and heard it. Her immediate comment was that "This man should be doing audio books."
Thirded, your nuanced take and positive outlook made it tolerable to be a legendarium fan during the first season of rings of power.
They never seem to explain the Candleman's issue with the last king Earnur of Gondor. He just asks Gollum what he knows of Earnur's fabled disappearance and then later on he throws a spear at Earnur's picture when he's angry. I felt like either something wasn't fully fleshed out there, I had missed it, or the developers had perhaps meant to set this up for a sequel which would take place from someone else's perspective and reveal more about the Candleman. Are they trying to imply that Candleman himself IS Earnur or that he killed Earnur?
They cared just as little about their apology as they did about the game😂
“We are sorry you didn’t like Lord of Ring Golm. We will promise to try and do a better again the next one”
Definitely excited to see more of Return to Moria. LOTRO is still a favorite for the level of detail it goes into and being able to explore so much of Middle-Earth.
I really appreciate your unbiased / non-click bait approach to your content. In a world where everyone is so quick to be negative it is incredibly refreshing.
Similar to what you said in the video, I think playing as Gollum is something you would want to be just a level or two of a larger LOTR game.
Solid review. I think you were fair all things considered.
Not really, if he gave this a 5/10, what could possibly give a 1/10, 2,3, or even 4/10? How much does a game have to be to warrant those scores?
Is this really an "average" game to be giving it a 5?
@@akshayjag117 I mean he gave it a 5/10 mostly because of lore as he said. If he was a hardcore gamer like myself, giving it an even lower score would make sense, but from a mostly LORE perspective, I understand it. A 5/10 is still a failing grade too btw. A 5/10 is a 50%, if that's in any school you have to retake the assignment or redo the project.
@@akshayjag117 Gotta keep face after boosting their sales with a promotional :P
he is biased and he is ok to suck at companies that butchers tolkiens work.
I originally had rated it a 5/10 when asked by my friends but ended up dropping it a point due to repeatedly hitting some extremely frustrating bugs.
I'm super excited for the future of Middle Earth games though!
The cash grabby part for me is the 10$ Sindarin DLC. I feel like Sindarin is so core to the LOTR adaptations that it should come with the base game
You should make a video covering the lore moments of this game so people don't have to actually frustrate themselves getting to them
To be fair triple A games haven't been worth of 60€ in years also. The bar is set so low these days, because people keep preordering unfinished games.
Hopefully it won't be the same case with Return to Moria
Hoping the same, actually kinda looking forward to that one.
Developers: “we need to stick to Tolkien’s writing for this as close as possible, but also, let’s give Gollum a wig”
@MostOfTheInternetIsFake I doubt that, but I can understand the concept of a fan wanting to expand on an idea they grew up with, and just never succeeding like they want. That was my whole brand in college and still kind of is, but I’m working on it😂 at least if people don’t like an original idea, its still original in that regard
What are you talking about? He doesn't have a wig. Don't you understand the Jackson design of Gollum isn't canonical in any way?
Imagine FromSoftware gettings rights and developing a game true to the lore. Ya'll would poop your pants.
I can't tell you how many time while playing Elden Ring I was thinking to myself exactly this. It's all there, it just needed Tolkein lore in it.
I already poop my pants....it's a problem.
It is. The name is Elden Rings
@@ericanderson8500 Same.
Dark Souls wouldn't fit LOTR even remotely
5!! You're being generous. Developers mooching off the LOTR name hoping to make some cash.
Matt, would be nice to see reviews of older games… like War in the North… just to hear you talking about those games with gameplay or images would be an absolute blast! 🎉
Some people put a lot of love and work into the game, so I don’t want to criticize it too much. It just wasn’t for me, , mostly the gameplay, but especially at that price point.
This is the problem. We, as consumers who pays MUST criticize their work. If I am going to spend 70€, but even 10€, I am expecting something in return. I don't think people that worked on this project put a lott of love and work in it.
oh god u spent a week playing this game? im sorry for your loss bro
I have to say, I really appreciate your level headed, open minded approach to middle earth and Tolkien adaptations.
Anytime I want honest reviews on anything middle earth/Tolkien It's utterly trashed (normally baselessly) unless its the og LOTR, its really saddening.
Keep up the fantastic work!
It is funny that you give it a 5/10 and then comment about why you didn't go lower. It is an honest opinion I respect. I laugh only because the gaming review world is so screwed up that people consider 7/10 a bad score and people will even complain about a game getting 9/10. If a professional game reviewer gave a 5/10 it would mean it is absolute garbage. But to be clear, you gave an appropriate score. I'm mostly saying the scoring system as generally used today is a mess.
