Orcs Must Die!

Robot Entertainment · Oct 5, 2011

Teen

About

A variant of a tower defense game; the player as the War Mage must defend one or more Rifts on each level from an onslaught of orcs and other creatures that emerge from one or more entrances and traverse the level. Generally, each orc that reaches a Rift deducts a point from the starting Rift Score while specialized orcs may take off more points; if the Rift Score drops to zero, the level is lost and the player will have to start again. The orc armies arrive in increasingly more difficult waves, with each level having between four to twelve waves. In general, waves will begin a few seconds after the player defeats the prior one, but roughly every three waves on all bar Nightmare difficulty, the player is given a break where they can set up traps and initiate the next wave when they are ready.

Trailers & screenshots

Scores by platform

PC

Critic 7.8 (11 critics) · Gamer 9.3

8.2

Xbox 360

Critic 8.1 (10 critics) · Gamer 8.2

8.0

Critic reviews

PC Gamer
Rob Zacny · Nov 24, 2011
9.0
Orcs Must Die!’s levels defy easy solutions, and that’s what sets it apart from other tower defense games. Solutions themselves change in hugely interesting ways as you bring more advanced items and powers back from the later levels, giving a challenge that not only doesn’t pale with experience, but actually grows richer.
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Game Trailers
Game Trailers · Oct 13, 2011
7.7
If you’re a tower defense junkie, download Orcs Must Die! without hesitation. The lack of multiplayer is disappointing, but at around $15 you’ll get five or six solid hours of play. There’s also plenty of incentive to go back and try stages again using different techniques. If you’re lukewarm on the genre, it’s worth a look as a bridge between defense and your typical action adventure romp.
GameSpot
Maxwell McGee · Oct 13, 2011
7.5
Orcs Must Die! presents itself with confident simplicity. Every element in the game has a distinct purpose--from the different traps to the enemies--and you're never bogged down with unnecessary chores. It's a focused game, whose main fault is what it ships without. If single-player is your style and you have a deep-seated hatred for orcs, give this a try.
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Game Informer
Kyle Hilliard · Oct 07, 2011
8.5
Orcs Must Die definitely falls into the tower defense genre of games, but the speedy controls and solid third-person shooting mechanic make it feel more like an action game throughout. You won’t be lumbering along waiting to collect the right amount of coins or sunshine to place your new trap. You’ll be sprinting around picking off enemies with headshots until you suddenly have enough coins to place a crusher on the ceiling to squish those pesky orcs.
Destructoid
Maurice Tan · Oct 05, 2011
8.5
Below its cartoony surface and morbid fascination with killing orcs in as many brutal ways as possible, Orcs Must Die! is a surprisingly deep and challenging game that begs you to delve into it and slaps you until you do it right. The occasional difficulty spikes and the wealth of tools at your disposal may overwhelm some players at times, but fans of the genre can sink their teeth in enough content to keep playing it for hours on end.
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Cheatcc
Shelby Reiches · Oct 05, 2011
8.2
In all, Orcs Must Die! is a well-crafted, polished endeavor with gameplay that is enjoyable right down to its core, a charming aesthetic, and almost the exact opposite of a plot. It's comedic-fantasy fare, light and fun, but complex. It would be nice if there was more content, since what's there can be digested in a matter of hours, but a game that leaves its player complaining that he wants more has done something very, very right.
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