So here we were, just casually minding our own business on a Friday afternoon, and it was suddenly brought to our attention that The Lord of the Rings: Gollum launched on Xbox (and other platforms) exactly a year ago this Saturday.
Forgive us for shuddering a little bit when we hear that name, but wow... what a shame this turned out to be. This was a very poorly reviewed game that resulted in a bunch of terrible feedback, and worst of all, the closure of a dev studio.
Metacritic ended up officially calling this the worst game of 2023, but if the likes of TWD: Destinies and Skull Island: Rise of Kong had received more official reviews, there's a good chance Gollum would have come above them.
Nevertheless, it's clear that this just... didn't work. Game development is so incredibly difficult and requires a ton of things to align in order to create a great product, and sometimes that doesn't work out for whatever reason. We're sure many of the talented developers involved will be able to bounce back and apply their talents elsewhere in the future.
If You've Played It, What Do You Think Of LOTR: Gollum? (38 votes)
- It's actually way better than expected!
- It's not great, but it's not as bad as the reviews say
- It's pretty terrible to be honest
If You Haven't Bought It, Would You Ever Be Tempted? (120 votes)
- Yeah, I might just get it at full price!
- Maybe at half price I'll try it
- Only when it's down to like, £5 / $5
- Even if it was free, I doubt I'd play it
Did you ever end up playing The Lord of the Rings: Gollum? Let us know down in the comments below.
Comments 12
A buddy of mine bought a copy late last year and we tried it out as a joke. Yes, it is as bad as the reviewers say... but that makes it absolutely hilarious to play. If you are playing seriously you'll hate it, but I know this is a bit awful to say but if you go in knowing how comically bad it is, it is hugely entertaining to witness the trainwreck and laugh at the countless bugs!
If you can ever find it for (very) cheap, consider picking it up, having over a friend or two, and just laugh at it. Peak unintentional comedy!
Honestly Daedalic was an indie developer and shouldn't have been let near Lord of the Rings. They had no experience with this type of game.
I actually own State of Mind and Pillars of the Earth both are decent games. They tried to go AAA and failed badly and now won't make another game. Should have stuck with what they knew.
Unfortunately the rights holder is happy to give it to anyone don't care about quality.
I don’t know what they were thinking creating a Gollum focused game. Admittedly it’s different from your usual human/dwarf/elf action RPG but still.
With a new Lord of the Rings movie coming out that is apparently gollum focused it may have done well if it was developed for longer and released around the time the movie comes out in a couple of years but I suppose once the money jar is about to run out that lost money needs to be recouped eventually before it's too late.
@Kooky_Geezer I have not played a Daedalic game before, but I think what happened to them after this mess of a game was released was sad.
Like, imagine being employed at a small video game company behind several point-and-click games that have garnered positive reception, and then having to make a triple-AAA game, which bombs so bad that the company completely shutters its development division and goes publisher only.
Apparently they didn’t even have the sufficient budget for a triple-AAA game, which just tells that the IP owner put in little thought when it came to choosing a game studio for Gollum.
I feel Lego LOTR not getting relisted on Xbox like it did on Steam despite it being BC is infinitely sadder, since one was a good game and the other no one expected to be good.
Never bought and probably wouldn't bother trying it even for Free! If Gold still existed, If they gave it away as 1 of the monthly offerings, I think most 'GwG' Subscribers would be angered...
It would be an insult of all insults to even consider playing. It’s the modern day equivalent of a horses head … if you had to think of the last game you would want to play, it would be right there on the tip of your tongue. It’s like calling an election in the rain…
I got it as a joke for my brother last Christmas when it was $10. He said it's pretty bad
I've had this for ages but haven't started it yet.
Imagine if we had social media back in the day and every absolutely garbage licensed game developed had to put out a public apology. There would be 5 a week.
This game is precious to me.
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