An open-world game would be sweet, have large maps around named areas and only having to load when travelling between them. Though personally, I want another RTS.
A talking point you briefly touched on that actually seems to be common in discussions, is the idea that Gollum alone as a character, or Gollum and this story, couldn't carry a game of this size. I strongly disagree.
1.) Gollum is arguably the _only_ character that could breed natural conflict wherever he goes, with or without external forces/other characters present. If you remained as Smeagol for the whole game, fighting your worst instincts as Gollum, the choice and argument systems could be come a LOT more tense and engaging. Mandate QTE prompts to mirror suppressing your intrusive thoughts, or the speed of an actual debate.
2.) If people are worried about being stuck as "the good side", they don't need to worry, because Smeagol himself isn't a good guy. Win over Gollum in arguments first and then decide for yourself if you want to be selfish or not, or you could even just let Gollum take the wheel. Have certain choices yield the best results _by_ yielding control to Gollum.
3.) If the motion was handled better, I feel he would be REALLY satisfying to play as for more action-oriented gamers.
4.) If you alternated story chapters between the past in Mordor and the present in Mirkwood, you'd get constant change of scenery and maybe bond more with that blind elf lady who the game seems to really want you to invest in.
I wish a studio would remaster LOTR: The Third Age. I bought a PS2 just to play that game!
Most realistic gollum simulator
still hoping for witcher style RPG LOTR game.
Fantastic review to be honest
I still intend to buy it but I’m going to wait until it gets it price slashed. Which, judging by the rating, won’t be a long wait. Lol
Finally, an honest Gollum review
In my personal opinion, Lego Lord of the Rings is the best Lord of the Rings game, and I'm going to carry that to the grave
I would love a singleplayer, open world action adventure RPG for Middle-earth where you play a Dunedain ranger during the years leading up to the War of the Ring. The entire Middle-earth would be too big to be adapted faithfully into just one game, so by playing a ranger it makes canonical sense to restrict the explorable map to the Grey Havens up till Rivendell. The character would also have a reason to interact with canon characters namely Aragorn, maybe throw in the sons of Elrond, Gandalf and a surprise Glorfindel cameo as well.
What did you decide to name your new puppy?
This game made about $400,000 in sales against a $15.9 million budget that's about 2.5% keep in mind rings of power's completion was 37%
This is probably the nicest, fairest review I've seen. And I don't disagree in the least. Thank you.
Love your videos! I have always wondered where you got your music from.
That was my thought almost right after the game was announced. I thought it might find a weird niche with LOTR fans/stealth game fans but it just seemed like it would fit so much better as a special mission or two in a bigger game. Warhammer has its issues but recent LOTR material has been...shall we say weak.
I like when you do the voices and the lore. I must say though, I don't really see eye to eye with you on these media reviews. I think you are much much too generous. Conceptually this is just a bizarre idea to me. Even the most idealized best version of this would still be a baffling nothing burger of a LOTR first outing from this dev, when there is an enormous rich world to make games and shows and movies with. So much to explore and yet this antiquated half baked Gollum game is the best they could come up with? Anyway, I at least appreciate that you put your feelings out there without first waiting to see which way the wind blows like many CZcamsrs do. I hope it's not because you are getting a lifetime supply of raw fishes. Empty its pocketses preshusssss!!
Omg I never heard about this game! How did I not?! Thanks for the review!!!
Dunkeys review of this was godtier
Would love to someday see your thoughts (a review) on past LOTR video games, especially the Middle-earth "Shadow of" duology.
I think a 5/10 is extremely charitable. I've watched reviews from other gamers who had to stop playing the game due to glitches that render it unplayable. Others quit because the game just isn't enjoyable. If you're a game developer and you put out a product like that, then you failed. Plain and simple. Doesn't mater how much passion you have for the source material if your game flat out sucks. And to change $60 for it? There's no way the game devs weren't aware of all these problem when they released the game.. unless they didn't bother to play test the thing beforehand. There's a reason it was delayed for 2 years, and the final product shows why. So yeah, I have no problem calling out the game developers here.
I think a lot of folks had a much worse time than I did with glitches and crashes. I had a few glitches here and there, but no crashes. That was one level on PC and the rest on PS5
I hope the (understandable) negativity surrounding this game has not gotten you down. The bar is indeed high for Tolkien adaptations, and the fanbase is unfortunately getting hangry!
