The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria is a survival crafting game by indie developer Free Range Games. Read on to see what the game did well, what it could improve upon, and if it's worth your time and money.
The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria Review Overview
The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria Pros & Cons
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
 Solid Survival Experience Dynamic Progress System |
Bare Bones Combat Lack of Abilities and Perks |
The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria Overall - 82/100
Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria is a solid survival crafting game with easy-to-grasp features, mechanics, and combat. A respectful homage that makes Tolkien's iconic fantasy world and beloved dwarves come to life through colorful and comical representations. The game isn't quite up there with acclaimed titles in the genre, but it offers a solid gaming experience and is a huge step-up from previous Lord of the Rings games.
The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria Story - 7/10
The story here doesn’t dwell much on J.R.R. Tolkien’s fantasy world. I think it’s safe to say that it becomes secondary to the gameplay. However, the plot is quite simple–you just have to rebuild and reclaim Moria. And it works really well with the premise of the game. It has clear cut narration and does a good job of making me care about and feel invested in our dwarven protagonists and their current mission.
The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria Gameplay - 8/10
Straightforward and engaging gameplay loop of gathering and crafting. The game is surprisingly well-paced and in-game progress is awarded quite generously. The crafting and base building systems work well, and the added challenge of keeping your dwarf alive all strike a good balance of simple yet immersive gameplay.
The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria Visuals - 7/10
LotR: Return to Moria is packaged with a lot of visual details–down from the in-game lighting to the cutscenes. And there are PLENTY of cutscenes that get in the meat of the story and effectively push the narrative forward. The game also has nice, cinematic use of POV cameras when necessary and makes the visual presentation feel even more immersive. However, there are some rendering problems here and there that you’ll encounter while building something or entering a new section of the world.
The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria Audio - 10/10
The game's atmosphere is enhanced by its attention to ambient sound. You’ll hear the crackling of firewood, the furnace and hearth at work, the footsteps of any moving creature, and even the solemn silence of the dark. The game also delivers convincing and clean voice acting. Overall, magnificent sound design that makes everything come together and feel alive and authentic.
The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria Value for Money - 9/10
LotR: Return to Moria goes for $39.99 which is comparably lower than the prices most AAA games are listed at. The game offers an enjoyable experience and satisfying gameplay loop players of the survival crafting genre will be at home with.
The Lord of the Rings Return to Moria Review: Dwarf of All Trades, Except for One
Right from the start, the game impresses with insightful storytelling, meticulous design, an intuitive tutorial system, and particularly its base building and crafting mechanics. The game, overall, feels complete but could still use some refinement, especially with the combat system and the game’s rendering.
Once you've customized your very own dwarf, you're thrust into the heart of the action. After crafting the essential light torch, it's immediately onto exploration and constructing entirely new structures or restoring and expanding the existing structures scattered throughout the Mines of Moria. Along the way, artifacts, locations, and lore scrolls can be uncovered, shedding light on various aspects of your journey through Moria. These discoveries serve as a delightful homage to the iconic fantasy world.
The crafting system is tied with the story’s and your dwarf’s progress. It all revolves around gradually unlocking better gear and tools which really is the key to creating that satisfying gameplay loop of collecting resources, circumnavigating more parts of the map, and learning all the mechanics that you can in the game. Each unlock brings substantial upgrades to both your character and your base, and progress is dynamic and plentifully visualized.
The base building system offers much creativity and allows for strategic layouting. It uses a snap-grid system that’s easy to get a hang of with options to change the orientation and height of the object you’re building. There’s a logical way to build structures in this game in that you simply couldn’t just stack things together–you might find platforms crumble apart instantly if they’re not properly supported. The inclusion of these intricacies adds to the depth and challenge of this core gameplay mechanic.
Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria is a captivating addition to the survival crafting genre, but not quite up to par with well-known titles like Valheim or Raft. What sets this game apart, however, is its unique blend of fundamental survival crafting elements with the distinctive charm of J.R.R. Tolkien’s enthralling fantasy world and impressionable dwarven protagonist.
Pros of The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria
| Things The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria Got Right |
|---|
| Solid Survival Experience Dynamic Progress System |
Solid Survival Experience
Specific environmental conditions, such as darkness, have the potential to lower your Morale. When Morale drops to zero, you'll experience the "Despair" debuff which causes you to lose health continuously until you die. You will also need to consider your surroundings and find the best areas to camp out.
There are also tiny mechanics that make the game feel more realistic–food you leave on the table will spoil, and singing while mining away will put your dwarf in a pleasant mood. You’ll also find that you’re not the only one surviving out in the ruins of Moria. There is an ecosystem of prey and predator in this game that adds to the realism. Try out being an NPC for a while, observe what’s happening in the game and you’ll find Goblin men trying to fend off bears attacking them in their campsite.
Dynamic Progress System
There’s a sense of consistent progress in the game, thanks to the organic integration of the crafting and building systems and its generous reward system. I didn’t find a silent beat in the game where I feel like I will run out of things to do or feel unmotivated otherwise. The game got increasingly challenging and more complex as I progressed through the list of activities and goals, and I found it an absolute must to constantly upgrade and stock up on resources to keep up the journey in the mines. A survival crafting game's success hinges on its core rhythm, and LotR: Return to Moria maintains this aspect effectively.
Cons of The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria
| Things That The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria Can Improve |
|---|
| Bare Bones Combat Lack of Abilities and Perks |
Bare Bones Combat
The combat in this game is subpar. You’ll get a standard hit attack and a heavy blow attack. There’s no ability to parry incoming hits from enemies and so you’ll have to rely on blocking attacks using your weapon or a shield which you can start to forge further down the line.
Fighting in itself isn’t at all exciting or worth it most of the time. Enemies can do a lot of damage and there's the added challenge of possible attacks from the hostile inhabitants of Moria–from Orcs, Goblin men, to predatory creatures like wild bears and wolves lurking around. Enemies are sure to overwhelm you with numbers as attacks always happen in sieges. There is also awkwardness in combat particularly when facing multiple enemies, and animations lack fluidity when transitioning between actions.
Lack of Abilities and Perks
While this game isn’t a life simulator, it could surely benefit from having abilities and perks that can aid with the survivability of the dwarves. Certain perks that can affect dwarves’ moods or provide moodlets or temporary boosts can balance out the trouble with maintaining their physical and mental states.
Is The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria Worth It?
Definitely worth it!
You’ll get solid survival, crafting, and world building experience in this game. The gameplay loop is addictive without being too punishing and taxing.
The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria Overview & Premise
LotR: Return to Moria is set in J.R.R. Tolkien’s iconic fantasy world. We follow the mythical dwarves of LotR as they embark on new adventures to reclaim their legendary home of Moria during the fourth age of Middle-earth following the canonical events in The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King and the defeat of LotR’s primary antagonist the Dark Lord Sauron.
The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria FAQ
How to Get Hide in The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria
You can get Hide as a lootable item by killing animals This material seems to be dropped more commonly by medium to larger animals like deer and large badgers.
How to Get Black Diamond in The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria
You can find Black Diamond in Orkish Chests and as a lootable item by killing Bolgakh creatures in The Western Halls.
Game8 Reviews
The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria Product Information
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| Title | THE LORD OF THE RINGS: RETURN TO MORIA |
|---|---|
| Release Date | October 24, 2023 |
| Developer | Free Range Games |
| Publisher | North Beach Games |
| Supported Platforms | PC, PS5, Xbox Series S/X |
| Genre | Survival, Crafting, Adventure |
| Number of Players | Single-player; multiplayer (up to 8 players) |
| ESRB Rating | Rating Pending |
| Official Website | The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria Website |
