3 points
*
There is so much more that most people are not aware of that it isn’t so hard. This was based on the Unfinished Tales. Despite being a side character, Gollem has an interesting story arc and he is important leading up to the events that made it into the films. The dual personality thing is also somewhat unique, he isn’t completely evil.
As a story, I think it would have been better received closer to when the films were released, when the character was more popular and more normal people might have been interested (bonus, expectations for video game quality were lower 2003).