The last of us, GTA V and Red Dead Redemption all came out 2 generations ago if we talk graphics. And there are plenty of indie titles that are better looking far as clean and stylized graphics go.
This was released for a triple A price, has horrible optimization, extremely taxing on the pc for how it looks and the limited mechanics.
Critiquing a high price product's abysmal quality is in no shape or form an attack to the small team that made it. Plus people have been hyperbolic with reviews since Shakespeare's time.
I am still fuming with the DLCs also. Just nearly finished The Quarry and great....that was free on Playstation Plus. That was made last year as we all know and blows us away with even the graphics and machs with it.
We should all demand a refund and all let the company and Sony know it.
Speaking about pricing I think this is usually a misconception in the gaming community, that a high-pricing game is necessarily a high-budget game. The truth is probably the opposite.
A high-budget game usually targets for border audiences and therefore expect a much larger sales. Other games like indie / "fan-service" game only focus on the limited fanbase and those people are likely to buy the games no matter how it is priced.
I have not played Gollum yet and probably will not play it, but I think the problem of this game, apart from the technical fraud it has, is mostly because of incorrect marketing. It should be advertised more as an indie, low-volumed game, rather than a "AAA" one.
I haven’t gotten very far into the game yet but I actually enjoy it. I knew it wasn’t going to look or play as pretty as most games that come out these days. With low expectations, I’m fairly content with it
My PS5 to this game: “YOU SHALL NOT PASS!!”
As someone who thinks rings of power is half as bad as allot of people say, I still think Gollum is double as bad as I expected and only a half as bad as I deserved
Could you please tell me what are the new Middle-earth board games coming?
Did you finish the game? If not how can you give it a 5/10
I'd give this a 2/10 score.
In the end, it's just not a game I would want to play no matter how cheap it was. No matter if it was priced at $5, after 2 hours I would still wish I could have my 2 hours back. The pricing doesn't affect that.
There are no tricky or clever puzzles. There is no clever use of stealth mechanics, it's just "follow the exact prompt on the screen, hide in the tall grass". Every task feels tedious and repetitive, and the jumping/climbing "puzzles" get old after ten minutes of gameplay. The game is also riddled with pretty major bugs.
Choosing dialogue responses also doesn't add anything interesting. Guess which option won't get you killed.
On top of everything the voice acting is sub-par and the graphics are abysmal as well.
Dropping the price could perhaps have bumped it up to a 3/10 but in the end it's just a really, really bad game.
It's absolutely not the "worst game ever" but it is far from deserving a mid-range grade like a 5/10.
I'm not a big fan of Lord of the rings but I've been really interested in everything surrounding this game solely due to how bad it is. It's really interesting hearing a review from someone who isn't really a huge gamer but is a huge fan of the series.
The only thing I slightly disagree with is your comments on the quality of the game not being that big of a deal cause it's an indie studio. Indie's can make some truly amazing games that while yea, they might not be as complex or graphically impressive as AAA games are, they make up for that with creative ideas, really good art direction, etc. This game doesn't really have any of that and while the game itself isn't really a cashgrab, the "DLC" certainly is.
My point is, indie studios can make waaaaaay better games than this, and this game is poorly designed in every single aspect. Even if it was $30, people would still be mad cause it's just not a well made game. Something clearly went wrong during the development, who knows what but I highly doubt this is anything close to what the studio originally wanted to make.
I think an Elder Scrolls formula for the LOTR would be best.
Outdated gameplay, dialogue on the level of RoP, a bunch of books scattered around the world with segments from the Silmarillion in them?
Like you said if this was one or two levels in a greater game it would be fine, but playing a whole game about gollum seems boring and repetitive. I also agree with your statement that for social media everything needs to be the best ever or the worst ever. This is a mediocre game but it isnt absolute unplayable trash
According to the lore Gollum was eating babies during the time period of this game
Those were fearful rumors from the men of Dale. Gollum never actually did that. He did kill birds of prey and other creatures though.
I suppose it's dependant on your definition of a cash grab, but this game's pricing being so obviously above and beyond what's provided, to me at least it qualifies.
If it is not a zelda or god of war the games are bad! Perfectionism in this industry is disgusting, as people compare “everything” without really knowing the basis to compare.
Unfortunately for Daedelic, this game was not ready, I honestly don’t know how they were thinking about releasing this game the same dat as the rings of power season 1!
The game looks unpolished, but the hatred and anger against it is bad… and as you pit it, Matt… when it comes to adaptations of Tolkien works, you need to be careful as we fans are picky.
