When I recently reviewed the rather mediocre Gollum game from the same universe, I thought that this cherished brand of a few years ago could not sink any lower. Unfortunately, reality can sometimes be cruel. Because returning to the famous underground dwarven city he had better stay buried in the ground.
What fun
Lord of the Rings world license Old friend Gimli New materials and tools motivate to play Vast underground world
What’s wrong
Poor gameplay mechanics Lots of bugs Terrible character animation Outdated graphics Poor combat system
Survival for PC (PS5 and XSX later) ● Price: CZK 860 ● Singleplayer and multiplayer ● Age restriction: 12+ ● No official Czech language
Again, the subject does not sound bad at all. The survival action adventure genre is still in vogue. And being set in Middle-earth is not a vain choice either. In addition, the creators have placed their game in the 4th age, i.e. the time that follows the events described in the original trilogy. At the same time, we will also meet the popular dwarf Gimli, who was also lent his voice by the actor known from Jackson’s films, John Rhys-Davies. But the result definitely fails to make good use of the hopes put into the game.
As the name suggests, we will look at Moria, once a rich and famous metropolis of dwarves, but thanks to their greed, they eventually lost their headquarters. Because they woke up the Balrog demon and with it the darkness that finally engulfed the city with unorganized mining. But Gimli doesn’t want to accept this fate, so he organizes an expedition to recapture the once-so-precious underground city. You are one of the dwarves who have to undertake this difficult task. But as the devil would have it, with one collapse you will find yourself alone in the dark in the middle of an inhospitable environment. Your primary goal thus becomes a struggle for bare survival.
The mechanics of the game are reminiscent of the classics of this genre – Subnautica, DayZ or even Minecraft. The cornerstones of the entire game are managing and finding raw materials, taking care of your river’s needs, building various objects and making tools, but also, of course, fighting against bloodthirsty orcs and other vermin.
There is a large amount of raw materials here, and you gradually work your way up to mining rarer and more valuable commodities. The basis is, of course, stone and wood, iron or perhaps textiles or skins of the local fauna. You can find these materials almost everywhere and it is not a problem to get them. You use a classic pickaxe for mining, you collect food from bushes, you chop wood from crumbling furniture left by previous residents. However, more exotic raw materials can only be mined with more durable tools and at predetermined locations. You first have to craft the tools using a better furnace, etc. These principles motivate the player to progress quite well. It’s fun to find new materials, explore musty dungeons, repair the abandoned facilities here and slowly progress deeper and deeper into the earth.
Mining itself is mainly about finding which raw material and then mining it with the appropriate tools. Sometimes you even sing some dwarf song to it, which will increase your productivity. It’s not exactly a fun activity, but it’s survivable. What’s worse is that you can’t fuck everywhere you’d like. Almost everything here can be broken down and thus broken down into individual components. This does not apply to machined walls, which can be hammered with a pickaxe, but nothing happens to them. It is not possible to dig through to other rooms. It’s a shame that the creators limit the players’ freedom in this way and mining can only be done in predetermined places.
So you can’t dig your lair according to your wishes. However, these indestructible walls can sometimes be put to good use. In some places, you can dig into them and you gradually get more stones thanks to this. You just keep pounding on the wall and the stone happily piles up in your pockets. It seems to be a bug, but at least one that will help you sometimes.
Building also has its limits. Not everything can be built everywhere. The basis is a kind of heart, a slightly larger fireplace reminiscent of a garden grill. You can then build or repair other equipment around it, such as a hearth, but also place pallets on which you can store found materials, or set up a sleeping corner, tables for feasting, and more and more things and work tools. Unfortunately, not everything always works as it should. For example, I wanted to build a simple beam and attach it to the wall. But the game somehow confused the sides of this wall and thus placed the beam inside the wall, which is, um, useless to me.
“You warm yourself by the fire, you gain energy with a good night’s sleep… But what’s the point when death doesn’t mean anything too terrible here.”
