During the Steam Thanksgiving/Autumn sale, I picked up Orcs Must Die. Yeah, I know, adding to my ever-growing list of games to play. I saw articles on it on my usual news sites but never looked very deeply into it. It got good reviews and positive remarks from the commenters so I was generally interested, but I had no idea what to expect. I was expecting something Torchlight-y and Diablo-y, but instead I got something more like Plants vs. Zombies.

There’s a little back story with this game as well. I’ve been talking with a friend of mine about a tower defense (TD) game he’s been wanting to make/slowly making. He’s been bouncing ideas off of me and his labmate. So, of course this is a game I recommended to him to check out simply because the mechanics are sort of interesting and related to the game he wants to make.

First, I have to mention the visual aesthetics. The cartoony graphics matches well with the hilariousness that ensues. You must have your sounds turned on or you’ll miss the comments made by the hero you’re playing and the orcs. I definitely laughed when I heard the lines, “Ow, my feet!” when the orcs ran over my spike traps and “Stop pushing me!” because you’re literally being swarmed by a bunch of orcs racing to rifts that you need to defend. The hero lines are also based on well-known quotes and cliches but put in the context of the game, it adds flavor. Oh, and orc blood is green. It took me a while to register that.

The basic gameplay is very much like Plants vs. Zombies where you put down your traps in the path of the incoming horde to slow, poison, or somehow damage them. You can also attack the orcs from a distance with a crossbow or up close with a sword so you’re not left sitting there idling for a few minutes waiting to see if you have enough traps down. In fact, I found it very difficult to let the traps do all the work for you because you’re very limited in the amount of money you have to set down the initial traps. You get more money over time (10-25 per kill) but it’s not nearly enough to let the traps do all the work for you. I think this is an intended part of the gameplay and designed to get you actively involved in a clickfest. Oh yes, you’ll be clicking a lot to attack.

After each level, you are awarded with a new trap to use. Some traps are actually mercenaries you can hire, such as bowmen or swordsmen. Supposedly you also get some cool spells like a firewall, but I haven’t gotten that far yet. I’ve mostly gotten floor-type traps (spike, goo), wall-type traps (pusher, weapons), and the odd ceiling trap for flying mobs. It’s sort of like getting a gift each time you finish a level for doing a good job. You also earn skulls depending on how many orcs you let into the rift. The skulls are redeemable for upgrades to your traps and so far seem to be either making the trap more powerful or cheaper. The nice thing about traps and even mercs are you can resell them at a 1:1 rate. Misplaced a trap or your archer is facing a wall? No problem, just sell it back and place/face it where you actually need it to go. Given the balance of money, the traps are quite expensive compared to the money you rake in and this 1:1 choice is one that balances it out well.

The music is fast-paced, but not very frenetic. Similar to Scoregasm it adds to the ambiance rather than actively influencing your play. The tracks are also well-done and I’ve been meaning to check out if there is a soundtrack somewhere. The sound effects are realistic in the fantasy-sense. The traps make sounds, your crossbow makes sounds. Exploding bottles and barrels are always enjoyable to listen to, followed by a line of text telling you how much money you got for each orc you kill in the blast zone (I’m working on a paper that deals with floating combat text, bear with me as I mention this). Oh, and the quotes? Hilarious as I’ve mentioned above. It’s not just the lines that they say, but how they say it. Orcs in this game are not the fully sentient race like in WoW, but sort of half-sentient and it comes through with the way they speak, the nuances and the “orc accent.” Your hero is also full of it. Think of that high school jock stereotype. But he’s not nearly as annoying.

Similar to Scoregasm, each map is self-contained and leads to another level. However, you do get the option to quit after each completed map which can take around 15 minutes depending on how long you want to take to set up your traps. It’s similar in a sense to Diablo where you have the clicky-clicky action and you can limit your gameplay to just a few minutes. But you won’t want to. The first time I fired up the game, I spent a good hour playing it and then because I wanted to go to the gym early the next morning, I made myself stop. I’ve been playing at a leisurely pace and have about 15 maps left to finish the core game. I also purchased the DLC (gr), so that’s more maps to get to play through. For its price, it’s a very enjoyable and fun game if you are looking for a TD game with some clicking action. There’s a little bit of story, but not a whole lot. The main focus is to just progress through and keep those orcs from entering your rifts.