The famous writer J. R. R. Tolkien created the Middle-earth legendarium, and with through it, he created titles like The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, both of which have been successful in both their novel iteration, and on the big screen.
And Gollum, is one of the fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's stories.
While he may not have a significant role in either The Hobbit or The Lord of the Rings, Gollum, or originally known as Sméagol, is the first time readers see the harsh effect of the One Ring, the very ring that can corrupt the minds of even the most powerful individuals.
The One Ring, forged by the Dark Lord Sauron grants its bearer invisibility, and it's primary power is to control the other Rings of Power, and the domination of the wills of their users.
And this time, a game with the title 'The Lord of the Rings: Gollum' is exploring the Gollum character, to please fans of J. R. R. Tolkien Middle-earth legendarium.
But things went from high hopes, to bad, to worse, and worst.
The Lord of the Rings: Gollum was only released in May 25th, 2023, but quickly became the worst-reviewed game of the year, with a low 26 metascore.
With such a huge disappointment, Daedalic Entertainment GmbH, the German-based video game developer and publisher that created the game, thought that it had to issue an apology.
In a tweet, the developer also promised to fix whatever they can to make the game worthwhile.
Hollywood has spent billions of dollars to put both of J.R.R. Tolkien's novel titles to the big screen, and that Amazon has also paid huge money to make the series The Rings of Power exclusive to its Prime offering.
Daedalic wants to be part of the franchise, and apparently, it failed.
The developer failed to make Gollum, the River-folk who lived near the Gladden Fields, to live up to its name.
The apology talks about how the game was their biggest project, and an honor to take on The Lord of the Rings.
They talked about listening to user feedback and apologizing for disappointing fans.
A few words from the " The Lord of the Rings: Gollum™ " team pic.twitter.com/adPamy5EjO
— The Lord of the Rings: Gollum (@GollumGame) May 26, 2023
Gollum tracks the story of the titular fellow in the time period between The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, mostly during his slavery and misuse in Mordor and the related escape to pursue his precious ring.
The thing is, despite Gollum being a mysterious creature, and that many still question his deeper thoughts and pasts, the character seems to be not the right choice to deserve a spotlight of its own. And making things worse for the game is that, the developer kind of fundamentally misunderstood the appeal of the character, and the importance of the character in the overall franchise.
These alone should not be able to make the game bad. But combined with others, the result is certain.
For example, the game lacks the high-quality graphics and poor animations. Second, its chore-focused gameplay makes it an odd theme to J.R.R. Tolkien's fiction. Third, the gameplay is kind of old-fashioned, and linear.
Making things even worse, the game lacks the connection to the highly-praised Middle-earth legendarium, and has a poor storytelling.
While the game promised to explore the connection between the Gollum and Sméagol character, it never leveraged it in a meaningful way.
And the worst of all, Daedalic was charging $60 for it, or $70 for extra features like elvish language.
Read: Diablo Immortal, The Game With The Lowest User Score Ever In The History Of Game Review Aggregator
The video game industry is a lucrative business, and that billions of dollars can be made, if things are done right.
However, the business is also full of controversies.
In the past, many games have made missteps, technical issues, privacy and security concerns, bugs, and more. But rarely do the developers have to even say a formal apology.
Business is hard, and in the video game industry, it's harsh because many competes for the same pool of audience.
After seeing loads of games introduced at any given time, in 2023, none for a game is as poorly received as The Lord of the Rings: Gollum.
Gollum was first introduced in the 1937 fantasy novel The Hobbit, and became important in its sequel, The Lord of the Rings.
Gollum, is what other characters in the franchise refer to as "wretched," a "vile creature," a liar, a thief, and a murderer.
Others have mentioned that Gollum is corrupt and vindictive, cheats, steals, lies, sneaks, and betrays.
However, Gollum is not entirely evil.
Evil is only to describe Sauron, and instead, Gollum is pure servility, and this characteristic unites both his good and dark sides, which allows him to function as a guide for Frodo Baggins, and also Bilbo Baggins.
