The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria Reviews
Don't be a fool of a Took and rush into Moria. An authentic and authentically grueling game.
The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria doesn’t give a ton of reasons to play it over its genre peers – and its poor combat, building, and mining mechanics make those other options sound even more appealing.
Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria has the potential to be a challenging and enjoyable multiplayer experience. The loop of mining, crafting, and exploring is a satisfying one when overwhelming hordes of goblins aren't haranguing you. There doesn't seem to be any real optimisation for solo players so I'd probably stay clear unless you can get a band of dwarves together to brave the darkness of the mines.
I just didn't really want to do any of the other things Return to Moria expected me to.
If you're a fan of the universe, Return to Moria is a reason to re-immerse yourself in familiar sights and sounds, but for anyone else it's just another survival game.
The Lord Of The Rings: Return to Moria is less frantic than other survival games, and your wins take longer, but despite some charming jank this is a very cosy adventure to take on with friends.
There’s a lot to like in The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria, and there’s an equal list of things that aren’t as polished. It’s the very definition of midtier, with all that implies. There are better survival crafting games out there, but none that offer a chance to see what nameless primordial things lie below the Mines of Moria. Always hungry, always waiting.
There are moments when The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria hints at what it could have been, such as when you’re mining a rich vein of ore in some dark tunnel, and your dwarf becomes inspired to sing. They’ll clear their throat and give voice to a story of trolls and orcs and the beating that will rain down on them if they cross your path. The game briefly feels alive, the story making the cold mines warm. But then the song stops, and you’re still mining, and all you have to look forward to is a long walk back to the forge.
The Lord of The Rings: Return To Moria is a valiant attempt of crafting a great survival game, keeping players engaged and memories to be made. The gameplay may seem difficult and takes some time to adjust to, but just enjoy the experience for what it is and you will find youself entering the depths of Moria more than you anticipated.
Another miss for the Rings franchise, then. There are bursts of quality here, and the potential for fun when playing with others. However, it ultimately fails as an adaptation and a survival game.
Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria doesn’t take any huge chances with the survival crafting genre. Still, the Lord of the Rings overlay and familiar character cameos help make its familiar loops seem fresh enough. In the mixed-bag pantheon of Lord of the Rings-inspired games, Return to Moria acquits itself quite well.
The Lord of the Rings Return to Moria unfortunately can't keep up with the sacred monsters of the survival genre.
Review in Italian | Read full review
The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria is a cheap attempt at capitalizing on the survival game hype through the mass credibility of the books. It borrows almost each and every element from contemporaries, but none of them work well.
The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria offers an intriguing set-up, and Moria is a compelling location to explore. However, even with decent progression, the fundamental gameplay - from building to combat - leaves much to be desired.
The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria is overshadowed by the name it carries: Free Range Games have indeed managed to recreate the atmospheres that Tolkien's fans will love but, in terms of gameplay, the game fails to shine as it should.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Return to Moria, from Free Range Games, is a fun experience for fans of survival titles and Lord of the Rings. It takes some of the better systems from the genre and marries them to the lore and setting of Moria, the result of which is a world that fans can be excited about.
Overall, The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria is an extremely solid survival crafting title, and stands proudly as one of the best Lord of the Rings games, as well as one of the best releases of 2023.
If Lord of the Rings and "survival-crafting" combo sounds good to you, this is the game for you. Still, you'll have to work hard to overlook its faults.
Review in Turkish | Read full review
The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria is, at best, a mediocre base-building and environmental exploration game, but most of the time it does everything worse when compared to other similar works. Add in the disappointing combat experience, a forgettable story, and a lackluster aesthetic, and there's something here that's bad as a game, even worse as part of a universe as incredible as the one created by Tolkien.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
The world here is huge and it will take you tens of hours to discover it all - there is a lot to discover. If you have a group of friends who will go with you and you enjoy a game focused on survival, production and combat and the mysterious world of dwarves, you are in the right place. But if you're looking for an engaging story from Middle Earth, you won't find it here, unfortunately.
Review in Slovak | Read full review