The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria brings the mines of Moria to life this October

Free Range Games has announced a release date for its co-op survival-crafting game The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria.

Announced last year, Return to Moria is set in the Fourth Age of Middle-earth and it follows the Dwarves as they embark on unique adventures to reclaim and restore their homeland of Khazad-dûm, also known as Dwarrowdelf to humans.

The story takes you beyond the books as a Dwarf summoned to the Misty Mountains by Lord Gimli Lockbearer. Here, you will take control of a company of Dwarves tasked to reclaim the lost spoils in the depths of the subterranean complex.

Your quest will require fortitude and teamwork as you delve deeper to recover Moria’s treasures in the hopes of restoring the dwarves to their former glory. You will not only extract precious metals prized by Dwarves from the mines but also rebuild and refire forges that have long since gone cold.

The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria allows you to create a custom character before venturing into the cavernous mines alone or with a company of fellow spelunkers online. Each adventure will bring unique challenges and opportunities thanks to procedurally generated environments.

As you venture deeper, you will experience the dangers within Moria, and you will need to craft resilient armor and weapons capable of protecting yourself against goblins, spiders, and mysterious foes. Obviously, you’re not likely to run into Durin’s Bane, considering Gandalf and the Balrog fought all the way up the mountain of Zirakzigil before the wizard finally dispatched the demon.

That’s not to say you couldn’t run into another demon of sorts or even a firey foe (a dragon would be cool), just not that particular monster. There is also something known as the Shadow that lurks within the depths, so it will be interesting to find out what this entity is or isn’t.

The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria releases on October 24 for PC via the Epic Game Store and PlayStation 5. It will be released on Xbox Series X/S in early 2024.

It will see a physical release for PS5 at retail on December 5 and for Xbox Series X/S upon release in 2024.

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