GameLight Review - Orcs Must Die!

Official Site: http://www.robotentertainment.com/games/orcsmustdie
Steam Page: http://store.steampowered.com/app/102600/

Source: Youtube Channel IGNentertainment

Developer: Robot Entertainment
Publisher: Robot Entertainment
Platforms: Xbox 360, PC
Release Date: October 11, 2011
Genre: Action-Strategy

Pros:
-Fast-Paced Action with fluid controls
-Tons of strategies to work with
-More than 24 levels to play on
-Simple goal to understand, challenging gameplay to master
-Gets straight to the action for a gratifying action tower defense experience

Cons:
-No multiplayer support
-Trap orientation can be confusing when plotting them
-The recoil movement from the magic crossbow when zoomed is too jerky

I wasn't sure what to think of the game before I saw gameplay of it as the name itself was tacky and general.  But when I finally saw what "Orcs Must Die" was about and the ability to combat the enemies upfront, I was pretty much sold.  I picked the game up during the Autumn sale on steam for $3.75 and was surprised to get 24+ levels (along with DLCs though) to play on as a lot of tower-defense games are limited to only a few levels (Sanctum started with 4).  What was different and very entertaining about the game was that the player takes a very active role in vanquishing each wave of enemies rather than taking the usual passive approach of only setting up traps and fighters.  Besides traps are an array of weapons which makes the player's participation in battle more variable each time.  But in order to be successful each level, the player must utilize the weapons and traps effectively to get the most out of them.  This is a really fun game and good to play when trying to relax or get a satisfying experience in a short amount of time for those who are generally busy to play for long sessions.

Aesthetics - Graphics, Audio and Presentation
I really like the cartoonish, almost cel-shaded like style that the developers went for.  The characters pop out, the environment looks nice, it's easy to discern enemies, and it looks flashy when the action happens.  It kind of reminds me of what Valve did with Team Fortress 2 in their art style direction which significantly changed the game mechanics are interpreted: glowing liquid shows the danger of the player falling into them, a light blue stream runs across the level to show the enemies walking path, the main character's outfit is a bright contrast to the dark levels with an accent of red making easy for the player to keep track of where their character is on the screen when in a large wave of enemies, etc.  The little details such as the number of currency gained from each enemy killed and the message that pops up when getting a headshot with the crossbow all contributes to that feeling of achievement and doing well.  Of course, the indications also serve as useful information such as reminding the player that getting headshots help take an enemy out faster and all the money earned should be spent on more traps.  When in the set up phase, it can be a bit confusing trying to plot the traps in all the right places.  In traditional tower-defense games, a player can easily figure out choke points and orientations of all the traps/towers within a level from a top-down view.  Iron Grip: Warlords allows the player to go into a top-down view when plotting towers.  In Sanctum, the player can bring up the camera into a top-down view to look at the whole level and warp around.  In Dungeon Defenders, the mini-map shows where traps are laid.  So it can be a bit difficult when figuring out where to set traps in Orcs Must Die, but perhaps it's a design choice to keep the player consistently active in the fighting rather than sitting back and watching.  Some of the music feels sort of out of place, but the game is wacky to begin with.  The sound effects are quite satisfying whenever contact between weapons or traps is made with the enemies and mayhem is fallen upon the waves.  The voice acting of the main character adds that nice bit of humor with the amount of shenanigans you get into within the game.  Overall, it's a nice presentation that works both aesthetically and mechanically.  Aesthetics: 8/10

Buttons - Controls
One of the concerns I had with the game was that the fighting mechanics might be sluggish and clunky, but to my surprise the combat is very fast-paced.  Animations run fairly quick, traps are easy to put up, and the key orientations are plotted out comfortably around the keyboard and mouse.  It can be rather hectic when trying to put up traps "during" a wave and there's 7-9 items to scroll around, but I'm guessing that this was a design choice to keep the player fighting as much as possible rather than worrying about putting more traps up (though it gets easier as the player becomes more experienced and can balance between strategy and action).  I really like the controls.  They're tight, easy to navigate through, and made it fairly quick for me to understand how to play the game.  Buttons: 9/10

