New Lord of the Rings Game Is a Big Hit on Xbox (2024)

Key Takeaways

The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria is doing well on Xbox and has largely positive reviews, as well as a $20 price tag.
Players can expect a unique experience with procedurally-generated content, crafting elements, and updates to base building features.
The game allows players to play as Dwarves reclaiming Moria with a focus on survival, mining, and battling unspeakable forces in the caverns below.

Developer Free Range Games' new title, The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria, landed on Xbox Series X/S recently, and so far, the survival-crafting title has been doing well in Xbox's "Top Paid Games" charts. The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria offers J.R.R Tolkien fans a fresh look at Middle-earth by honing in on the underground mines and crafting elements, supplying a new perspective on a cherished setting.

The Lord of the Rings is the godfather of the modern fantasy genre and, over the decades, it has seen a surge in popularity. The iconic book series by J.R.R Tolkien has not only been adapted into one of the most acclaimed movie franchises of all time, but also into a slew of video games and the Amazon Prime television series, The Rings of Power. The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria takes players on a survival crafting adventure that puts them into the shoes of the Dwarves of Middle-earth, who journey from faraway lands to take back the lost city of Moria after the fall of Sauron.

Return to Moria has a 4.7/5 rating based on over 130 reviews on the Xbox Store, with some saying that the developer of the title, Free Range Games, seems to care about Tolkien's LOTR lore.

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Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria Lauded by Players

On Microsoft's Xbox Store, The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria has seen an uptick in popularity since its period of exclusivity on PC and PlayStation 5. Currently, the game sits at number seven in the US and number five in the UK on Xbox's "Top Paid Games" charts. Not only is the title proving to be an Xbox hit in terms of sales, the reviews for Return to Moria are also positive. The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria has a 4.7/5 rating based on over 130 reviews on the Xbox Store, with some saying that the developer of the title, Free Range Games, seems to care about Tolkien's LOTR lore and, for $20, it's a great pickup.

A Welcome Return to Middle Earth

After the Gollum game flopped, due to being one of the year's worst-received video games, The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria is off to a promising start on Xbox. Middle-earth fans who have always wanted to explore the Dwarves reclaiming their homeland in the mines will be able to learn more about their home, while also getting some hands-on time with the game's crafting elements.

Along with the 1.0 version of Sandbox Mode, there are new items to craft in The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria that include updates to base building, new structures to build, and new lights, tables, and rugs. With a fresh swarm of players on Xbox and Steam, hopefully, the developers will continue to keep Return to Moria updated with new content for a long time to come.

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The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria

Reclaim the Dwarven homeland of Moria

Summoned to the Misty Mountains by Lord Gimli Lockbearer, players take control of 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, delving deep into the Mines of Moria to recover its treasures.

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. 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.

Survival