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The dwarves are back, and ready to retake Moria, as the newest The Lord of the Rings video game prepares for launch.
Speak ‘friend’ and enter
One of the most interesting-looking Lord off the Rings titles in a while, The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria is a survival/crafting game that’s set in Tolkien’s Fourth Age. That’s after the events of the War of the Ring, and the fall of Sauron. But things aren’t quite settled in Middle-earth just because the evil eye has been vanquished and the One Ring destroyed.
Take Moria for example, an ancestral home of the dwarves and setting for the upcoming game. In the shadow of Mordor falling, it’s still rife with goblins, and plenty of challenges for those dwarves looking to re-settle it. Not that that’s going to stop them, or the legendary member of the Fellowship, Lord Gimli Lockbearer.
Yesterday, which was Durin’s Day by the way, Gimli himself (actor John Rhys-Davies) walked prospective players through what the game will be serving up, when it launches later this month.
It’s always fun to come back and think of the ‘what-ifs’, and the chance to work on this game is an exploration of one of the what-ifs, isn’t it?” said John Rhys-Davies. “Actors often create characters out of love and it’s very hard, sometimes, to let them go. Certainly, Gimli is, for me, a character that I really adore, and I’m very grateful for the opportunity to reprise him in a different context.
John Rhys-Davies, voice (and face) of Gimli
The story of The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria takes players beyond the books and into the Fourth Age of Middle-earth, the fantastical world created by J.R.R. Tolkien. Summoned to the Misty Mountains by Lord Gimli Lockbearer, players band together as a company of Dwarves tasked to reclaim the lost spoils from the Dwarven homeland of Moria—known as Khazad-dûm or Dwarrowdelf—in the depths below their very feet. Their quest will require fortitude and teamwork, delving deep into the Mines of Moria to recover its treasures and in the hopes of one day restoring them to their former glory.
North Beach Games press release
While the aforementioned Durin’s Day has indeed passed, there’s plenty more dwarven action to come, with The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria. From developer Free Range Games, it’s scheduled to arrive on October 24th, 2024, for the PC, as well as PS5 and Xbox Series X|S.
In the meantime, you might also want to check out Rhys-Davies, as he talks with the Nerd of the Rings podcast about his role in the game and more. Click here for that.
