Set in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth, The Lord of the Rings: Gollum tells a story that unfolds in the years between the events of The Hobbit and The Fellowship of the Ring. The player takes on the role of the wretched, ring-obsessed creature Gollum, following his desperate travels after the loss of his precious One Ring to Bilbo Baggins. Consumed by the desire to reclaim it, Gollum makes his way across perilous corners of Middle-earth, from the shadowed passes of Cirith Ungol to the dark heart of Barad-dur and the tangled depths of Mirkwood. Along the way he must slink past guards, scale treacherous ledges, and hide in shadow and long grass to survive, for capture by the servants of Sauron means certain doom. Throughout his ordeal, the player also navigates the fractured mind of the creature himself, choosing between the scheming Gollum and the more pitiable Smeagol as two warring halves vie for control.