Lord of the Rings: Gollum – A new LOTR stealth game coming 2021 from Daedalic Entertainment (Pic: New Line Cinema)
Throughout the years, Tolkien fans have been spoiled with a vast array of video games inspired by his series of epic novels. From the open world of Shadow of Mordor to the immersive multiplayer of Lord of the Rings Online, the franchise has been crafted into a diverse interactive experience various times over the years. Now gamers will get to experience Lord of the Rings in digital form once again, with an upcoming action-adventure title by German studio, Daedalic.
Lord of the Rings: Gollum presents a brand-new take on the world of Middle Earth, focusing on the titular antagonist and his ill-fated journey. Daedalic is usually known for their attention to narrative, especially when it comes to point and click adventures. Now the award-winning studio is hoping to create an experience that will become a staple part of the Lord of the Rings franchise.
In contrast to most video games and media, this title intends to use the books as its source material, rather than tying in with other pop culture iterations. This holds true with the logo for the game, which implements its own stylized take on LOTRs branding. At an exclusive press event, The Daily Star was able to have a chat with Carsten Fichtelman, CEO and founder of Daedalic entertainment.
Whilst details surrounding the game are understandably limited, we asked Carsten a few questions surrounding his plans for Lord of the Rings: Gollum.
In a tongue-in-cheek fashion, I kicked off the conversation by asking Carsten what he could actually disclose to us. This resulted in Carsten stating that it was a good question, along with some reassuring laughter.
“Were still discussing many things; were even still discussing the graphics. Its our task to find our own vision of Middle Earth, which cant be the same as the movies.
"This shouldnt be too arty or artificial, as we also discussed how deep we should go into uncanny valley. Since this is a game about Gollum, if you imagine gameplay, stealth is the obvious choice as opposed to combat with a sword.”
While the game is still very much in post-production, it seems like Daedalics vision for LOTRs will adopt a sense of realism with its graphics, while being distinguishable from the likes of the Peter Jackson films or the Warner Bros games.
The idea that this will be a stealth-based game will also help define the title, as most games based on the franchise will stick with traditional combat elements, while Gollum has a much more primal approach to aggression. Carsten then continued to elaborate on what the title hopes to achieve in the long run.
“…we would really like to find a solution that is timeless. As Lord of the Rings has now been out there for more than 60 years, wed like to create this first game about Gollum that will stand out for the next 20-30 years”
“It is a single player game, so the plan is not to be open world, definitely not”
Carsten Fichtelman, Daedalic Entertainment CEO
This provides confidence that Daedalics take on the franchise will not be fleeting and will perhaps spawn a legacy of video games that become as iconic as the films.
Daedalic would be joining a long line of developers who have taken their hand to translate LOTRs into an interactive format, with the likes of Sierra having developed The Hobbit, which like this title, was unrelated to the Peter Jackson films.
With this in mind, I asked Carson how defined Daedalics approach would be.
“As mentioned, we need to find our own interpretation of Middle Earth. Peter Jackson went to the same people 20 years ago as I did in 2014. We then had discussions for some years and finally acquired the license. Of course, in the past, we have the Sierra, Warner Bros and Turbine with their own vision, but when it comes to the PC/Console premium, I am not aware of any other company in the industry with the license right now. Whatever happens from 2 weeks from now till the release in 2021, no one knows, but we need to find our own place in the universe and we only have good ideas for that.”
The fact that Daedalic went through the same rigorous process to acquire the license from the Tolkien estate shows that is isnt a mere movie game or loose adaptation.
Hopefully this instead means that Daedalics game will be interpreted from fresh, just like the movie franchise would have been upon its conception. Its also clear that Daedalic has a truly blank canvas to explore, with only their imagination being the limit from now until the game's release.
Naturally, I was now curious about the intended structure for the game. Sure, we know its an action adventure title, but how vast was it intending to be? With the open world genre being a dominant force in the industry, I asked Carson whether Middle Earth would be covered on a grand scale, or if it would be more of a linear path through specific areas and levels.
“We will see different places, maybe we will have some gameplay elements that arent that open than others that are more so from a player perspective…”
This sparked some giggling, as these details are obviously closely guarded. However, after elaborating on the fact that open world games have become a hot trend amongst developers and gamers alike, Carson provided an idea of what to expect in terms of structure.
“It is a single player game, so the plan is not to be open world, definitely not. There could be some areas and elements within the game that feel open-world. I mean, even open world games arent open world, you eventually hit mountains or sea.”
Remember LEGO Gollum. Just going to leave this here. (Pic: WARNER BROS)
Carsen's humorous philosophy on the nature of open world games is definitely an intriguing take, especially with the likes of Metro: Exodus adopting a style that sounds fairly similar to Daedalics plans for Middle Earth. As the player will be traversing the games map as Gollum, questions of which time period tRead More – Source
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