Alright, so here's the deal. Lord of the Rings? Yeah, I don't give much of a damn about it. In fact, I never really was into the franchise at all. So, you'd think a game such as Gollum wouldn't interest me much. However, that couldn't be more wrong, as the way it was introduced piqued my curiosity. While I don't know much about Lord of the Rings, I have heard in passing that Gollum is one of the most tragic characters in the series, so a game that dives deep into his story and personality might be the push I needed to get into Tolkien's magnum opus.

　　Helping things more was the fact that Daedelic also brought a bunch of other folks from the press and me into a Q&A sesh/preview of the game, allowing me to see what the game had to offer ahead of time. I was finally able to see what this game had to offer and, I have to say, I am quite intrigued by the approach that the developers are taking with this game. It gives players the freedom to tackle an adventure scenario from multiple angles while also letting them build their own story according to their interpretation of the iconic character.

　　Let's start with a short refresher about what this game is about. The Lord of the Rings: Gollum is a game in which the character talks about his time as a slave living below The Dark Tower. He's questioned Gandalf about his experiences, and his story changes depending on the decisions you make in the game. The game has you take control of a character that can't really do much in terms of combat, so you will have to sneak by your opposition or run like a headless chicken and hope none of the shots fired at you land a hit.

　　In Gollum, it's important to keep your wits about yourself, as the way to go is not always set in stone. The game offers various environments for players to freely explore to their heart's content, with beautiful visuals and smooth graphics to boot. I believe that the game at least succeeds when it comes to delivering an experience that looks beautiful and immediately sucked me in to the fantastical setting with both its hellish appearance in the Dark Tower and the luscious forests of Mirkwood.

　　What kept my attention more than anything was the game's sort of morality system. Gollum is a character that has a split personality, after all. So that means that you'll constantly see the two sides of Gollum struggling in a constant tug of war over control. One is merciful but paranoid; the other is vicious but reckless. In this game, you can side with one of the personalities over the other to make your decisions more meaningful, and how this is built into the narrative feels organic rather than intrusive.

　　While the events of the game will remain canonical to the overall lore of The Lord of the Rings, I still felt like I was contributing to the narrative by essentially acting out what I thought would be Gollum's natural reaction to the scenario at hand. The game constantly posed me questions that would definitely serve one character over the other, and every single time the choices felt like they were part of the overall narrative.

　　The most interesting part about this system comes in the way that you make some decisions. While some of the decisions are as simple as clicking a button, in some others, you have to actually engage in a debate with the other personality to convince it that the choice you want to take is the most sensical one. You have to appeal to the other side in order to win, and the more you are siding with a particular personality (be it Gollum or Smeagol), the harder it'll be to win that particular argument. As such, you're encouraged to keep things balanced so the scale doesn't tip over one side... Either that or just go Gollum every single time and live your chaotic gremlin fantasies.

　　I will admit that, despite how immersed I was in the narrative, I did have some fun breaking it and going crazy at points. The demo was happening over a cloud server (it worked just fine with no lag, don't worry) with the developers at Daedelic watching in the background while answering my questions. I was, in the meantime, spontaneously being silly and watching Gollum die on purpose through whatever ways I could find, making the developers laugh with glee before we moved along to the next section of the preview because some of these death scenarios would look natural to what Gollum would do, like jumping off a cliff while chasing a bird.

　　It was even funnier when I was told that I found a section that many demo players couldn't find at first by complete accident since I was just beginning to explore the area around me. The Daedelic developers told me they want to build a game in which players who want to blaze through the stages will have to use all their skills to traverse through terrains. I began to think of a particular friend who enjoys speedrunning and challenging runs the second I heard those words, and it only added to the game's overall attractiveness.

　　Overall, I was pleased with the way The Lord of the Rings: Gollum was made. While the graphics had some minor issues, the game was still in an early beta phase at that point, so I expect the developers to fix them before the full product releases. The adventure itself seems like it will build up to a great story that fans of Lord of the Rings can sink their teeth into, and you don't even necessarily have to be a fan of the series to enjoy this entry as well. There was a lot of love put into this game, and I was happy to see characters like The Candle Man and other background details that stood out as I walked through the environments.

　　Who knows? Maybe this game will make me a Lord of the Rings fan, as the overall experience seems to be worthwhile. Whether or not the experience will remain like this throughout its duration depends on how it manages to hold itself together. But so far, I want to see Gollum's sides struggle for control and enjoy a narrative from an unlikely perspective.