Fighting
Adventure
UPS
Extreme
Progressive
The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria Review in Progress
The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria might lovingly depict one of the most recognizable fantasy worlds ever created, but to my surprise, that’s not actually the most recognizable thing about it. This is a survival game first and a Lord of the Rings game second, content to replicate all the familiar mechanics of the genre while leaning heavily on its Tolkien backdrop to compensate for a lack of original ideas. If you’ve played any survival game in the last 15 years, you’ll immediately know what you’re in for as you build bases, upgrade your pickaxes to mine better ores, craft armor and weapons to fight hordes of enemies, and run back home when it gets dark. The loop of exploring deeper and deeper into a dangerous mine filled with monsters as you collect resources and improve your character can be entertaining, but in the 20 hours I’ve played so far, there’s also no part of that tried and true blueprint that Return to Moria does better than any of the games that came before it.