- Gameplay
- Graphics
- Sound & Music
- Replay Value
Orcs must die! 2 review
They are coming from the rifts, wave after wave, relentless, fearless and bent on breaking through to the world of innocent humans. The only thing that stands in their way is you and your stalwart defenses, your traps, weapons and magic, and let us be honest, you are one tough hombre who is up to the task. But do you know what is even more dangerous than you? You and your friend, standing side by side, working as a team to stop Orc onsalught.
Dynamic duo
And this is it, the recipe for perfect, simple and extremely fun game of the tower defense genre (even though, admittedly, there won’t be many towers in the mines where you will be fighting the orc infestation!). The initial Orcs must die! title was a very entertaining game, sadly without any multiplayer, and Robot Entertainment decided to rectify that omission. Barely some ten months later, the sequel is out, giving us many new interesting features. Of course, majority will agree that the most important one is co-op mode, but other interesting additions like the new character of the sexy, controllable Sorceress, more orcish and trollish mobs, more weapons, traps, items and magic spells have enriched the sequel as well.
Orc queen flees from her formal servants. The animations and artwork in the game are simply fun and great looking.
In this part, the things have turned bad for the Orc queen who controlled the horde; stripped of her mind control over her vicious minions, she suddenly becomes the prey. Fleeing through a rift, she runs into our War Mage and finds herself fighting along his side to save her own skin. Ah, we love it when things are simple. Too much thinking huwts brains…
So you got a choice between The Sorceress and the War Mage, both of them starting out with different weapons and abilities. War Mage has got his faithful gun, devil-may-care attitude and a specific sense of humor that reminds of Johnny Bravo. The Sorceress is a slick, sexy lady with sensual curves and not too much armor so, logically, she was the first choice of a character to play with. Armed with the Scepter of Domination that fires “laser shots” and can be charged up and fired off for greater effect, she is not to be trifled with; its secondary effect is a “love touch” that converts even the strongest of enemies into your temporary ally. If a mob is killed while under this specific “love spell”, it will explode and daze everyone around it. Sounds legit.
Both the traps and summoned huge skeleton work for me. Fire up yer wands!
The deadly traps
Orcs Must Die! 2 has more traps you can throw into the fray as well as a vast array of new items, weapons and magic spells. In case you haven’t had the chance to play the first part, the game is quickly explained: Orcs are trying to come past you, and you will set traps in their way, cast spells to make it impossible for them to come through and try to keep the rift to the human world beyond their reach. If enough Orcs break through, you have lost. There are several modes of the game, classic, story and endless, where you can earn skulls that function as currency for buying the new equipment.
The game is very simplistic and fun, it doesn’t try to be “epic”, and thus succeeds in its intentions of providing repetitive entertainment without going into too much depth. You know, about the same way the Pac Man game or football can be fun. Oddly enough, this recipe is overlooked by many game developers of today, people who think that one needs too many bells and whistles on just about everything, and forget that the most fun things are simple in nature. Orcs must die! is not a twitch game, even though you will need to stay alert and quick; this is actually a tactical game, one that requires you to plan your next move with great care. Depending on your level of development, upgrades of your weapons, items and traps, you will be able to conduct more effective choke points in different levels. Often you will find yourself unable to survive a certain wave, and will be forced to change your approach partially or completely in order to eventually succeed.
The game will soon enough get really hectic and only your cool nerves will help you hold the tide.
There are two distinct and commendable features of this game: the players ability to completely adapt his play-style to the circumstances to the fullest extent possible and playing with a human friend while doing the same thing. For instance, you can concentrate on traps, melee combat, specific magic combinations or long range combat. Even though you can play through nearly everything on your own, it is rather obvious that Orcs must die! 2 has been designed with co-op in mind. It could stand some improvements, though, on the front of public matchmaking and assurance that the different players will get just about the same level of development and gear. For now, playing with friends is the best advisable method of having fun. Diversity is ensured with several types of gameplay, different approaches regarding tactics and weaponry, not to mention the fun factor when playing with friends.
Orcs will die
After all, there is not much to say about the game itself; it is fun, entertaining and addictive. It follows a simple school of thought and is a welcome refreshment in today’s offer. Orcs Must die! 2 is a game which we can recommend without much hesitation, first because of its qualities as a game and then for its quite modest price. In fact, to be clear, Orcs must die, Orcs will die and you need to give this game a try!