Another time I wanted to get a chest for my treasures. I sat her on top of a kind of lump, which is no problem. She just calmly stood on top, didn’t fall, didn’t go down. Finally, I rolled out the lump and, to the surprise of the world, the chest did not collapse again. She bravely defied gravity and began to levitate in the air! And there was no Gandalf nearby, who would then initiate the laws of physics with some of his sleazy fairground tricks. This is just one of the few examples of how completely elementary elements do not work here at all.
You also have to take care of your dwarf. He is hungry, he may be tired, but he also cries out for light and warmth from time to time. Sometimes you have to feed him slimy mushrooms or cook him something more nutritious. You warm yourself by the fire, you gain energy with a good night’s sleep, and so on. But what’s the point if death doesn’t mean anything too terrible here. When a rogue orc kills you, you reappear curled up in the nearest bed. You just have to go to the place where you fell for the lost gear. You face no further penalties.
The fights are also quite difficult. Arm your hero with a sword and shield and let’s go! The AI is zero, so you often have to punch or ram the enemy to get them to notice you. Once he spots you, he will take the most direct route to you. And then there is already quite a stereotypical beating and covering. You’re just repeating the same punches over and over again. When the enemy swings, you press the defense button to dodge the attack. There is nothing more to it. Yes, you can make a kind of pararoller, push the opponent with a shield, or shoot him from a distance. But that’s all. Due to this, the fights are quite boring.
But the worst thing is that they are often long. A lot of monsters will spawn and it will be a lot of work to defeat them all. You can’t even avoid classic mistakes, when some big monster gets stuck on the ceiling and you then calmly shoot at it until it falls. More than once, I witnessed a slightly slower orc just stop and stare at me in agony while I cut his guts out with my sword. Poverty. No variability, no new special attacks and abilities, just gray.
Overall, the game is pretty dark. Yes, but it takes place underground! But that underground is quite monotonous, grey, repetitive. Sometimes you will visit more colorful areas with greenery or smelly caves full of various indescribable horrors, but for a significant part of the game you move in very monotonous dark tunnels. On the other hand, that darkness will at least partially cover up the rather hideous graphics. It is outdated and unattractive. The animation of the characters is even worse. They are quite wooden, unnatural. Sometimes it is completely missing. For example, if you are swapping tools that you want to use, they will appear in your hand out of nowhere. No animation, no reaching for the interpreter, nothing. The same applies, for example, to the repair of various devices. At one point they’re broken, your avatar waves around them for a while, and then they’re fixed. Whether it’s the laziness of the creators or lack of time, I don’t know, but it’s definitely distracting.
The game therefore resembles a preliminary approach, which is still quite far from the full version. Another example for all, the burning beam does not go out even if you stand under a stream of water. Building sometimes works despite gravity, other times your platform or ladder will materialize but disintegrate within seconds. Why, it is no longer obvious. Things like this don’t stop you from progressing through the game, but they are jarring to say the least. Unfortunately, there are a lot of shortcomings here.
Multiplayer is more fun than single player. After all, sharing materials, helping each other in battle, planning various events, even drinking and singing together is always better in a larger company. But the question is whether you will get any friends to play this game at all and whether you will simply have more fun in other, already tuned titles.
Verdict
Returning to Middle-earth is yet another disappointment. Yes, on paper Reconquest of Moria seems like an interesting title that mixes a lot of attractive elements, but in reality the competition is much better developed. The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria is not a bad game at all, and the constant search for newer and better equipment can keep you busy for a while, but unfortunately everything is brought down by boring battles, outdated graphics and a lot of bugs and glitches. If the creators persist in their support, then in a few years Morie can be an interesting alternative to other survival games. Until then, the title can only be recommended to hardcore fans of the genre or enthusiasts who don’t miss anything with the Lord of the Rings label. Others can leave Moria and its secrets to remain buried in the dark woods of faraway Middle-earth.
2023-11-15 06:01:42
#Lord #Rings #Return #Moria #game #review #Survival #muchloved #Lord #Rings #world
