Gollum Becomes The Hero Of His Own Story In 'Lord Of The Rings' Prequel Game Trailer

Last year, we learned that a company called Daedalic Entertainment was developing an action-adventure video game called The Lord of the Rings: Gollum, which is set after the pitiful, obsessive creature loses The One Ring to that sneaky little hobbit Bilbo Baggins but before he's captured by Sauron's forces. Now the first teaser trailer for the game has arrived, and if you're wondering, "Hmm, does this teaser begin with fish carcasses?", then trust me when I say you are going to want to watch this sucker immediately.

I think the biggest question we all have is: will there be a mini-game in which Gollum has to catch fish and smash them against rocks like he does in Peter Jackson's trilogy? Because Gollum: Fish Smasher is a game concept I could get behind.

Previous reports had indicated that this game would take place before the events of The Hobbit, but it turns out those weren't exactly true. Instead, the game starts with Gollum traveling to Mordor on the hunt for Bilbo Baggins, who outsmarted him and took his "precious" ring in his cave during the story of The Hobbit. The action will play out before the events of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings narrative begins.

"The game mixes stealth with vertical climbing parkour," the game's lead designer, Martin Wilkes, told IGN (via EW). "If you want a reference you might think of it as similar to Prince of Persia. It is mostly a non-combat game, but Gollum will be able to stealthily take out enemies. However, this will not be easy and always come with big risks. We want players to carefully weigh these encounters. After all, Gollum's strengths lie in cunning, not combat."

Previously, Daedalic's CEO Carsten Fichtelmann teased how the character's dual personalities will inform the gameplay. "You already have that big conflict in the character, two voices talking to you continuously, which means there is a good reason there are decisions to make in the game: the Smeagol decisions or the Gollum decision," he said. "We have the story that we all know from the book, but everything that happens to him before he appears in the book are the main things we will see in our game. We will tell the story before he first appears in the books."

The game will be available on PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC sometime in 2021.