Picture this: you head into Moria, but an explosion cuts off your path and separates you from your party. Trapped fathoms underground without any tools, 5G or beard balm, you’re pretty much screwed. Fear not, traveller: you’re a dwarf and were made for this. Welcome to a review of The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria on Epic Games Store.
One of the challenges with taking a well-known franchise and making a game out of it means you’ll have a legion of fans out for your neck if you cock up their beloved characters. In Return to Moria, you create your own character in tune with the Middle Earth vibe, aided by fan-favourite Lord Gimli – you know, that short bloke with the axe. From the films.
Voiced by the original actor, John Rhys-Davies, Free Range Games’ survival title is an absolute treat and triggers the need to binge the films and finish The Silmarillion. But once you’re separated from Gimli, you’re on your own, in the darkness, with a tutorial on par with an Early Access game. I was not a happy bunny.
The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria: Lighten Up
The character customisation was brilliant, with me spending an excessive amount of time picking a suitable beard and gruff, Scottish accent as seems to be the stereotype for fantasy dwarves. But after that, it needed to be more straightforward what to do. Sure, there were objectives and codecs, but they were on the limited side and with no active marker.
I’ve worked it out. There’s an abandoned lair, and I’ve been tasked to rebuild it. Perfect! I love restoration projects, but where are all the materials? That’s where Return to Moria kicks in exploration. A mini-map is ever-present, depicting each area as a room, though you have to venture outside for some clarity.
Trying to make sense of things before diving into this world of darkness (you’re underground; don’t expect it to be well-lit), I kept close to this new area, creating a bed, mining the resources, and building from the list of requirements. However… within a short space of time, goblins raided my home. Not IRL.
Homewreckers
The screen flashes red, and these twerps rough up your digs. They attack everything, including the walls that were present before you even arrived. With only an improvised axe, I swing about and kill some but swiftly fall. Respawning was swift and put me back in bed, only to be killed again by the gang already causing havoc.
After repairing as much damage as possible, I ran out of resources, so stepped out about 20 metres and got eaten by wolves. Repeatedly. Emphasis on Return to Moria being a survival game. I’m now starting to regret not having a co-op partner for this journey.
Adopting a Rockstar approach (sprinting into dangerous areas way before you can cope, locating cool gear), I found a renewed interest in smashing through key areas. This included exploring to unlock resources and recipes, crafting new equipment, repairing stuff for aesthetic value, and keeping the wolves at bay. There are a LOT of wolves.
Short Stature
On your travels in Return to Moria, you’ll locate numerous remains, treasures, and derelict structures and statues. With the latter, you can repair them to their former glory, unlocking new crafting recipes. The moment the armour unlocks, Return to Moria is so much better. Your hardened dwarf now earns their stoic reputation and can mostly solo tank battles.
Return to Moria isn’t much to look at. The character modelling and cutscenes are beautiful, but naturally, the inside of a mountain is as dark as a duck’s arse. Fear not, impatient gamer: as this is a fantasy game, there are a lot of light sources and mini-biomes. My biggest issue with the game is the relentless pursuit of lesser enemies. The wolves and goblins make this tedious initially, and you can only sleep through so many battles. However, the level of crafting and exploration is the silver lining.
Combat is a bit of a button masher, but that’s no big deal, as the key focus is on managing your supplies, maintaining your ‘castle’, and pushing through the mines. Patience is a virtue, and you’ll need this aplenty – especially in the early stages. If you can bribe a friend, the co-op option will be a better experience… perhaps. It depends on who joins you but as a standalone experience? Very good, but give it time.
