The Lord of The Rings: Return to Moria

This year, we've seen many games from the arguably most popular fantasy series. However, the majority have not been well received. The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria attempts to break that trend, banking on the popularity of survival-crafting titles thrown into the Dwarven stories of the Tolkien universe. The concept is noble, but we often see delivery fall short.

Here, we have a band of Dwarves determined to retake and rebuild the mines of Moria and bring their kingdom back to its ancient splendor. Players will achieve that by guiding their company to manage resources, find treasures, and strategically apply them to recreate their lost realm, ravaged in the original series. Expectations are understandably low, but this could cap off and improve what's been a questionable year for the franchise.

A Morian Life For Me

In The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria, players are thrust into a survival-crafting experience set in the foreboding mines of Moria. Its procedurally generated environments set this game apart, often shrouding players in darkness. It's a challenging journey where resource excavation is the key to survival, encompassing a range of materials like iron, gold, quartz, gemstones, and the legendary Mithril, hailing from three distinct mountains.

Crafting becomes your lifeline, enabling the creation of tools, weapons, armor, structures, and crucial resources. Survival in this harsh realm requires keen instincts. Players must hunt for food, manage sleep, regulate temperature, monitor their willpower, and keep noise levels in check. Moreover, they'll face adversaries, including orcs, cave trolls, and other menacing creatures lurking in the shadows.

Regrettably, construction, combat, and particularly exploration, which typically provide an enjoyable gaming experience, fall short for a common reason: a conspicuous lack of freedom. Although you can establish a base virtually anywhere, each new zone has at least one or two predetermined campsites that offer substantial advantages as starting points.

This limitation poses a considerable challenge when justifying allocating valuable resources for setting up a camp in any other location. Even more disappointing is the combat aspect, characterized by a monotonous routine of blocking, stabbing, or using arrows, with a limited array of weapon types that share an uncanny resemblance. This is a significant letdown, particularly considering that The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria demands extensive combat engagement.

A Frustrating Day's Work

I was initially drawn in by the prospect of immersing myself in a beloved genre, enriched by the profound lore of Middle-earth and the prospect of adventuring with friends. However, it's disheartening to witness such a promising concept fall short, ultimately delivering a lackluster impression compared to similar titles like Valheim. The repetitive and uninspired combat suffers from the overuse of familiar enemy types and unimpressive AI.

Round-Up - Pros & Cons

Pros:

• A nostalgic journey into the Dwarven kingdom
• Interesting mechanics integrated into familiar environments
• Dwarves are widely customizable

Cons:

• Severe limitations for a survival-crafting game
• Combat is very dull
• The dark environments often frustrate