The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria Gameplay Trailer Revealed

Announced last year, The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria is an upcoming survival crafting game set in the LOTR universe. You take over a group of Dwaves trying to reclaim the legendary Moria from the Shadows that lurk in the deep recesses of the mines. At the Summer Game Fest today, Return to Moria got another turn in the spotlight, this time finally showing off the gameplay we can expect to see when it launches later this fall. As expected, there's a heavy of base-building and exploration, but we also got a glimpse of the game's combat. 

Survival seemingly takes many forms in The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria. As mentioned, we saw quite a bit of the Dwarves building up a new base within Moria to help protect themselves from the evils lurking around every corner, but we also saw some combat. In action, it's somewhat reminiscent of Deep Rock Galatic, though with a more medieval theme, of course. That makes sense, considering the game is putting a focus on co-op multiplayer. You can join up with up to eight other players online as you work to reclaim Moria.

The Lord of the Rings: @ReturnToMoria™, the only survival crafting game set in the Fourth Age of Middle-earth™ is coming to #PlayStation5 & #Xbox Series X|S, alongside #PC via EGS in Fall 2023! #TheLordOfTheRings #ReturnToMoria #SummerGameFest https://t.co/uOjmPyD9mc pic.twitter.com/67uedM5LKC

— Summer Game Fest (@summergamefest) June 8, 2023

In any case, Return to Moria isn't the usual type of game we've seen from The Lord of the Rings. Those games usually focus on either the fellowship or the many battles that have happened throughout the history of Middle Earth. Seeing a game that's taking some risks by exploring a new genre could be fun, even if it is cribbing a bit from something that's already very popular. That said, the IP did recently do something similar with The Lord of the Rings: Gollum without much success. Return to Moria is a completely different team though, so we'll have to wait to see how it performs. 

The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria doesn't currently have a firm release date. It should be out by the end of the year if everything goes to plan. When it does launch, players will be able to jump into the mines on PlayStation, Xbox, and PC platforms.