Orcs Must Die!

Orcs Must Die!

Developer(s) Robot Entertainment
Publisher(s) Microsoft Studios[1]
Engine Trinigy's Vision Engine
Platform(s) Windows, Xbox Live Arcade
Release date(s) XBLA
October 5, 2011[2]
Windows
October 12, 2011[2][3]
Genre(s) Tower defense
Rating(s)

Orcs Must Die! is a strategy video game developed by Robot Entertainment. It is a Tower defense game that eschews the traditional top-down view of similar games, instead using a third-person action-oriented viewpoint.[4] After being demonstrated at Penny Arcade Expo East 2011, the game was released via Xbox Live Arcade on October 5, 2011, and for Windows PCs on October 12, 2011.[5]

Contents

Synopsis

The player character is known simply as the apprentice. A member of the Order, the apprentice is a stubborn and impulsive human who loves to kill Orcs, and was only recruited because of his innate magical talent. The Order is tasked with maintaining fortresses in the Dead World, and keeping the magical rifts to other worlds contained within out of the hands of the Orcs and other members of the Horde (including Ogres and Gnolls), which want to ravage new territories, although their true intention is unknown.[6][7] Orcs are dumber than humans, but are skilled with weapons (particularly crossbows, as they have excellent eyesight), and are highly determined.[8][9]

After an attack on the Order fortress where he was completing his apprenticeship, the apprentice finds himself as the only survivor. He must set traps and hazards, and use his skills with bladestaff, crossbow, and magic to defend the fortress and its rifts from the Horde.[6][7]

Gameplay

At the start of each Orcs Must Die! level the player receives a chance to prepare for the horde of orcs to come through. The goal of the game is stop the orc horde from reaching the end goal, known as a Rift; if a set amount of orcs reach the goal or the player dies too many times, the level is failed. Players receive a ten second grace period between orc hordes; and in later levels the player receives break points in which it is up to them to Unleash The Horde just like at the start of the level. The player may kill orcs by using weapons, spells and by placing traps; the player may also heal by standing next to the Rift, by collecting health potions that some dead orcs drop, by standing next to specially upgraded Guardians, or by surviving up to a break point.[10]

Reception

 Reception
Aggregate scores
Aggregator Score
GameRankings 83.33 (PC)[11]

81.53 (Xbox 360)[12]
Metacritic 86 (PC)[13]

81 (Xbox 360)[14]
Review scores
Publication Score
1UP.com B+ (Xbox 360)[15]
Eurogamer 7/10[16]
Game Informer 8.5/10 (Xbox 360)[17]
GameSpot 7.5/10 (PC)[18]

7.5/10 (Xbox 360)[19]
GameSpy (PC)[20]
IGN 9/10[21]
Joystiq [22]

Joystiq gave it a 4 out of 5 star rating, calling it a finely-tuned whirling chamber of death. IGN gave the title a 9 out of 10 rating, praising the length of the campaign as well as the combat system.

