The Big Picture
- Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria is a co-op survival crafting game centered around the dwarves and led by Gimli, voiced by John Rhys-Davies.
- The game takes place in the Fourth Age of Middle Earth, with players joining Gimli in reclaiming treasures and restoring the honor of the dwarves.
- The inclusion of John Rhys-Davies as Gimli's voice actor adds an authentic and nostalgic element to the game, taking players back to the early days of Middle-Earth.
While we sit and wait for Season 2 of Prime Video’s Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, the Middle Earth fans who enjoy games will have something to chew on pretty soon. Today, on Durin’s Day, it’s the perfect occasion for for Free Range Games and North Beach Games to unveil the cinematic trailer for Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria. The co-op survival crafting game will center around the dwarves and it will be led by longtime fan-favorite Lord Gimli Lockbearer, who will be voiced by John Rhys-Davies.
In order to hype up the game’s release and celebrate the actor’s return to the franchise, the team from Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria invited Rhys-Davies for a conversation at
Nerd of the Rings, the largest YouTube channel in the world dedicated to all things middle Earth. During his participation, the actor celebrated the chance to play Gimli in a different setting and explore different aspects of the character:
“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? 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."
What Is 'Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria' About?
Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria takes place in the Fourth Age of the Middle Earth – so, a long time after the Prime Video series. Players will join Gimli at the Misty Mountains as they are summoned there and tasked with reclaiming spoils from their homeland. Moria was first introduced to audiences in Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, in an era that the dwarves’ domain was basically a graveyard. In the game, the dwarves will have to work together to recover treasures from Khazad-dûm and restoring the honor of their race.
In an official statement, CEO of Free Range Games Chris Scholz revealed that when the time came to cast Gimli’s voice actor, “there was only one name everyone wanted” and called working with the actor “an honor, a privilege and a dream.” Davies played the dwarf in the original Lord of the Rings trilogy, and much like all other cast members, he became forever attached to the character he played in fans' hearts and minds. Having his voice in the game is certainly an asset that instantly takes players and Lord of the Rings fans there and back again to the early days of the Middle-Earth.
Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria will be released on October 24 for PC via Epic Games Store and PS5. You can find out more about the game at the Return to Moria official website. Check out the game’s opening cinematic below:
