Developer Daedalic Entertainment and publisher NACON have revealed the system requirements and collector's edition bonuses for The Lord of the Rings: Gollum. I was ready to make fun of the fact they're calling the version that costs $US10 more expensive the "Precious Edition", and then I saw that it includes a Sindarin VO pack that replaces the speech of elven NPCs with authentic Sindarin, the Elf-Tongue devised by J. R. R Tolkien as part of the linguistic game that underlies his work, and actually I would quite like that.
Here's the rest of what you get in the Precious Edition, along with The Lord of the Rings: Gollum itself, and six emotes if you preorder either this or the standard non-precious edition for plebs.
- Exclusive Concept Art: Over 100 original sketches and development secrets
- Lore Compendium: Learn more about the untold history of Middle-earth
- Original Soundtrack: Epic orchestral 17-track album
- Sindarin VO Expansion: Additional voice-acting in the Elvish tongue of Sindarin, done by professionals and made for Middle-earth die-hard fans who want to immerse themselves even more while exploring the world of Tolkien
They've certainly got my number, but then I'm one of the 37% of people who watched The Rings of Power all the way to the end. Even I'm not sure how big the audience for a game about Middle-earth's least eligible bachelor is, however. Are people really lining up for a game about a slimy, fish-eating weirdo? And how many of those people have a 3080 and 32GB of RAM? Because that's what you'll need to see Gollum's pale, toast-rack chest at 1440p with ray tracing.
The Lord of the Rings: Gollum minimum system requirements
- Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
- OS: Windows 10/11
- Processor: Intel i7-4770 AMD Ryzen 5 1600
- Memory: 16 GB RAM
- Graphics: GTX 1080/RTX 2060
- DirectX: Version 11
- Storage: 45 GB available space
- Additional Notes: at Medium preset and 1080p, Ray Tracing off
The Lord of the Rings: Gollum recommended system requirements
- Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
- OS: Windows 10/11
- Processor: Intel i3-6100 AMD Ryzen 5 2600
- Memory: 32 GB RAM
- Graphics: RTX 3080 (with DLSS Quality)
- DirectX: Version 12
- Storage: 45 GB available space
- Additional Notes: at High preset and 1440p, Ray Tracing on
Ted Litchfield saw a demo of Gollum last year that left him unenthusiastic about its stealth, though he was a little more excited by an environmental puzzle section set in Mirkwood. "It's the sort of open-ended platforming puzzle I really enjoyed in Prince of Persia: the Sands of Time," he wrote, "with the player being left to chart a path through a cavernous fantasy obstacle course. Gollum has to climb to the heights of the massive chamber, jumping from handholds on a moving orrery high above the floor. This part of the Gollum demo stirs something in me, strikes me as a game I might actually want to play."
Gollum's creators recently announced via Twitter that it has finished development, or "gone gold" in industry terminology. When it comes out on May 25 it'll be available for PC on Steam and the Epic Games Store.
