New details about the survival-craft game, Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria, have been revealed. We learn quite a few interesting new details, as well as see some glorious screenshots of what to expect from the Fourth Age of Middle-earth.
Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria centers around the Dwarves from the Lord of the Rings books. Using some of the lore from them (female dwarves appear to have been excised despite their existence being included in the appendices of Lord of the Rings via the inclusion of Thorin's sister Dis), the developers have worked to add their own parts as well to build on what Tolkien wrote.
Gimli believed taking back Moria would be an easy task, as he had a band of loyal Dwarves ready to delve deep and fight for their history to be revealed. Not only that, but Gimli promised the King they would rebuild the gates with Mithril, which is very rarely found in Middle Earth. Luckily, Mithril ore can be found in great quantities in Moria, so Gimli knows they need to venture back down to the Mine in order to fulfill his promise to the king. The Dwarves initially believed Moria had remained barren of life over the ages, but they quickly learn that there has been activity in the depths for eons now.
The first tool players will receive in-game is of course a pickaxe, but players will need to work for it; as they will have to work very hard for everything in this game. One of the second tools players will come across is a torch to traverse the depths without being overtaken by the shadows. Dwarves are known for bringing the light back to dark places, and that takes center stage in Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria.
The game also sports a hefty amount of character creation customization, as everyone has their own point of view of what Dwarves may look like. Players are even able to choose from several different voices and accents to further the customization and make the character their own.
Orcs are not the only threat within the world, but as of right now we do not know exactly what creatures or threats the Dwarves will face within the mine. One thing to note is though the game is not considered to be within the horror genre, the devs made it known that it is extremely nerve-wracking. We do know that players are able to play solo or co-op within the game, with co-op supporting up to eight players in total. It also apparently changes the dynamic of the gameplay completely. When playing with friends, you are more likely to trigger traps and sounds within the mine that alert the unknown threats, as well as orc lords to your whereabouts.
There are also mechanics that allow your party to sing songs together as you make your way into the mine, but this can also alert trolls nearby. We also learned that many of the pathways that could usually be taken are blocked off with strange runes and boulders, meaning players will need to follow the twists and turns of the mines, all while ensuring they don't get too turned around.. lest they meet an unruly fate.
Currently, there is no set release date for Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria, but we do know it will be released sometime in 2023.
