Who knew that slaying orcs could be this fun? For some reason I played the second one first a long time ago, and I rememeber getting stuck at many levels, as they felt too co-op oriented in their design. As this one is single-player only the issue is pretty much non-existent. I also remember a lot of overly tanky enemies, and some of these are present in this entry as well. The only thing that differentiates them from regular "bigger" enemies is the big-ass health bar which can take up to a minute of constant shooting to disappear. It's really annoying and it cocklobcks you from actually managing the enemy horde (so pretty much the fun part of the game) as you have to focus on this one singular guy. It's especially bad when you run out of mana and have to hit him with the basic crossbow, which is a rather shitty deafult weapon. I wish there were more options in that aspect, as every other weapon (aside from the sword, but that one is even worse) uses mana. If it comes to the traps though, there is a pretty big variety of them, and I think everyone can find something they'll like. Not sure if I like the approach of giving the player 1 new thing every level instead of having like a shop where they would unlock whatever they wanted, but as it was the first game in the franchise I'll let it slide.

What else is there to say? It's pretty much a classic at this point, so if you don't have it - buy it. Despite it's shortcomings it probably has one of the best price to fun ratios out there, especiaclly if you consider the on-sale price.

A very funny simulator of the murder of orcs on a huge scale through the 3D-Tower Defense genre, for me, playing this in 2012, it was exciting and funny; stupid dialogues from our main character don’t count! Nice cartoon graphics for its time. For a murder, a couple of hours is more than enough.

Очень забавный симулятор смертоубийства орков в огромных масштабах через жанр 3D-Tower Defense, для меня играющего в это в 2012 году было увлекательно и забавно тупые диалоги от нашего главного героя тугосери не в счет! Для своего времени приятная мультяшная графика. Для убийства пару часов подойдет более чем полностью.

I decided to take a break from the giant 10/10 games i've been playing through recently to play through a short classic i got on xbox 360 way back in the day i remembered enjoying a lot.

An evolution of the tower defense genre that shows its age a bit with some rough patches. The camera doesn't like some of the traps and some of the traps are really broken if you force all the orcs through them, a trillion archers, the swinging mace, tar pits, and a few others.

When its done, it just sort of ends with a few sentences and not much else. I did enjoy how weird the main character is, his quirkiness is so overdone that its endearing.

7/10

Hundo #166 Orcs Must die!

Enjoyment: 7/10
Difficulty: 4/10

For a first entry, it is an excellent TD game! Most of the traps are useful although some could use some balancing. There are some OP combinations that will help with the Nightmare play-through. Overall not that difficult and plenty of fun. It only needed a little bit of grinding to finish the 30k Orcs achievement.

Orcs Must Die! 1 is the peak of the series for me. There is a wonderful "crunch" that comes from the traps slaying the orcs in larger and larger quantities. You feel the "crunch" with the power you hold as an individual agent and can burn/zap/pierce the skulls of orcs. You also feel that "crunch" with every gold coin/dollar earned for each Orc killed. This game can be tough as nails to get 5 skulls on but it feels rewarding while you make those attempts. It is also the most fun trap-wise in my opinion since there are so many more ways to effectively kill enemies than just damaging them that the following games didn't build on.

This game re-ignited my love for tower defense games that I hadn't taken advantage of since I was a kid. I even enjoy what "story" there is with the main character being a smart-alec goofball that makes a choice in line with his interests.

So much fun!

Orcs Must Die! is a fun game full of action, tension, a great soundtrack, and a good sense of humor. On its own it is just a tower defense game with twenty-four levels where you fight off waves of bloodthirsty orcs and ogres. What makes it unique for me at least, is the real time action in which you can place your traps at any time, upgrade your skills, fight off orcs hand to hand and quickly navigating through the map all at once, unlike other tower defense games.

Orcs Must Die! has a little story which is good enough for such a simple game and is filled with lots of jokes and dry humor. It does not take itself too seriously and I like that.

Graphically this game is not that amazing, but it does not need to. Like I mentioned before, the soundtrack is great. It really helps when playing and does add that glorious feeling to the battles. It is one of the better soundtracks I heard in a while.

The controls and mechanics for placing traps are smooth and work perfectly, this might be expected but there are lots of games where the controls ruin the game for you, luckily this is not the case here.

As much fun as this game was, the only problem I had with it, was that it was too easy. Once you master a specific strategy (like placing tar pits, grinders, and barricades) you can practically beat any level without many problems using this same strategy.

Overall, I would recommend Orcs Must Die! It is certainly worth a try.

Now THIS is a tower defense game. I have a soft spot for games that deftly combine genres. In this case it’s an efficient and enjoyable cross of tower defense and third-person shooter, and it manages to nail both.

At the outset you’re thrown into the robes of an apprentice war mage. Your master has died fighting the orcs and left the fate of the realm in your hands. You venture from fortress to fortress, defending magic rifts from orcish intrusions. The green guys pour in through the gates in waves; if too many reach the rift it’s game over.

What I love about this game is the width of strategic options. Want to focus on laying a maze full of traps? You can! Want to power up your spells and fry orcs to a crisp? You can! Each new level invites you to revise your tactics and consider new approaches.

My go-to strategy was to slow down my foes and let my traps grind them to a pulp. I’d throw up barriers to force them in a certain direction and litter the path with wall blades and swinging maces. Whatever got through my traps I’d eliminate with lightning and fire.

In terms of game design it’s all meat with very little gristle. Nearly all traps have valid use cases, and savvy players will find ways to maximize the potential of each. Enemy design is also smartly sparse. There are only a handful of enemy types but each one requires special consideration. Speedy kobolds evade many traps, forcing you to clean up them with your crossbow, whereas gnoll hunters ignore the rift completely, chasing you around the fortress until you put them down. And then there are ogres. Whenever one of these big boys stomps in, I hope your defenses are ready. Because although a lone ogre is easy enough to deal with, they’re usually flanked by hordes of orcs, who will slip through your traps unscathed behind their tanky pal.

Another feature I appreciated is that the game is as easy or difficult as you want it to be. Several orcs can escape through the rift before it’s game over, so passing a stage usually isn’t too arduous. Getting a five-skull rating on a stage, however, requires that no orcs breach the rift. Perfecting each stage is no small task, and to have a chance at success you’ll need to memorize the waves so that you can properly prepare you defenses.

When I reached the end, I was almost sad it was over. But then I remembered there’s still DLC and a couple sequels full of orcs to defend against. I hope the green guys enjoy their short respite, because this war mage will be back for another round of rift-defending soon.