LOTR: Gollum

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coopasonic
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LOTR: Gollum

Post by coopasonic »

So apparently LOTR Gollum released today and the reviews are... not good.

https://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/the- ... s---gollum

From the Guardian:
A derivative, uninteresting and fundamentally broken stealth action adventure that fails to capture anything interesting about Tolkien’s fiction.
I guess nobody was really looking forward to it because the only mentions of it I see in this forum are the ones on my anticipated games list that I keep in the Games Played threads.



Well, it seems like you were all making a good choice in pretending it didn't exist.
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Re: LOTR: Gollum

Post by Skinypupy »

This thing looked terrible from the start. A neat concept, but every preview I saw made me less and less interested. The reviews are wholly unsurprising.
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Re: LOTR: Gollum

Post by Max Peck »

I did have an eye on it, but those reviews... Yikes!
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Re: LOTR: Gollum

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I... didn't know it was even a thing. :oops:

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Re: LOTR: Gollum

Post by Smoove_B »

Yeah, I think I saw it was being released and assumed that the lack of knowledge it was coming was not a good sign. I mean, I don't pretend to be tapped into the computer gaming hobby the same way I was 15+ years ago, but I would have thought this was something newsworthy prior to release...
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Re: LOTR: Gollum

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Hodor.
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Re: LOTR: Gollum

Post by Skinypupy »

Gollum has seen some shit.

Namely, the fonts on that screenshot. Good lord...
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Re: LOTR: Gollum

Post by pr0ner »

Skinypupy wrote: Fri May 26, 2023 9:42 am Gollum has seen some shit.

Namely, the fonts on that screenshot. Good lord...
Gollum cannot kill Orcs wearing a helmet! :lol: :lol: :lol:
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Re: LOTR: Gollum

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I think the dev team have been completely out of their depths. This is a studio that has up until now only done 2D point-n-click adventure games. I don't know how they managed to receive the license for the IP, but they seem to be completely the wrong fit for it. Going from 2D adventures to a 3d-Stealth game with a major IP is a fairly big jump, it's no wonder the game is having so many issues. The only other big IP release I know they've done is the Pillars of the Earth game, and that was a 2D point-n-click adventure.
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Re: LOTR: Gollum

Post by YellowKing »

Yeah I feel kind of bad because I know a lot of people worked really hard on it, but it sounds like an outright disaster. 2/10 from Gamespot? Ouchhhhhhh.

For some reason in my mind I just assumed this was by the same people that did Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor, so I was actually kind of looking forward to it. Whoops.
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Re: LOTR: Gollum

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Enlarge Image
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Re: LOTR: Gollum

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Yeah, I feel bad for them because I know the studio has done some great games that I've bought, but this is a completely different medium for them, not to mention of much higher profile than anything else they've put out, so of course its rough shape is being put through the ringer. When I first heard it was being developed by them, I thought it would be their usual point-n-click style, but once word of it being a 3D game came out, I became worried that they maybe were taking too much on. Their parent company is Nacon, and I feel they might have done this developer dirty by allocating them the IP when they simply weren't ready for such a big jump.


Give head! :shock: Yikes, context matters! It of course doesn't help that the UI looks very amateurish and doesn't look like it fits with the rest.
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Re: LOTR: Gollum

Post by Isgrimnur »

To be fair, I pulled it off of Reddit and can make no warranty as to whether it’s a screenshot or meme.
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Re: LOTR: Gollum

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Rumpy wrote: Fri May 26, 2023 1:33 pm I don't know how they managed to receive the license for the IP
I read an article recently that mentioned there were something like 5 LotR licensed games in production before the IP was acquired by Embracer Group. Given how carefully protected the IP has been in the past, I've got a feeling that someone at Middle-Earth Enterprises decided to cash in on licenses before cashing out by selling off the business to Embracer, and all it took to get the license was a big enough sack of money.
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Re: LOTR: Gollum

Post by Skinypupy »

Max Peck wrote: Fri May 26, 2023 3:23 pm I read an article recently that mentioned there were something like 5 LotR licensed games in production before the IP was acquired by Embracer Group.
Speaking of Embracer Group...
Embracer Group CEO Lars Wingefors looked dejected during his gaming conglomerate’s latest earnings presentation. Despite recently acquiring the gaming studios behind Deus Ex and Tomb Raider at a bargain, Dead Island 2 releasing to strong sales and good reviews, and now owning the rights to The Lord of the Rings, Embracer’s stock is in the tank today after it was revealed the company lost out on a $2 billion game development deal at the last minute last night.

