The first screenshots have appeared for German developer Daedelic’s next-generation stealth game Lord of the Rings: Gollum, showcasing the potential power of what games can accomplish on the PlayStation 5. First appearing on the German games site GameStar and with a full gallery on IGN, the upcoming Tolkein adventure starring everyone’s favorite mewling miscreant of Middle-earth has a fascinating, detailed art design.
The colors and shading fall somewhere between a cartoony adventure and something more serious such as Dishonored, with a new-look Gollum crawling around in the dark dankness. While initial word said that the look of the titular anti-hero wouldn’t ape the look from Peter Jackson’s legendary Lord of the Rings film series it still appears as if a tiny bit of Andy Serkis snuck in there. Oh well. Couldn’t be helped, I suppose. Regardless, the character model for Gollum is fantastic and captured the depth and pain of one of the best fictional characters in existence. In fairness, Senior Producer Kai Fiebig said in an interview that “We don’t want to displease the folks who have only seen the movies. But in short, he doesn’t look like Andy Serkis. We started with the person he was and then evolved him.”
The screens are interesting due to the fact that they’re the first real look at a PlayStation 5 game that isn’t just more concept art. Enough time has passed since a flood of Lord of the Rings games hit shelves and overwhelmed consumers that Gollum might just have enough room to breathe and find its own footing. Not just as a good Lord of the Rings game, but maybe even as a good game. The fact that Gollum will base its story and style off the books instead of the films is already a boon and provides something new to fans that may never have taken the dive into Tolkien’s fiction.
The Lord of the Rings: Gollum is set for a 2021 release date, coming to PlayStation 5, X Box Series X, and PC.
[Source: IGN]
