It’s a disgrace Andy Serkis by no means gained an award for his work as Gollum within the Peter Jackson-helmed The Lord of the Rings trilogy. The best way he managed to evoke two distinct personalities — Gollum and his mild-mannered Hobbit alter ego Sméagol — together with his voice and physique actions is a efficiency that ought to have netted him a type of goofy-looking gold statues. In a hands-on demo of The Lord of the Rings: Gollum, I used to be reminded of Serkis’ mercurial efficiency as Gollum and was happy to see that these twin personalities had been a elementary a part of the sport.

In my brief time with Gollum, I bought to scamper round Mordor chasing troublesome crows and avoiding orcs, which, in the event that they catch you, will robotically provide you with a “recreation over.” Sneakiness is the secret, Valuable. Gollum can disguise in weeds or in water or throw stones to distract enemies so he can go by them unseen. Gollum additionally options platforming mechanics that remind me of the outdated PSX-era Tomb Raiders. You may shimmy on canyon partitions as a stamina bar drains, run and bounce to succeed in distant ledges, and swing like Simone Biles on the uneven bars. Primary stuff. However the place I believed the sport really wowed me was after I was interacting with the varied peoples of Center-earth.

All through the demo, Gollum has the chance to make selections relying on his Sméagol character or his Gollum one. Gollum is the tough, sturdy survivalist whereas Sméagol is gentler, meeker, and extra eager on making pals. As with every selection system, the extra of 1 kind of selection you make, the extra that character dominates, making it more durable to make the other selection in a while. The alternatives you make have an effect on the folks (somewhat, elves and orcs) round you and may affect their destiny. 

I’m desirous about seeing how the completely different selections you make both as Sméagol or Gollum play out within the bigger context of the sport. It’s no nemesis system, however I’m an enormous sucker when a recreation’s narrative is bolstered in its gameplay and vice versa. The divide between Gollum and Sméagol performed an enormous position in Frodo’s journey, and I’m glad The Lord of the Rings: Gollum discovered a technique to artfully incorporate that right into a story that’s wholly distinctive.