Orcs Must Die!

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.