Fans of Tolkien and Middle-Earth are not having a great year so far. The release of Amazon’s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power series was very divisive among fans, but another Lord of the Rings project also made waves for bad reasons. The Lord of the Rings: Gollum was released for multiple platforms to a very poor reception, with many calling it the worst game release of 2023. Things were so bad, that now the developer of the game has come out to address the concerns of many Tolkien fans who were looking forward to playing the game. But it might be too little, too late for some.
The developers of The Lord of the Rings: Gollum, Daedalic, posted up a message addressing fans on their official Twitter page. The team wanted to apologize to everyone in their community for the poor state of the game, as well as express regret for not meeting expectations set for themselves with Gollum. The statement went on to cite the difficulties of creating a game set in Middle-Earth and the challenges that came with trying to make a story-driven game that was compelling for Tolkien fans. The statement also made it clear that the development team was dedicated to fixing many of the technical issues that plague The Lord of the Rings: Gollum with upcoming patches and updates to improve the overall experience.
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
A lot of the discourse about the game online comes from the price point being set at $60, with a special edition priced at $70 that comes with extra voice-over tracks and emotes. With how disastrous the launch has been, many brought up how such a release sets a bad precedent for the industry. Many of the responses to Daedalic’s post on Twitter have been overwhelmingly negative, with some bringing up refunds for their purchase and encouraging others to avoid buying it altogether. Some have even suggested only picking up The Lord of the Rings: Gollum only after the price was heavily discounted.
As of right now, the Metacritic rating for The Lord of the Rings: Gollum is at 36 critic score. Around 35 different critics from various outlets have reviewed the game, giving it either mixed or poor review scores, with user reviews being a lot harsher. Many of the common complaints about the game include game-breaking bugs, horrible technical issues during gameplay, and visuals that look very bad when compared to other modern releases. Some have also pointed out that much of the text was written poorly, with multiple spelling and grammar issues of text displayed in-game.
Content creators that have played Gollum since its release has been able to showcase many of the big issues in it and their reactions firsthand, with many saying it’s one of the worst games to come out in 2023. Some have compared the release of The Lord of the Rings: Gollum to that of Redfall on Xbox Series consoles, another game that also had a terrible release and poor reception.
Whether Daedalic makes a genuine effort to fix the state of The Lord of the Rings: Gollum or not is anyone’s guess. Despite the apology from the development team, most players seem to have already checked out and branded the game as terrible. Even if patches and subsequent updates were to greatly improve everything, it might be impossible to get back all of the players who have already made up their minds about the game. The Lord of the Rings: Gollum might be one of the biggest failures for Daedalic to date. The game is currently out now for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, and PC.
What do you think about The Lord of the Rings: Gollum? Are you disappointed by the state of the game and the apology from the studio? Post your thoughts down below in the comment section and let us know!
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