There’s always a second side to everything; if there’s good, the bad exists alongside it. This adage is largely accepted and can be applied to almost anything, even video games. Once a year, there is at least one game that lets everyone down and has zero redeeming qualities. And sometimes, if these games are bad enough, they can leave a permanent stain on a company’s reputation. Thus, it is with great displeasure that we announce the worst game of 2023 (so far).
Labelled by gamers and critics alike as the worst game of 2023, Daedalic Entertainment dragged J.R.R. Tolkien’s masterpiece through the mud with their reimagining of the game, “Lord of the Rings: Gollum.” Fans of the book, gamers, critics, and those in between are up in arms over this underwhelming game, and here’s what they have to say about it.
https://twitter.com/main_valky/status/1662767626710294528?s=20
When you look back on the movies or imagine him based on the book, Gollum isn’t really easy on the eyes, but the first thing gamers have commented on are the abysmal graphics and how horrendous the lowly hobbit looks. Daedalic Entertainment wasn’t the first to reimagine a pitiable creature; gamers then pointed out how another LOTR game from 2014, Middle-Earth: Shadow of War, managed to give the creature some justice.
However, for something worth RM130, you should at least expect a gripping narrative that would deepen the lore of Middle-Earth in ways we have never seen before, right? Wrong! You spend, at least, the first three hours of the game running around in a massive cave system that you cannot explore at your leisure. The gameplay is as uninspired as its graphics, involving only sneaking under tables and around light sources and then killing orcs here and there. That’s it, and that’s all.
First time we’ve ever really done this, but the version of Lord of the Rings: Gollum we were given to review on PS5 was so non-functional ahead of it’s day one patch that we could not dignify it with a scored review in good faith. https://t.co/ONIEPSi20M
— Giovanni Colantonio (@MarioPrime) May 25, 2023
Gamers aren’t having fun with how the game looks and plays, but at least critics are having a blast reviewing it and getting creative with their titles. However, due to its poor state and insurmountable number of bugs and glitches, Giovanni Colantonio, the Gaming Section Lead for Digital Trends, went on Twitter and stated that they were not able to play the game, let alone review it. Furthermore, he went into a long thread explaining the nitty gritty of what led to that decision.
Not that it matters, as other critics have taken the liberty of giving it a score that the community at large can agree upon (the image below is a compiled list of popular game reviewers and their scores for LOTR: Gollum).
The Lord of the Rings: Gollum | Reviews
6.5 – TechRaptor
6 – Shacknews
5 – Spaziogames
5 – CGMagazine
4 – Gameblog
2/5 – Hardcore Gamer
2/5 – GamesRadar+
1.5/5 – Twinfinite
1/5 – Guardian
3 – Press Start
3 – Inverse
2 – Push Square
2 – GamespotMetacritic: 38
Opencritic: 40 pic.twitter.com/WqnVVifZ1n
— Shinobi602 (@shinobi602) May 25, 2023
The game in its current state and whatever else is offered are not worth the RM130 price tag. If you think that is horrendous, then you haven’t seen the Precious Edition of the game. Any story-rich game worth its salt will often have an accompanying compendium that compiles and explains the history of the world. Though the story of LOTR is already well known, Daedalic Entertainment had the gall to lock the lore compendium behind a RM13 paywall. If you’re still itching for more content from this dry-as-bones game, you can pay an additional RM30 for the aforementioned Precious Edition, earning it the title of “greedy game” to go along with “worst game”.
Of course, this outcry has not gone unnoticed, forcing Daedalic Entertainment to release a statement that, much like their game, has received a lot of negative reception. Simply put, gamers aren’t satisfied with just a simple apology anymore, especially if developers keep making the same mistake over and over again.
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
According to a leaked grant filing, Daedalic Entertainment is working on another LOTR game. People are begging that, after the reception of the first game, the sequel will never see the light of day. Others have called upon the Tolkien Estate, owners of the copyright to all things Tolkien, from the books to the author’s image, to have Daedalic Entertainment return the licence they have given to these developers.
Regardless, until any official confirmation has been made, those who were enamoured by the story of Middle-Earth from the books, to the film, and to the game (mostly gamers) must live in fear for Lord of the Rings: Gollum and its future sequel.
Sources: Aroged, Metacritic, Twitter
