Daedalic Entertainment is no stranger to the video game industry, but nevertheless, it may get more attention in 2022 than ever before. That’s because of The Lord of the Rings: Gollum, its new stealth-heavy action-adventure game set in the world of Tolkien’s works. The Lord of the Rings: Gollum gives players control over Gollum, longtime bearer of the One Ring, as he travels across Middle-earth in search of his lost treasure, but he won’t be the only major Lord of the Rings character that players meet. Daedalic has already confirmed that Gollum will feature major characters like Gandalf, some of whom will probably help Gollum on his journey.
According to certain footage of the game, Gollum will feature friendly NPCs that the titular protagonist can ally himself other in order to overcome certain obstacles. While Daedalic will probably come up with a few original characters to play these roles, it also seems plausible that Gollum will team up with a few major Lord of the Rings characters in this way. While NPC allies for Gollum sound great, Daedalic has to make sure that they don’t interfere with Gollum’s difficulty level. Strong NPCs could take away from the tension and challenge in Gollum’s encounters with enemies.
The Risks in Gollum’s Allies
Gollum, unsurprisingly, hasn’t been billed as a game centered on combat. Gollum may be a star of Middle-earth, but he’s known more for stealth than skill in battle. Nevertheless, it sounds like players will have to fight off enemies once in a while, and if Gollum features NPC allies, it seems likely that they’ll defend Gollum from danger once in a while. That opens a door for a lot of interesting gameplay sequences. For instance, a powerful NPC ally might hold off a horde of orcs while Gollum completes a platforming segment that takes him to a trap that’ll finish the fight early.
The devil is in the details for Gollum’s NPC ally system, however. If Gollum lets characters follow the player around for an extended period of time, then they could quickly take the challenge out of combat scenarios. Sequences where Gollum is supposed to carefully get the drop on the enemy could quickly turn into Gollum hiding while an NPC cuts down enemies for him. That would make Gollum’s stealth-driven action sequences far less engaging and likely remove a lot of the game’s difficulty. In other words, Daedalic needs to incorporate these characters wisely, or else core parts of the game will suffer.
Gollum’s Allies Are Still Good Ideas
Daedalic needs to either limit the combat power that Gollum’s NPC allies possess or keep the time they spend traveling with Gollum short. While traveling with Gandalf for a little while seems plausible, for instance, Gollum can keep NPC interference to a minimum by focusing on original characters with limited skills. A character’s strength, agility, or wits might help Gollum get through a certain obstacle, but they shouldn’t all be capable of fighting. Alternatively, Daedalic can give Gandalf some screen time, but make him leave Gollum’s story before he interferes too heavily in the gameplay. NPC allies should only appear to complete highly specific objectives for Gollum, rather than following him around perpetually and doing his dirty work.
NPC allies should be an interesting part of Gollum overall. Gollum isn’t known for being sociable or cooperative, after all, so the situations where necessity drives him to work with others could stand out in Gollum’s plot. Hopefully Daedalic Entertainment sheds a little more light on how NPC allies function soon, as well as which named Lord of the Rings characters will help Gollum out, if any. Gollum already looks like it could be one of 2022’s most unique games. Its approach to allies in a stealth-focused game could greatly enhance that identity.
The Lord of the Rings: Gollum releases in 2022 for PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
