The dwarven engineers of Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria have officially entered Steam's golden age. The game is now available on Valve's digital store after a year in the relatively barren depths of the Epic Games Store, and developers Free Range Games have also released a gold update, which adds an offline single-player pause, around 100 building objects, and a sandbox mode that allows for unscripted excavation and colonization of the game's procedurally generated mountains. Plus, new hats and axes! Just try not to catch dragon sickness.
I haven't played Return To Moria since October of last year. Back then, it was a vast and comforting survival game with a crisp, torchlit aesthetic, plenty of gorgeous biomes to explore, and a healthy dose of jank. (For the sake of Immersion, please find an image on the right with a translation of “jank” into Khuzdûl, the ancient runic language of the Dwarves, courtesy of Tengwar Transcriber.)
I'm definitely up for another stab at this particular area of lore digging, provided they fix that glitch where all your interior decorations end up at awkward 45-degree angles to the layout. Here's an 11-minute video walkthrough from the game director, detailing both what's in the Golden update and what they've added since launch on EGS.
Watch on YouTube
If you don’t have time to watch a video, here’s my own breakdown of the Golden Update. Let’s start with the sandbox mode, which is already available in beta on EGS. It lets you generate worlds from a “wide variety of random seeds, meaning each playthrough can vary greatly in layout and difficulty.” There are “minimal tutorials” in the sandbox, and as such, the developers recommend that you only play it if you’re familiar with the game’s campaign or other survival sims. The sandbox brings with it crafting recipes for 14 new types of weapons and armor. These include the Wolfskin Hat and the Barôkamlut, or Mithril Battle Axe. You’ll likely find the Barôkamlut useful when looking to acquire the materials for the Wolfskin Hats.
The update also adds cross-play functionality, allowing PC's proud bearded lords to mingle with PS5 and Xbox's stone lords in sessions of up to eight players. If you'd rather mine Khazad-dûm solo, you can now pause the game by pressing Esc when playing offline.
As for the new building items, they range from rugs and banners to light fixtures, tavern signs, and chairs. Of most interest to players returning to Moria will likely be the improvements to the building system itself. “Restoring Moria is now easier than ever thanks to changes to the stability system as well as improvements to object snapping,” the press release explains. “Pre-placed buildings throughout Moria are now sturdier than ever, allowing players to build expansive bases wherever they want.”
They've also expanded the game's difficulty settings, with options for enemy aggression, frequency of hordes, sieges, or patrols, and the abundance of mining loot. Add to that the promise of Steam Deck compatibility, as well as new ambient music, and you've got a game I'll be trying to squeeze a few hours of fresh air into this weekend. It's no Dwarf Fortress, but it's got charm.