History YMMV / TheLordOfTheRingsGollum

* FandomRivalry: A strange example, considering both games are considered pretty awful, but when ''VideoGame/SkullIslandRiseOfKong'' came out months later, "fans" debated on which game was the worse of the two, with many calling ''Rise of Kong'' "the next ''Gollum''." [[HilariousInHindsight Coincidentially]], both games are based on franchises that Creator/PeterJackson had made films for, and Creator/AndySerkis even played both Gollum and Kong.

** The Lord of Ring: Gollum[[TradeSnark ™]][[labelnote:Explanation]]The day after the game came out, the developers released an apology on Twitter, stating that they would release patches to fix various bugs and make other improvements. People quickly noticed that the apology contained a [[TyopOnTheCover glaring typo]] in the first sentence, calling the game ''The Lord of Ring: Gollum''. The error almost immediately became a widespread subject for parody thanks to people perceiving it as a case of DiggingYourselfDeeper.[[/labelnote]]
** The apology for the game's ObviousBeta status has become this among gamers who are tired of seeing publishers put out apologies for releasing unfinished titles, which they find happens often enough that it no longer has any meaning. Made even worse by recent accusations of the entire apology being written by [=ChatGPT=], an ''artificial program''.

* TheProblemWithLicensedGames: The game was released to scathing reception from critics and audiences due to it being a virtually unplayable ObviousBeta with boring gameplay, poor visuals, and basic features that were locked behind paid [=DLC=]. Because it came out after a string of high-profile and well-received licensed games, it's become a common joke that ''Gollum'' feels like it should have come out at least ten years ago.
* ScrappyMechanic: For Emote Pack buyers, the fact that you cannot manually select what emote you want to play, as the game just randomly chooses one of the six animations instead. What amounts to an 'IdleAnimation on command' feature isn't necessarily a bad idea, but the fact that this feature is locked behind a $2.99 DLC paywall pushes it into being absurdly heinous.

** The apology for the game's ObviousBeta status has become this among gamers who are tired of seeing publishers put out apologies for releasing unfinished titles, which they find happens often enough that it no longer has any meaning.

** Gollum is [[VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles Riki]][[labelnote:Explanation]]Once it was discovered that Gollum is voiced by Creator/WayneForester, who played [[FightingClown Riki]] in ''Xenoblade Chronicles'', ''Xenoblade'' fans reacted with a mix of amusement and horror, making fanart and edits that replace Gollum with Riki.[[/labelnote]]

* TooBleakStoppedCaring: Even if one sets aside the terrible graphics, abundant glitches, and boring and poorly designed gameplay, many players feel that this is the primary problem with the game. It takes Gollum, a character whose mere existence is torture thanks to centuries of MindRape and corruption from ArtifactOfDoom, and puts him through even more misery through getting enslaved and captured multiple times. It tries to offer some new insight into his character via a dialogue system, but the implementation is so counterintuitive and frustrating, and the results have so little bearing on the game's story that it becomes more frustrating than anything else.

** One of many criticisms of the game is that the visuals aren't based on the [[Film/TheLordOfTheRings Peter Jackson movies]], but rather use a very stylized, cartoony original art style and character designs of its own creation. Besides ''VideoGame/LegoTheLordOfTheRings'' -- which is still based heavily on the films -- the last ''Lord of the Rings'' video game to do so was probably ''[[VideoGame/TheHobbit2003 The Hobbit]]'' way back in 2003 (which wasn't particularly highly rated by reviewers either).

* OlderThanTheyThink: The almost alien-like appearance of the elves may seem strange compared to the human-like image put forward by the Jackson films, but this was the most common depiction of elves during Tolkien's time; the animated ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Return of the King'' films from the 70s went with a similar appearance when depicting the elves.

* OlderThanTheyThink: The almost alien-like appearance of the elves certainly isn't very Tolkienian, but it does match with the classic pre-Tolkien depiction of them. The animated ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Return of the King'' films from the 70's went with a similar appearance when depicting the elves.

