The Lord Of The Rings: Gollum's sneaky new gameplay trailer still doesn't convince
My precious?
A new The Lord Of The Rings: Gollum trailer has dropped at today's Nacon Connect, which shows Mr Precious scamper about in some suitably fantastical locations. He hops between some bushes, dodges a dragon, and chucks something at an orc - all the staples of a Hobbit who's gone goblin mode. I'm still a bit on the fence about it, though.
There's no doubt that Daedalic's take on a Gollum story looks quite nice. Now forgive me for my lack of Lord Of The Rings knowledge, but the mountain (Mordor?) is jagged and glossy, with a lovely orange glow from the sun. You've got a nice vista of a forest (Elven abode?) with an ancient city in the distance. And there's some – presumably – important characters who make brief appearances too. For fans of the series, I'm sure there's plenty of story to lap up.
But when I saw Gollum earlier this year, I thought it might miss a precious opportunity. Long story short, its exploration seemed archaic and a bit janky. Nothing from this latest trailer has me sat bolt upright thinking, "I got it all wrong!" Yes, there's lots of climbing on vines and shimmying along walls. Yes, there's the bit where he distracts an orc. Yes, he crawls through bushes. But this latest trailer hasn't convinced me there's much else beyond that.
Still, there isn't too much longer to wait until Gollum emerges from his hidey hole. The game launches on September 1st on Steam, as well as your PlayStations and Xboxes. It's coming to Switch at a later date, too.