Update (26/5): We return to the PlayStation 5 version The Lord of the Rings: Gollum after update 1,003,000 was released, and we found that the experience got much better. It still has a lot of bugs, which we found in the PC version, but now it is much more stable on console. The bugs that prevent progress are gone and the PS5 update is still not locked. If you get the game on console, make sure to download the patch before you begin.
It is not clear how many issues have actually been resolved. During the review period, Nacon’s public relations team attributed GollumPerformance issues partially related to a stage that animated the character’s hair. The patch appears to remove that option from the game entirely. The issues that the change caused still likely exist behind the scenes, so it’s hard to say if the game has been fully fixed, much as the problematic feature has been removed.
We decided to check out the full game on PC after facing the issues listed below. You can read our one-star review of the game, which calls it “a throwback to the Wild West era of sloppy licensed green light games.”
Original Story: We plan to post a hotfix for the PlayStation 5 version by Daedalic Entertainment and Nacon The Lord of the Rings: Gollum today, but right now we can’t do it in good faith. Simply put, the PS5 version we tested was too damaged to be fairly criticized.
After downloading the PS5 code we received from Nacon’s PR representative, we booted up the game, interested in seeing Daedelic’s interpretations of Gollum’s tragic tale. We were able to load the game and view the intro with no issues, but within five minutes of playing the game it crashed. It certainly seemed strange to us, but pre-release versions of games sometimes crash. We chalked it up to a normal incident, restarted the game, and continued playing.
Then it happened again. And again. And again.
During our first two hours with The Lord of the Rings: Gollum, the PS5 version of the game crashed 11 times. On top of that, we experienced many other glitches such as targets not activating, losing the ability to move, and Gollum getting stuck on the floor for a second after respawning. It quickly became apparent that it was going to be hard to properly criticize this game. So this is not a real review. The Lord of the Rings: Gollum. Instead, we want to give you a clear picture of what the game was like less than 24 hours ago, as well as give you an idea of how many of these issues you can expect after the first patch.
Why don’t we revisit The Lord of the Rings: Gollum?
In the short time we ended up spending with them The Lord of the Rings: Gollum Before launch, we covered the basics of the game’s story, platforming, stealth, choice system, and puzzles. We found all of these elements initially intriguing, if a bit dated. However, our experience was too choppy to get a real idea of what this game will look like when it launches. After the 11th collision, we consider the technical condition The Lord of the Rings: Gollum on PS5 it was too terrible to keep playing to review it.
So why not stop there and give Gollum zero star or half star review? Well, that’s not fair to the game either. These technical issues were so overwhelming that it was impossible to evaluate them critically. The Lord of the Rings: Gollum as a legitimate gaming experience. Digital Trends believes that if a game is completely broken, it’s still not worth reviewing in the traditional sense. When the Digital Trends game team gives a low score, it is due to something more intrinsic to the game design or the execution of their idea. But those games are still functional experiences that we can see through to the end. WITH Gollum what state it is in, it would be like writing a review of a movie that didn’t run well on the projector.
After experiencing so many game crashes during gameplay, cutscenes, and even once while the game was running, we contacted the PR agency that provided the code and let them know about the issues. We’re told the issue may be due to a “Gollum hair memory issue” (yes, it’s a tweakable option in-game) and that a patch for the PS5 version will be coming before launch. We disabled the hairstyle simulation at the suggestion of the team, but still encountered multiple crashes and a few other bugs.
They offered us a PC code to The Lord of the Rings: Gollum when we mentioned my issues with the PS5 version and was told there were no issues related to the game crashing. After playing through the first four hours, that seems to be true. We didn’t experience any crashes during that time, though we did experience a host of other issues, from load times taking over a minute to frequent audio desyncs during cutscenes. Those issues aside, the PC version at least seems stable enough to play and we’ll probably review it in the next few days.
However, we believe that the PS5 is a popular platform that many will buy the game on, and that it is generally reliable when Digital Trends tests the games. After discussing the situation internally, we felt there were red flags and it would be worth withholding a review regardless of how it performs on other platforms. As such, we made the decision on Tuesday to postpone the planned review and instead provide an honest explanation of the PS5 version’s issues. The Lord of the Rings: Gollum faced before launch.
Whats Next?
All these questions with The Lord of the Rings: Gollum on PS5 it may sound like a nightmare, but the truth is that many of the video games we review are generally in poor shape even days before release. The Callisto Protocol highlighted performance issues that severely crashed the game for several hours, prompting the developers to deliver an emergency patch over Thanksgiving weekend, one that undid our progress. Those issues didn’t show up in the final version, but it still had its fair share of glitches at launch.
So where does that leave? Gollum? On Tuesday of this week, we received an email stating that the Day 1 patch “should fix some game issues” and that the crash was due to “an issue with the game save system.” [that] it caused save files to get corrupted occasionally after certain actions, like dying and rebooting.” Since these patches are only just coming out, there wasn’t enough time to play the PS5 version The Lord of the Rings: Gollum right to review.
However, we do not recommend playing The Lord of the Rings: Gollum on PS5 at launch. These patches may fix many of the major technical issues in the game, but it’s also quite possible that other issues remain (note that a patch is only expected to fix “some” issues). Interested players should keep an eye on the overall technical state of the game after the first day of the patch before playing, as we will.
If it doesn’t improve, you might want to check out how the game works on other platforms; at this time we don’t know how it works on Xbox Series X or older generation consoles. We cannot particularly recommend downloading The Lord of the Rings: Gollum for PS5 physically unless you plan to upgrade right away, as the unpatched version of the game will be similar to the experience we had during the review period.
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Even though buggy pre-release builds are common, it’s rare that we get a game in this state just a few days before release. These are not bugs that detract from a fully playable experience, as has been the case with recent titles like red drop either Star Wars Jedi: Survivor; version not updated The Lord of the Rings: Gollum mostly unplayable on PS5.
Digital Trends never takes a piece like this lightly. We can only imagine the stress and last minute work this has caused behind the scenes, and we sincerely hope the issues listed here have been resolved by the time you read this. However, as things stand, we do not trust that The Lord of the Rings: Gollum it will launch without significant issues. There are simply too many issues on the PS5 to fix in a single patch, so we think it’s worth pointing out those red flags to our readers who are considering whether or not to buy a $60 game. We hope the technical issues are resolved quickly and we expect an honest reassessment of the game on PS5 when that happens. We’ll do our best to update this post when we have a better idea of how it’s going after the patch. In the meantime, you can expect a full review of the PC version in the coming days.
The Lord of the Rings: Gollum is now available for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. A version of the game is in development for the Nintendo Switch.
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Categories: GAMING
Source: newstars.edu.vn