Concept & Content - Design
The story is quite simple: A warmage protects the many rifts of the world from the many waves of orcs and monsters and ends up slipping on blood on one of his missions only to end up dying and leaving the daunting task to his apprentice; the main character who's a hearty fellow with a naive demeanor.  It made sense to why the player must fight off all these enemies and why "Orcs Must Die!"  The concept is quite simple: utilize the weapons and traps available and decimate all invading enemies.  The fun part is being "creative" in succeeding that goal.  Players can set archers, wall traps, springs, set explosives, and many more to subdue their enemies and prevent them from walking any further.  Each level has a different setting with various choke points, environmental hazards, and paths which can help the player or the enemies.  A lot of the beginning ones are simple and small, so this makes learning the game a lot easier for beginners.  An Action/Strategy hybrid of Action games and Tower Defense isn't new, but Robot entertainment's interpretation of that genre mix is an excellent one that works really well.  It's too bad it isn't a multiplayer game as it could be tons of fun with even just two players.  Other than choosing different difficulty levels, there isn't much variety in terms of modes.  Concept & Content: 8/10

Duration - Pacing, length, and replay value
Besides the opening cinematic which tells the raison d'être for the main character, the game is immediately full of action the second the first wave starts.  The length of a level can vary depending on difficulty, a player's skill level, and the level design.  It takes anywhere from 10-30 minutes each match so it never takes to long to play each chapter and get something out of it.  I haven't sat down and played for one long session yet, but I feel like I could with this game.  Even with playing one level each time I start up the game, I felt like I got enough from it.  I felt satisfied, which I feel is difficult to get out of short session games sometimes.  Replay value really depends on the player.  If a player wants to challenge themselves, they can go for a higher difficulty level for a better score or equip themselves with more weapons than traps to do more fighting then planning.  For others, I could be that after getting through the game once, there's not much more to offer.  There isn't multiplayer support or different modes, but there is a online ranking system.  Others could get bored half-way through the game if they don't find the entertainment value in the first half.  Although I think that 24 level is a generous amount, a lot of levels are similar in nature and look and offer little variety after a player gets through all the chapters other than what was stated above.  Still, I think I got a lot more than I paid for ($3.75) and genuinely enjoy the game.  Duration: 8/10

Fun - Impression, Entertainment Value
I don't think it's the greatest indie games to have come out this year, but it's pretty dang fun.  The first time I saw the hordes of orcs rush through the door and fly all over the room from my arrow wall traps was both hilarious and satisfying to see my work (placing the traps) come to fruition.  The combat is what really surprised me though.  Even with Action Tower Defense games like Sanctum, I feel like I'm just adding to damage that my towers were already doing to the enemies (along with the fact that enemies totally ignores you).  In Orcs Must Die, fighting enemies really make it feel like an "Action" game rather than adding in "combat" just to deal damage with the traps.  The player can die, use mana, and utilize all sorts of weaponry like in an action game, and that active participation in the game made it much more involving and intense when the enemies get near the rift.  I guess the jollies and laughs I get out of Orcs Must Die is similar to games like Dynasty Warriors where you fight hundreds to thousands of enemies and still survive.  It feels satisfying to end a level in victory by overcoming an incredible amount of enemies of epic proportions with just the player alone.  It does feel like a button masher at times, but the moments where enemies get too close to the rift and being able to figure out a solution with the weapons available has a gratifying moment to make up for those.  You can't just mash your way to victory.  Fun: 9/10

Overall
The premise of the game is simplistic, yet effective.  The game is rather short, but satisfying.  There isn't multiplayer support, yet I got this game for $3.75 and had a ton of fun playing it.  The next time a friend asks for a relaxing game to play, I'm going to recommend Orcs Must Die because it's just so awesome to see all those orcs flying around the room and getting sliced, skewered, and sprung off the stage.  I don't like how it's following the DLC path where extra content means extra money to be added in order to play them, but the original package is enough in itself for a full experience.  Steam winter sales is coming up soon (I can feel it) and I highly recommend Action/Tower Defense game fans to pick this game up during that sale.  This game is a really nice distraction to whatever game you might be playing.  Overall: 8.4/10