Orcs Must Die!

So Orcs Must Die! is a tower defense type game where you play as a "Rift Guardian". With the 3rd person camera it lets you get into the action as well as pick off any stray orcs that wander through your traps somehow unscathed. Your job is to make sure no orcs make it through the rift and into the real world. This is the first game made by Robot Entertainment but they did do the art work for Age of Empires online. There is a not that much complexity to this game but it does offer multiple solutions to each level. It offers a good mix of strategy and some good old hack and slash.

The story line basically starts out with your master having an accident, and your the only one left to take the place of the Rift Guardian. You are then keep to keep the rifts safe from having orcs travel through them. The story is very thin and basically unnecessary but it is nice to see there at least be an attempt at one. There ends up being a little twist but in the end the overall story is very cliche. With the plot being told at the beginning of levels or in minor art style cut scene.

The gameplay is where the meat of this game lies. With the ability to summon traps for the cost of coins you are then left with a couple traps to choose from. Within certain limits you can then make the best orc slaying machine ever. With some level layouts pointing to common solutions, there is always a different way of beating a level giving this game a good bit of replay ability. There are only 25 levels but after playing through on medium you can then unlock the harder difficulty. Couple things wrong that could of been addressed would be the lack of tutorials. I feel like offering a couple strategies of ways to use your newly learned trap could of gone a long way. Another thing would be the complete lack of mentioning that there are certain objects in the levels that you can interact with in order to take out some orcs that might get loose. I learned this out by placing my crossbow over an item and it was highlighted, then through my curiosity I shot it. That is when the chandelier fell and crushed several orcs. Though there are many interact able objects other than just the chandeliers but that I will let you figure out. Then there is the complaint that the game does not tell you what door wave 1 will be coming out of. Some levels have multiple entrances and some on other sides of the map. Your resources are limited at the beginning of the game. So time again I found my self setting up an amazing trap to slay many an orc only to see that they were going to come in the other door.

This game does the tower defense very well with a couple tweaks keeping it from pure brilliance. I would like to see them add a co-op feature later or possibly a multiplayer where one person sets that traps and another person picks the mobs. For what the game is now though it is a great time killer and can be taken in small chunks. Then there is always the option where you can play through several levels and completely lose track of the time. This game knows its place and is worth the $15 price point. They could of easily gotten away with $20 but glad they chose that price.

So this game is on Xbox Live Arcade for 1200 Microsoft Points or $15 on Steam. I am going to give this game an 9/10 with it being cheap, fun., and overall a great tower defense title. I had a great time going through this, thinking of strategies and then feeling like I am unstoppable was commonplace yet never too much to where I was getting bored. The game keeps a good balance of getting coins and the cost of traps, keeping the game from being just too easy. I would get this game again and it could be a great gift for anyone with an Xbox. For 1200 MS points why not spread the love for that friend. Be sure to check out the other post where I play the first 6 levels and show easy strategies to beat them.  WASD and the other Controllers: Orcs Must Die! levels 1-6