Of Orcs and Men first puts the player into the role of an elite Orc soldier, Arkail, from the legendary legion of Bloodjaws. The legion is a league of warriors deeply involved in the war between the Orcs and the Goblins on one side and their persecutors, Humankind, on the other. As a veteran warrior who has seen the most brutal of battles, the player is appointed by the Orc commander to complete a mission that could change the course of the war, to kill the Emperor himself, the man responsible for the bloodshed. A Goblin, Styx, soon joins the player, an unlikely but indispensable ally.
Also in series
Reviews View More
Adoro a ideia de um jogo centrado na perspectiva dos orcs e goblins, mas ele é falho em pontos críticos. É um jogo muito restritivo no que você deve fazer para um stealthy, controlar os dois pode ser cansativo, falta inteligência artificial, enfim, boa intenção numa execução irregular.
Sad to say but I have to put a negative review on this game which is a shame really because the story is VERY very good. The issue is however that the game doesn't scale very well in difficulty. It scales about as well as if you were playing a JRPG and didn't grind nor buy any new equipment, despite me doing that in this game. I scoured for secrets and instead of making it seems like "You found a really awesome piece of a equipment, enemies can't touch you" or "You found a awesome sword that has the ability to stun" all it is, is a increase in damage which sounds nice and the upgrades you can get make some items 10x more effective, but the game seems to scale up to match this.
So much so that the part I was stuck on, the Orc had no armour or weapons (besides a giant stick) but the goblin had the equipment, so I end up dying as the enemies are fighting me in the same quality as if I was fully decked out in all the best gear I worked hard with side missions to get and even then it only made battle difficulty scaled down to just above average.
Most of these issues come down to the combat system. Fact is, you don't pause in combat but merely slow it down and as both your characters are melee types (if we were to label them classes, the Orc is a Barbarian and the Goblin is a Rogue) you have no ability to heal yourself. There is a potion ability the barbarian gets, but all that does is increase health regeneration which isn't the same thing.
Steal elements are a joke at times. Sometimes I'm able to kill one guard next to another one and other times not. When dogs get introduced one of the tips is (don't try to assassinate the dogs. They can also smell you from a mile away so be careful) yet I've killed guards that were standing right behind the dogs and they didn't notice. Even though you turn transparent when in stealth mode, moving in front of someone's vision will get you spotted.
It seems like there are many abilities and choices for an ability, which is locked in, unfortunately it seems the game is designed for a very specific ability choices and bonuses and to level your characters up in such a specific way that one mis-placed point and you will mess up your character. the creators were also responsible for that terrible Game of Thrones RPG which had an even worse combat system to it.
That only good thing about it is the story and the twist on it being your heroes are the creatures usually considered monsters and evil, but here they are being invaded and enslaved by the human Empire and their plan is to kill the Emperor in hopes of destroying or at least destabilising the empire and there is a religious side to it involving religious fanatics that have powers and spells.
I'd recommend you just watch the cut-scenes online or someone's let's play because the game itself is generally not very user-friendly and very unfriendly to first-timers on the game too.
So much so that the part I was stuck on, the Orc had no armour or weapons (besides a giant stick) but the goblin had the equipment, so I end up dying as the enemies are fighting me in the same quality as if I was fully decked out in all the best gear I worked hard with side missions to get and even then it only made battle difficulty scaled down to just above average.
Most of these issues come down to the combat system. Fact is, you don't pause in combat but merely slow it down and as both your characters are melee types (if we were to label them classes, the Orc is a Barbarian and the Goblin is a Rogue) you have no ability to heal yourself. There is a potion ability the barbarian gets, but all that does is increase health regeneration which isn't the same thing.
Steal elements are a joke at times. Sometimes I'm able to kill one guard next to another one and other times not. When dogs get introduced one of the tips is (don't try to assassinate the dogs. They can also smell you from a mile away so be careful) yet I've killed guards that were standing right behind the dogs and they didn't notice. Even though you turn transparent when in stealth mode, moving in front of someone's vision will get you spotted.
It seems like there are many abilities and choices for an ability, which is locked in, unfortunately it seems the game is designed for a very specific ability choices and bonuses and to level your characters up in such a specific way that one mis-placed point and you will mess up your character. the creators were also responsible for that terrible Game of Thrones RPG which had an even worse combat system to it.
That only good thing about it is the story and the twist on it being your heroes are the creatures usually considered monsters and evil, but here they are being invaded and enslaved by the human Empire and their plan is to kill the Emperor in hopes of destroying or at least destabilising the empire and there is a religious side to it involving religious fanatics that have powers and spells.
I'd recommend you just watch the cut-scenes online or someone's let's play because the game itself is generally not very user-friendly and very unfriendly to first-timers on the game too.
Plusy: ciekawie wykreowany świat, fajni bohaterowie, głosy głównych bohaterów
Minusy: korytarzowe mapy, brzydka grafika, dziwny system walki
Minusy: korytarzowe mapy, brzydka grafika, dziwny system walki
I completed the game 100%, it isn't worth. I hope it gets a remake someday, until that, you can skip it and just play the Goblin game instead.
Really wants to be Dragon Age: Origins, but ultimately can't achieve the same level of depth when it comes to the mix of real-time and tactical combat. You only control two characters across the entire game and with battles being largely melee-oriented your strategic options are limited. Given how annoying it can be to queue up attacks or target specific enemies when swarmed, this is probably one of those games that fares a bit worse on consoles and would benefit from the freedom offered by a mouse-and-keyboard. The inclusion of stealth gameplay is nice, but loses some of its luster when you realize enemies completely ignore dead bodies.
The story and world are fantastic. The dynamic between the two well-realized protagonists carries the feeling of a buddy movie and the way it flip-flops the role of orcs and humans turns fantasy conventions on their head. Not everything is entirely fleshed out though. For example, one seemingly important side-character isn't developed and I believe a subplot involving one of the lead's father might have been left on the cutting room floor. However, the main thread itself is excellent and the fact that I was left wanting a bit more exploration into the supporting elements should serve as a testament how compelling the setting is.
With levels being so linear funnelling you from point A to point B with little room for side excursions and player choice largely being an illusion in the narrative, I can't help but wonder if Of Orcs and Men might not have been better served as a straight action game. Because with the approach taken here actually playing through it isn't the most enjoyable thing in the world. It's just worth it for the concept.
6/10
The story and world are fantastic. The dynamic between the two well-realized protagonists carries the feeling of a buddy movie and the way it flip-flops the role of orcs and humans turns fantasy conventions on their head. Not everything is entirely fleshed out though. For example, one seemingly important side-character isn't developed and I believe a subplot involving one of the lead's father might have been left on the cutting room floor. However, the main thread itself is excellent and the fact that I was left wanting a bit more exploration into the supporting elements should serve as a testament how compelling the setting is.
With levels being so linear funnelling you from point A to point B with little room for side excursions and player choice largely being an illusion in the narrative, I can't help but wonder if Of Orcs and Men might not have been better served as a straight action game. Because with the approach taken here actually playing through it isn't the most enjoyable thing in the world. It's just worth it for the concept.
6/10
I love the strategy of controlling both characters. Campaign missions are interesting and the story is somewhat generic, but still well done.