I would love to see Square-Enix developing a Tolkien game in the 1st age… 😢😢😢
Good review Matt? As usual, you are fair, bro!
This game had been in development hell for about a year or two. And this is not to crap on the people who made this product. That being said, if they took some time to iron out the kinks after a test play, this game could've been a lot better.
I actually think there was real potential in the concept but i'm not sure the stars aligned BTS for it to have a chance.
Still waiting for Total War: Middle Earth.
Never going to happen. Warhammer3 just launched and we can expect a few years of dlc.
@@fabiospringer6328 :( Yeah you're sadly right. I'm so over the Warhammer stuff, its been YEARS of it.
Someone needs to fully remaster the the Lord of the Rings games I still have for PS2. I might just play now that I'm thinking about it lol. I wouldn't mind you doing old school gaming videos that might revitalize others to play them once again.
Now I'm intrigued what your thoughts on Shadow of Mordor / War are!
As a Switch owner I hope this still releases on Nintendo as planned, perhaps with a price drop or at least the dlc included free of charge as well as the bugs worked out.
funny you should mention that, Lord of the Rings Online has a couple of small sections where you play as Gollum ^^
But mate, it is a cash grab...
This would have been a good game for the devs who made the Shadow of Mordor / War games to take on, probably--WB. They do stealth / platforming well. Sad. At the very least it's nice that people are reacting how they are--hopefully it will help motivate devs to improve the newer games coming out
I haven’t played the game or want to get it but one of my major complaints is why are the Nazgûl chasing Gollum? Their main objective is to find the Ring why would they care about him if he doesn’t even have it?
Gollum knew who stole the ring, even in the movies it is explained. That is way Gollum says the name "Bilbo Baggins" and the nazgul starts the hunt
We need a new LOTR CONQUEST and or BATTLE FOR MIDDLE-EARTH ❤
LOTRO fills that need for open world exploration for me, especially with the new cardolan section
You may want to give ArdaCraft a try at some point. Not really a lore heavy game but a really nice attempt at re-creating the world of lotr in minecraft.
brooo whats the name of the music in the vid?
Are there any games that let you play out the Battle of Unnumbered Tears? Or the Battle of the Sudden Flame? 🔥
Honestly my problem with the game was the full head of hair Gollum had.
(And the price, quality, graphics, gameplay, story, etc...)
Is it a typo or is Gollum just the lord of the ring?
I just think the project was too big for the developers and wrongly focused on "being like AAA" as well as priced as such.
Had Deadelic done what they always do, just 2D animated adventure and very stylistic choices, they could have fared better and told the story. Getting bought by a big french publisher did apparently shift the company focus into the wrong direction, I fear.
Just curious what are your gaming specs? I know you're not big on visuals but I'm just curious for some context.
I'm enjoying it and close to beating it.
Thank you for saving me $50+. Right decent of you.
I know recent Assassins Creed Games such as Valhalla and Odyssey are not liked by many people. I love them. But nevertheless, I would pay 100 bucks for that kind of game set in Middle Earth....
Best game of all time
Its poor reception caused Daedalic Entertainment to cancel plans for a second Lord of the Rings game and close their development division, moving to a publishing-only model.
Companies no longer care about appropriate prices for games.... Games are full price regardless until they aren't... And it's very sad.
Good quality content. Good quality review.
The biggest problem, in my opinion, is that the possibilities that this world offers have not been exploited. There could have been many interesting mechanics in the game.
Unfortunately, the game is not worth the money.
The only way a Gollum game works is if it was like the game Inside, where you climb and sneak across amazing beautiful environments.
Gollum breaks out of Barad-Dur, crosses Gorgoroth, sneaks past Cirith Ungol, final level is Shelob's lair. There's your Gollum game!
NERD often has the most reasonable takes.
if its $60 that is a cash grab
I saw a comment from another video where we should play as Aragorn who tracks down golumm all the way from the north to Mordor, make it open world and you can explore many of the regions of middle earth while fighting orcs goblins or anything else lore related!
I respect your review and understand you’re not a hardcore gamer. That being said, it is a horrendous game from what i’ve seen. If you have multiple GAME BREAKING bugs that literally don’t allow you to progress further, then that alone is enough to make it bad. Not to mention the story seem mediocre, the gameplay mechanics are basic and unintuitive, and like you mentioned, it’s way to expensive and shouldn’t be a penny over $20.
i'm just so tired of them dragging the rights of the game to whatever team wants to make a mobile game or just something no one asked for. Give it to a big studio and just let us have a triple A LOTR game.
The graphics are growing on me. It doesn’t look that bad