Over the last two decades, The Lord of the Rings IP has seen a wide swath of games released across multiple console generations. From EA to Warner Bros., we've seen The Lord of the Rings adapt to numerous genres, including hack-and-slash, RPG, RTS, LEGO action-adventure and open-world action. Since 2017s Middle-earth: Shadow of War, however, there's been a complete lack of titles based on the popular IP, nor, in all these years, has there been a title focused on stealth and platforming. Enter Daedalic Entertainment, best known for point-and-click adventure titles, which has been hard at work developing an action-adventure title centered around Tolkien's most complex character, Gollum. We got a chance to take an early look at The Lord of the Rings: Gollum to see just how precious this new title is shaping up to be.

First and foremost, it's important to note that The Lord of the Rings: Gollum does not share any DNA with Peter Jackson's film saga (The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings). While Daedalic Entertainment has the book rights through a licensing deal with Middle-earth Enterprises, the film rights remain solely with Warner Bros. Discovery. That means you won't hear or see the likenesses of Andy Serkis (Gollum/Smeagol), Ian McKellen (Gandalf) or Lee Pace (Thranduil) at any point in the game. Those who cherish those takes on the classic characters won't find that here. Those willing to look beyond Jackson's films, however, may find something special in The Lord of the Rings: Gollum.

While most of The Lord of the Rings titles released over the past two decades have focused on action and battle, The Lord of the Rings: Gollum takes a different tact. Though labeled as an action-adventure title, what we saw of Gollum puts the game more into the stealth and platforming camps. Sure, there's action, but it's not the same type of action fans of the IP should expect. Gollum doesn't have the strength of Aragorn, the magic of Gandalf or the archery skills of Legolas. Instead, this game plays to the character's strengths that Daedalic presented in two different gameplay segments.

Some context first, The Lord of the Rings: Gollum takes place before the events of The Fellowship of Ring. In the books, Aragorn captures the titular character and brings him to Mirkwood to be interrogated by Gandalf. The story unfolds as Gollum reveals details from before his capture, and later, the events leading into the first book.

The first mission takes place at the very start of his journey as Gollum attempts to sneak into Mordor via Cirith Ungol. A traditional tutorial level, this section got us up to speed on many of Gollum's capabilities. Platforming appeared to work similarly to Uncharted, with set pathways available to climb and maneuver across. Occasionally, Gollum would come upon a ledge that would chip away at his stamina bar, but nothing in this section looked overly complicated. While platforming looked simplistic in Cirith Ungol, the developers promised more impressive platforming challenges later in the game.

One of those challenges came in the second mission, which took place after Gandalf's interrogation. In it, Gollum wanders Thranduil's kingdom with the telepathic help of Mell, an elf imprisoned for her irresponsible use of telepathy. To find a way into the king's chambers, we witnessed Gollum use various platforming abilities to find the entrance. Unlike the Cirith Ungol mission, this run-through in the Glittering Grotto was a true platforming puzzle with Gollum navigating different handholds, keeping an eye on his stamina and running across walls. Later, once in Thranduil's chambers, another platforming puzzle reared its head. Requiring a special bell to escape, Gollum needed to get to the top of the chamber's ceilings using a moving chandelier. It was a rather intricate puzzle that was far more elaborate than what was shown in Cirith Ungol, suggesting a steady ramp-up in challenge.

The films and books make it clear that not only is Gollum great at platforming but also being a sneaky trickster. His ability to slink around forms the remainder of gameplay in Gollum. While we didn't get to see any of it in Mirkwood, we saw some in Cirith Ungol. In Gollum, you'll use grass to hide from enemies, a special 'Gollum Sense' to detect nearby enemies and hiding places, crouch low to sneak by enemies and use objects like rocks to distract them. While Gollum can engage enemies in combat, it isn't advised. Instead, it's best to isolate them and take them out one by one. For the demo, we saw Gollum strangle an enemy, an option that created noise and required a lot of stamina. In addition, a cutscene showed Gollum knocking an enemy into a pit to be devoured by Shelob. It was neat, but it's unclear if the game features environmental traps to dispatch enemies.

Rounding out the game is the duality between the two protagonists, Gollum and Smeagol. While there are no gameplay differences between the two characters, Daedalic intends to use both personalities to create unique engagements. These can be simple exchanges like Smeagol feeding players hints by talking to Gollum to more narrative-changing moments called Conflict Dialogues.

Conflict Dialogues are scenarios that task players with choosing whether to make the Gollum or Smeagol persona more prominent. For example, we got to see Gollum/Smeagol wrestling with the decision to kill a beetle or not. Smeagol argued that the beetle is an innocent creature, but Gollum countered that it could be a spy for Sauron. According to the developers, the prominent persona players align with will change how characters react to Gollum/Smeagol and alter how the story plays out. Unfortunately, we didn't see an example of this as a Ringwraith aboard its fellbeast attacked Gollum, ending the Cirith Ungol mission.

The Lord of the Rings: Gollum is a different beast from what we usually get from this IP. Instead of massive action or commanding vast armies, we're now a small creature focusing on platforming and stealth. Though it may lack the splendor and setpieces of laying siege to fortresses, The Lord of the Rings: Gollum appears compelling with its focus on storytelling and delving into Gollum and Smeagol's splintered psyche. We wish the preview gave us a better look at how combat and stealth work and gave us clues as to how our decisions impact the narrative. The preview did, however, leave us interested in learning more about Gollum and his search for his Precious.

The Lord of the Rings: Gollum launches September 1 on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC, PS4 and Xbox One. A Switch version launches later in 2022.