* TooBleakStoppedCaring: Even if one sets aside the terrible graphics, abundant glitches, and boring gameplay, many players feel that this is the primary problem with the game. It takes Gollum, a character whose mere existence is torture thanks to centuries of MindRape and corruption from ArtifactOfDoom, and puts him through even more misery through getting enslaved and captured multiple times. It tries to offer some new insight into his character via a dialogue system, but the implementation is so counterintuitive and frustrating, and the results have so little bearing on the game's story that it becomes more frustrating than anything else.

* TooBleakStoppedCaring: After putting aside the terrible graphics, abundant glitches, and boring gameplay, many players feel that this is the primary problem with the game. It stars Gollum, a character primarily known for being hopelessly corrupted by an ArtifactOfDoom, and puts him through never ending misery, depicting him getting enslaved and captured multiple times, instead of offering any new insight in to his character or story. The developers attempted to address the latter point via a dialogue tree system between Gollum's split personalities, but the implementation is so counterintuitive and frustrating, and the results have so little bearing on the game's story that it becomes more frustrating than anything else.

* TooBleakStoppedCaring: After putting aside the terrible graphics, abundant glitches, and boring gameplay, many players feel that this is the primary problem with the game. It stars Gollum, a character primarily known for being hopelessly corrupted by an ArtifactOfDoom, and puts him through never ending misery, depicting him getting enslaved and captured multiple times, instead of offering any new insight in to his character or story.

** Calibri interface[[labelnote:Explanation]]The game's interface makes heavy use of Calibri, famous for being the default font in both Microsoft Word and Xsplit. This, in addition to being mocked as a lazy and poor design choice, made it incredibly easy to create fake but authentic-looking screenshots of the game to use in memes, which often make fun of its poor quality.[[/labelnote]]

* UnintentionalUncannyValley: Gollum's design has been widely criticised for this reason. The character designers were clearly trying to take him in more of an UglyCute direction, but common consensus is that the design just doesn't get the balance between the two sides right, resulting in a character that looks more like an overgrown baby than a corrupted and destitute hobbit.

** Similarly, Wayne Forester's performance as Gollum has received mixed reactions for not matching the films -- while it's agreed Forester is a talented actor, Creator/AndySerkis's performance has been so thoroughly ingrained into pop culture that many players found it jarring how Forester doesn't imitate it at all.

** Calibri interface[[labelnote:Explanation]]The game uses Calibri, famous for being the default font in both Microsoft Word (since 2007) and Xsplit, in its interface. This, in addition to being mocked as a lazy and poor design choice, made it incredibly easy to create authentic-looking fake screenshots of the game to use in memes, which often make fun of its poor quality.[[/labelnote]]

* AccidentalInnuendo: The subplot about Gollum being made to hatch a bird's egg is introduced by an orc telling Gollum to go the "the breeding halls", followed by repeated dialogue about how 'you don't want to make him wait'. The ambiguity in the lines of what is being bred (especially since the most immediate conclusion is Gollum himself) can spark a lot of giggles.

* AccidentalInnuendo: The subplot about Gollum being made to hatch a bird's egg is introduced by an orc telling Gollum to go the "the breeding halls." The ambiguity in the line of what is being bred (especially since the most immediate conclusion is Gollum himself) can spark a lot of giggles.

** Calibri interface[[labelnote:Explanation]]The game uses Calibri, famous for being the default font in both Microsoft Word (since 2007) and Xsplit, in its interface. This, in addition to being mocked as a lazy and poor design choice, made it incredibly easy to create authentic-looking fake screenshots of the game to use in memes, which often make fun of the game's lack of quality.[[/labelnote]]

* ObviousBeta: The game's launch was buggy [[UnintentionallyUnwinnable to the point of some reviewers being unable to even finish it]], with clipping issues, frame drops, failed triggers, crashes, and falling out of the map. The optimization is also poor at best, with ''Gollum''[='s=] requirements on PC being far higher than a game with its graphics should warrant.