“Up until late last night, we had an amazing cash flow because of that transaction,” Wingefors said amid heavy sighs and pregnant pauses during a May 24 Q&A session. Without ever naming the company who backed out of the $2 billion partnership, he said Embracer had a “really strong commitment” from someone it trusted. In a press release he wrote that the agreement would have been transformative for the company and “set a new benchmark for the gaming industry.”
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Re: LOTR: Gollum

Post by Rumpy »

Max Peck wrote: Fri May 26, 2023 3:23 pm
Rumpy wrote: Fri May 26, 2023 1:33 pm I don't know how they managed to receive the license for the IP
I read an article recently that mentioned there were something like 5 LotR licensed games in production before the IP was acquired by Embracer Group. Given how carefully protected the IP has been in the past, I've got a feeling that someone at Middle-Earth Enterprises decided to cash in on licenses before cashing out by selling off the business to Embracer, and all it took to get the license was a big enough sack of money.
Hmm, could be. I mean, done well, a Gollum game based on stealth could be really cool, but it's obvious to me it wasn't given to the right developers. It's the type of situation where everyone loses in the end. The customers get a bad game, and the developers get ragged on, and the publisher is likely to tighten their spending on them as a result.
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Re: LOTR: Gollum

Post by Max Peck »

Another article I read today mentioned a rumor that Daedalic has a second LotR title in development. Second time lucky?

Lord of the Rings: Gollum Developer Working on Another Secret LOTR Game Codenamed It’s Magic
Daedalic Entertainment, the studio behind the long-delayed and poorly-reviewed The Lord of the Rings: Gollum that came out yesterday, appears to be working on another Lord of the Rings game — one that potentially features the franchise's iconic wizards.

According to the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action of Germany website, as translated by IGN, Daedalic is working on another 3D action adventure game set within the Lord of the Rings universe that will "transport the player into a lush world full of mythical creatures and magic." The project is codenamed "It's Magic."

German-speaking magazine Games Wirtschaft pointed out that Daedalic Entertainment received roughly €2 million in funding from the German government after beginning Gollum, meaning this funding most likely went to It's Magic. The funding is for a project taking place between June 1 2022 and August 2024.

"It tells a story from the perspective of a character which hasn't been told before," the game's description reads. "The player discovers completely new regions and influences the world bound by their role and abilities. [The player] tries, in his way, to influence the goings-on and change the fate of the world."

This description of the game, along with its codename, might hint that the game focuses on one of the wizards from Lord of the Rings. It's currently set for release in the second half of 2024.
Wizards, schmizards. This sounds like a Tom Bombadil game to me!
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Re: LOTR: Gollum

Post by Rumpy »

A game based on a wizard might just do better in general, but I wouldn't be surprised if due to the results of this one, that they get a different developer in the parent's roster to do it.
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Re: LOTR: Gollum

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Isgrimnur wrote: Fri May 26, 2023 2:17 pm Enlarge Image
Note the extra space in front of 'head'? I've seen the original - it used to say 'bread.'
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Re: LOTR: Gollum

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Max Peck wrote: Fri May 26, 2023 6:01 pm Wizards, schmizards. This sounds like a Tom Bombadil game to me!
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Re: LOTR: Gollum

Post by $iljanus »

Max Peck wrote: Fri May 26, 2023 6:01 pm Another article I read today mentioned a rumor that Daedalic has a second LotR title in development. Second time lucky?

Lord of the Rings: Gollum Developer Working on Another Secret LOTR Game Codenamed It’s Magic
Daedalic Entertainment, the studio behind the long-delayed and poorly-reviewed The Lord of the Rings: Gollum that came out yesterday, appears to be working on another Lord of the Rings game — one that potentially features the franchise's iconic wizards.

According to the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action of Germany website, as translated by IGN, Daedalic is working on another 3D action adventure game set within the Lord of the Rings universe that will "transport the player into a lush world full of mythical creatures and magic." The project is codenamed "It's Magic."

German-speaking magazine Games Wirtschaft pointed out that Daedalic Entertainment received roughly €2 million in funding from the German government after beginning Gollum, meaning this funding most likely went to It's Magic. The funding is for a project taking place between June 1 2022 and August 2024.

"It tells a story from the perspective of a character which hasn't been told before," the game's description reads. "The player discovers completely new regions and influences the world bound by their role and abilities. [The player] tries, in his way, to influence the goings-on and change the fate of the world."

This description of the game, along with its codename, might hint that the game focuses on one of the wizards from Lord of the Rings. It's currently set for release in the second half of 2024.
Wizards, schmizards. This sounds like a Tom Bombadil game to me!
I think they're going to double down and the player will take the role of one of the Ringwraiths
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Re: LOTR: Gollum

Post by Max Peck »

Or Sauron himself. Or Morgoth...
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Re: LOTR: Gollum

Post by Isgrimnur »

Chraolic wrote: Sat May 27, 2023 2:46 am
Max Peck wrote: Fri May 26, 2023 6:01 pm Wizards, schmizards. This sounds like a Tom Bombadil game to me!
Lord of the Rings: Radagast Experience the events from the seminal book trilogy from a far distance while talking to birds. (Birdsong DLC is $20 extra.)
Not remotely believable!

Regional birdsong packs at $10/each. MIrkwood birds aren't the same as Fangorn birds. To say nothing of those birds that have been evolutionarily pressured in the Trollshaws.
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