The first Lord of the Rings: Gollum screenshots are here

It's been a little over a year since The Lord of the Rings: Gollum was announced, and today we're finally seeing some early glimpses of what scurrying around as Gollum will look like.

The screenshots, which were released as part of a Gamestar preview, show some of the game's environments along with player-character Gollum. Although the game is based on the Tolkien books rather than the films, Gollum does somewhat resemble the design seen in the Peter Jackson trilogy - albeit with longer hair and shinier skin. Good to know he's been moisturising.

Although there's still little information about how the mechanics will work, judging by the screenshots there's going to be a fair bit of stealth required, along with some nimble navigation of Mordor's mines and forges. As a prequel to The Lord of the Rings, it takes place before Gollum encounters Frodo, although exactly what he gets up to in this game remains a mystery. The abundance of spiders in the screenshots might suggest an encounter with Shelob.

Developed by Daedalic Entertainment, The Lord of the Rings: Gollum is due to release next year on PC and consoles. If you want to take a more in-depth look at the screenshots, you can check out the full gallery here.