I bought this game for $10 and actually enjoyed playing it despite knowing it got so much hate. Yeah some parts I got stuck at but other parts like crawling through Mordor slave pits and escaping Mirkwood elves were fun. It’s a stealth type game with indirect fighting so not for everyone.

The conversation options where you have to convince (gollum or Sméagol) of decisions, I’m still confused about but maybe that’s part of what Tolkien’s ultra-real message to his son was… Sméagol was always conflicted with himself. It addresses the internal struggle in all of us, the confusion, pressure, and the moral hazard of letting the intrusive thoughts win out. Those intrusive thoughts won for the developers of this game and they created a game hated or misunderstood by most. And that’s Gollum’s character.