Lord of the Rings: Gollum

Parents need to know that The Lord of the Rings: Gollum is an upcoming stealth adventure game for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch, and Windows PCs. The game takes a different look on the saga of the classic J.R.R. Tolkien story by focusing on the Hobbit-like creature that's corrupted by the One Ring. The game promises to cover significant portions of Gollum's tale, such as the time when he was a slave under the Dark Tower and his time spent with the elves of Mirkwood. Unlike many characters in Lord of the Rings games, Gollum isn't a fighter, or even particularly skilled at combat. But he is incredibly agile, cunning, and stealthy, and it's possible to eliminate enemies that aren't looking your way silently by a number of means. Whether that's leaping onto the backs of orcs and attacking their necks or sending opponents off ledges, you'll need to draw threats into locations where you can safely and effectively take them out before they can call for reinforcements. Fortunately, Gollum has a number of skills to make him a difficult creature to corral. Due to his years of living in darkness, he has a version of echolocation where he can "feel" sounds, giving him an idea of where enemies are. He's also incredibly strong, with significant skill in freeclimbing that allows him to scuttle up vertical surfaces like a spider. The verticality of levels will play a significant role in exploring the areas you're in, as your objectives in missions will frequently be multiple levels above or below your current position, requiring you to fully explore your surroundings to be successful. Players will also come across other characters that Gollum will need to interact with, gaining access to new skills that Gollum wouldn't have on his own. But these won't always be available to you thanks to the branching decision system based on Gollum's personality. It's well known that Gollum frequently fought with the more positive side of his personality, which was called Smeagol. During gameplay, players will be presented with dialogue choices that will allow them to choose whether the lighter or darker side of his personality has won out. But things won't be so obviously black and white on the morality meter with these decisions. In Barad Dur, which is a darker, more evil location, acting in a positive manner could potentially get Gollum killed, so being meaner can be an act of self-preservation. While it won't be the focus, there will be some violence included in the game, whether it's by Gollum assassinating enemies or by enemies conducting violence against each other in the background. Cries of pain will also be heard from various characters as they're attacked or killed, and in some locations, there are implications that creatures are being tortured.