Finally, during an especially tedious and time-consuming puzzle, the crashes became too frequent to possibly make it to the next checkpoint in time. In multiple other instances, game-breaking bugs-such as a companion I was charged with protecting instantly dying over and over again for no discernible reason-forced me to restart entire levels, losing significant progress. After my 20th-or-so crash, I got the dreaded 'save data corrupted' message, only to realize I'd lost half a day's progress upon reloading.

In my roughly 11 hours of playtime on 'Performance' mode on a PlayStation 5, the game crashed over 120 times (yes, I counted masochist, remember?), averaging about one crash every five minutes. You utilize relatively sparse climbable surfaces to creep around from above, crawl through the shadows to stay out of sight on ground level, and throw stones to knock out light fixtures or distract guards.īefore going any further, we need to address the elephant (or Mûmakil, if you will) in the room: In the state it was in at time of review, The Lord of the Rings: Gollum was not ready to be played. Instead, the game revolves around all things stealth. Being barely capable of lifting a metal spoon, let alone wielding a weapon, combat is not the focus, save for occasional opportunities to sneak up from behind for a strangle-kill, which he's somehow able to muster the energy for.

You control Gollum in third person (except when swimming, weirdly). Taking place not long before the events laid out in The Fellowship of the Ring, the crux of the story is instantly recognizable to anyone even peripherally familiar with the series: Gollum must find Bilbo and take back his 'precious' at any cost, while avoiding the wrath of Sauron along the way. The game begins in Cirith Ungol, the Orc-infested outskirts of Mordor, some 60 years after Bilbo Baggins stole the One Ring from our slimy, frail protagonist, Sméagol-or Gollum, as he's come to be known. Now Playing: The Lord of the Rings: Gollum | Gameplay Showcase Trailer By clicking 'enter', you agree to GameSpot's

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