References

  1. ^ "Microsoft to publish Orcs Must Die for Xbox 360 and PC". Neowin. 2011-07-18. http://www.neowin.net/news/microsoft-to-publish-orcs-must-die-for-xbox-360-and-pc. Retrieved 2011-09-30. 
  2. ^ a b "Orcs Must Die! ambushes XBLA October 5". GameSpot. 2011-09-21. http://www.gamespot.com/pc/action/orcs-must-die/news/6336092/orcs-must-die-ambushes-xbla-october-5?tag=newsfeatures%3Btitle%3B1. Retrieved 2011-09-30. 
  3. ^ "Orcs Must Die". RobotEntertainment. http://www.robotentertainment.com/games/orcsmustdie. 
  4. ^ Scimeca, Dennis (2011-03-13). "PAX East: Orcs Must Die Preview". GamePro. Archived from the original on 2011-12-01. http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http://www.gamepro.com/article/previews/218504/pax-east-orcs-must-die-preview/&date=2011-11-30+22:18:43. Retrieved 2011-03-15. 
  5. ^ Bennett, Colette (2011-02-25). "Hands-on: Orcs Must Die!". Destructoid. http://www.destructoid.com/hands-on-orcs-must-die--194575.phtml. Retrieved 2011-03-15. 
  6. ^ a b "The War Mage". http://www.robotentertainment.com/games/orcsmustdie/characters/warmage. Retrieved 7 July 2011. 
  7. ^ a b "Orcs Must Die! story". http://www.robotentertainment.com/games/orcsmustdie/thestory. Retrieved 7 July 2011. 
  8. ^ "The Orc Warrior". http://www.robotentertainment.com/games/orcsmustdie/characters/orcwarrior. Retrieved 7 July 2011. 
  9. ^ "The Crossbow Orc". http://www.robotentertainment.com/games/orcsmustdie/characters/crossboworc. Retrieved 7 July 2011. 
  10. ^ Orcs Must Die! Demo
  11. ^ "Orcs Must Die! for PC - GameRankings". GameRankings.com. CBS Interactive. http://www.gamerankings.com/pc/622894-orcs-must-die/index.html. Retrieved 18 October 2011. 
  12. ^ "Orcs Must Die! for Xbox 360 - GameRankings". GameRankings.com. CBS Interactive. http://www.gamerankings.com/xbox360/622895-orcs-must-die/index.html. Retrieved 18 October 2011. 
  13. ^ "Orcs Must Die! for PC Reviews, Ratings, Credits and More at Metacritic". metacritic. CBS Interactive. http://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/orcs-must-die!. Retrieved 18 October 2011. 
  14. ^ "Orcs Must Die! for Xbox 360 Reviews, Ratings, Credits and More at Metacritic". metacritic. CBS Interactive. http://www.metacritic.com/game/xbox-360/orcs-must-die!. Retrieved 18 October 2011. 
  15. ^ Velez, Jason (11 October 2011). "Review: Orcs Must Die (360)". 1Up.com. 1UpGames. http://www.1up.com/do/blogEntry?bId=9089603. Retrieved 18 October 2011. 
  16. ^ Stanton, Rich (14 October 2011). "Orcs Must Die! Review - Xbox 360 - Page 2 | Eurogamer.net". Eurogamer. Eurogamer Network. http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2011-10-14-orcs-must-die-review?page=2. Retrieved 18 October 2011. 
  17. ^ Hilliard, Kyle (7 october 2011). "The Title Says It All - Orcs Must Die! - Xbox 360 - www.GameInformer.com". Game Informer. http://www.gameinformer.com/games/orcs_must_die/b/xbox360/archive/2011/10/07/orcs-must-die-review-the-title-says-it-all.aspx. Retrieved 18 October 2011. 
  18. ^ "Orcs Must Die! Review, Orcs Must Die! PC Review - GameSpot.com". Gamespot. CBS Interactive. http://www.gamespot.com/pc/action/orcs-must-die/review.html. Retrieved 18 October 2011. 
  19. ^ "Orcs Must Die! Review, Orcs Must Die! Xbox 360 Review - GameSpot.com". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. http://www.gamespot.com/xbox360/action/orcs-must-die/index.html. Retrieved 18 October 2011. 
  20. ^ Sharkey, Mike (14 October 2011). "Orcs Must Die! - PC - GameSpy". GameSpy. IGN Entertainment. http://pc.gamespy.com/pc/robot-entertainment-project-2-untitled/1200263p1.html. Retrieved 18 October 2011. 
  21. ^ "IGN: Orcs Must Die Review". http://xboxlive.ign.com/articles/119/1198295p1.html. Retrieved 5 October 2011. 
  22. ^ McElroy, Griffin (5 October 2011). "Joystiq: Orcs Must Die review: Building a better Orc trap | JoyStiq". Joystiq. AOL. http://www.joystiq.com/2011/10/05/orcs-must-die-review/. Retrieved 18 October 2011. 

External links