New Lord of the Rings Game Gets More Screenshots, Details from Creators

After first being announced earlier in the year, The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria returned once more this week with some new images and details shared by the creators. Free Range Games, the developer working on Return to Moria, spoke to the Lord of the Rings-focused Nerd of the Rings to offer discussions about the features and mechanics at play in the game as well as the decision to focus on the Dwarves and the story at hand.

Featuring elements of survival games like Valheim that feature key components such as building and resource gathering, Return to Moria is shaping up to be the Lord of the Rings take on that sort of experience. It puts players in control of a group of Dwarves who must amass resources, fight, and build down in the mines.

You can catch the full sneak peek at the game above courtesy of Nerd of the Rings with the channel also sharing some screenshots and concept art from the game that were all shared during the stream as well. While no gameplay was shown during the presentation, we got a better look at the Dwarves themselves as well as the enemies they'll encounter down in the mines.

"Set in a procedurally generated Dwarven realm of Moria, no two adventures will be alike, and every expedition is traversable either solo or online with companions," an overview of the game explained. "Players can mine to craft greater gear and resources, but beware mining makes noise, and noise created in the quiet deep threatens to awaken the dangers below: where there's clatter, there's combat. Excavate the mysteries of three legendary mountains, extract precious metals, scrape to survive, and battle unspeakable forces to learn the secret of the Shadow that lurks within."

The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria does not yet have a release date, but it's expected to be released in 2023. It'll be available on the PC platform as an Epic Games Store exclusive when it launches.