The Lord of the Rings: Gollum Reviews
The Lord of the Rings: Gollum is the worst game I’ve ever played, it barely functions and when it does it’s just mundanely boring.
Lord of the Rings: Gollum disappointingly incorporates outdated mechanics and falls short of its potential. The game's linear approach guides players through levels, with decisions that don't significantly impact the storyline. Furthermore, the platforming mechanics prove to be a significant letdown, and the low-quality graphics and inconsistent music further detract from the overall experience.
It is an action-adventure game that has failed to take advantage of the lore of The Lord of the Rings. It has multiple glitches that make it seem like it's not a game of this generation
Review in Spanish | Read full review
LOTR: Gollum is a prime example of the results of a game that relies only on IP's power without solid structure. In the devastated gameplay, only a few people would be intrigued about the story of the unlikable protagonist.
Review in Korean | Read full review
The Lord of the Rings: Gollum had nearly endless potential to be great but it instead became the prime example of why beta testing a game before release is important. With issues like stuttering or momentary lag spikes all pointing to a severe lack of optimization, this game was doomed to be a flop from the start. The only hope for this game now is not just a quick patch but a massive overhaul to fix its biggest issues.
Utterly shambolic in almost every way, The Lord of the Rings: Gollum is an abject failure as a stealth and traversal game, continuously tripping over itself with technical incompetence to such an extent it’s virtually impossible to recommend. Featuring monotonous climbing and sneaking mechanics, cheap deaths from heights akin to a paddling pool, a boring structure, plain and uninteresting characters, a host of technical blemishes, mostly-poor visuals, a woodpecker-quality soundtrack, and an overall dismal and trying experience, The Lord of the Rings: Gollum is absolutely atrocious. Much like its protagonist, it’s a cursed product that should be cast into the smoldering fires of Mount Doom.
The Lord of the Rings: Gollum unfortunately doesn't live up to the expectations placed in it and announced. It felt like a game that hadn't yet found its feet. The basics are in place, but you quickly get the feeling that you're doing the same thing over and over again, and moving forward without much interest. Yet the universe and the environment created around it allow you to immerse yourself in the world of J.R.R Tolkien. The technical problems, however, break this immersion, which fails to make up for the other problems. I wouldn't recommend Gollum in its current state, and I hope the developers manage to improve it. Otherwise, the title will be quickly forgotten by gamers.
Review in French | Read full review
The Lord of the Rings: Gollum is unfortunately a product that is not only poorly developed, but also poorly optimized, a terrible combination for any video game. Playing it is like being trapped in a title from the early 2000s, a fertile time for a series of licensed games whose production ambition is proportional to their questionable technical capacity.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Still, the premise oddly works once it really gets going. The Lord of the Rings: Gollum doesn't shy away from how much it relies on Tolkien's works - and not Peter Jackson's movies. Anyone who enjoyed LOTR and Tolkien's novels will probably find Gollum to be fine. Nothing extraordinary or groundbreaking, but an enjoyable stealth platformer that takes Gollum (and players) across some of the more iconic places in Middle-earth.
The Lord of the Rings: Gollum had a rough start prior to launch but despite its followup patches, it’s still not a good game. It plays with some interesting concepts but they are so often overshadowed by its poor controls, loose movement, and overly slow story where everyone feels like a bit part except the titular lead. There is a certain charm that ever so often seeps through, to make it a partly enjoyable platforming and even stealth experience, but just as it builds any kind of momentum the game swiftly reminds you of its drawbacks and frustrations.
The Lord of the Rings: Gollum is a buggy mess, even disregarding the constant crashes. Not only that, but it is a game void of any personality, originality, or bravery. It attempts nothing new and falls back on tropes that started falling out of style years ago, while somehow still managing to replicate them poorly. It disappoints me not just as a fan of the Lord of the Rings, but also as a fan of video games in general.
The Lord of the Rings: Gollum is an absolute mess. Gollum’s movements are very inconsistent. Almost every jump feels like a leap of faith! Though some of the world may be interesting to explore, it quickly becomes undesirable because of just how clunky these basic controls are! The Lord of the Rings: Gollum struggles to make an impact in Tolkien’s beloved universe and stands as an outsider when compared to the franchise’s other games. There might be some interesting ideas here, but it is not fun! Whilst parts of the narrative are interesting, it all falls apart very quickly.
It's heartbreaking because the project is courageous and good approaches are recognizable. However, the technical problems are hard to ignore, as is the stale gameplay. Still, we think the game is worth a look for fans of the franchise, if only because of the story.
Review in German | Read full review
The Lord of the Rings: Gollum is a confusing and unfocused experience. The game tries to be an adventure title with stealth mechanics but attempts to mix in a variety of other features that simply do not go together very well. This is a pity because Daedalic Entertainment tried, but failed to build a Gollum faithful to Tolkien's works, placing him in a narrative context that struggles to pick up pace, being really interesting only in the first few hours of play. Between a visual impact anchored to two generations ago and various technical issues, Nacon's ambitious video game is unfortunately a bitter disappointment that does not offer the proper value to the prestigious Lord of the Rings license.
Review in Italian | Read full review
The Lord of the Rings: Gollum is an unwelcome throwback to the era of truly awful licensed games. It looks and plays like a movie tie-in game rushed out to meet a tight deadline. This is baffling as it was one of the first ‘next-gen’ games announced in 2019, and seemingly had a long production period. But even so, it’s a game that conceptually, visually, and technically screams out for additional development time. Patches and updates may squash the bugs. But with core gameplay so dull and lacking, I can't see a saving grace for Gollum.
The Lord of The Rings - Gollum is every bit as twisted, nasty, broken and miserable as its protagonist. It is without doubt the most objectively poor and outright broken game that I have ever pushed through to completion. A patch has been promised for launch that may well alleviate some of the technical woes that plague the game, but no amount of fixes can pave over its utterly mediocre overall design. Spend your money on a second breakfast instead.
When I say I did not have a great time roaming around Middle-earth, it’s coming from a place of genuine disappointment and frustration – rather than as a result of any preconceived notions.
With dated design, LotR: Gollum is a slow and tedious slog through Middle Earth that even the staunchest LotR fans will struggle to enjoy.
It was always going to be tough to pull off a Gollum game, but there’s simply nothing precious about this amateur stealth adventure. A general lack of refinement lurks in every shadowy corner of LotR: Gollum, a game disappointingly barren of interesting ideas or substantial gameplay. Even the most loyal Lord of the Rings fans will struggle through it. If you value your time, do yourself a favour and avoid it like the Eye of Sauron.
The Lord of the Rings: Gollum is a love letter to a flawed character that shares some flaws of its own. The care and love of Tolkien lore are quite obvious, but it doesn’t always mesh well with the disappointing mechanics and less-than-stellar gameplay.