Orcs Must Die! has reached its fourth iteration in Orcs Must Die! Deathtrap, thanks to the developer and publisher, Robot Entertainment. I was first introduced to Orcs Must Die! when it was offered as a Games With Gold through the Xbox subscription service. Being a lover of tower defense games, I was already quite intrigued by the premise of an action tower defense game presented in third-person view. Consequently, I thoroughly enjoyed my time with Orcs Must Die!, but never felt the urge to continue playing the series as it was released.

For those unfamiliar with the Orcs Must Die! story, you would be forgiven, as the story very much runs second to the Orc-killing mayhem. Basically, there are two worlds, the Human World and the Dead World. These worlds are separated by rifts, which allow magic to flow freely between them. Humans used magic to manipulate nature, creating a perfect world in which they could thrive. The Orcs used magic to conquer and rule their world, driven by a desire for power and glory.

With more magic to acquire from the Human World, the Orcs launched attacks. Humans then establish the Order, an elite class of War Mages to battle the endless tide of Orcs, where Orcs Must Die! Deathtrap continues in the story, after the last Orc boss was defeated, and four factions of Orcs have assembled, all vying for power to become the next Orc boss.

Each iteration has brought something new to the formula whilst maintaining the core gameplay loop. The core loop is to stop the Orcs from reaching the rift by herding them through traps and attacking them with your weapon and abilities. Orcs Must Die! Deathtrap introduces a rougelite element, where War Mages not only contend with buffs and debuffs in their mission but also gather Orc skulls to enhance their abilities, traps, and more.

There are six War Mages to choose from, with two that can be unlocked, giving you a total of eight playable characters. Each War Mage comes with their unique weapon, abilities, trap, and personality. To go through everything available on each War Mage, you would be here reading a novel, so I will focus on Vaan, the main character I played throughout my time reviewing Orcs Must Die! Deathtrap.

Vaan is a crossbowman with the ability to do a charged beam attack, protect the rift from attack, and place a teleportation trap for War Mages to use to quickly return to the rift. When not protecting rifts, War Mages will be in the Fortress, which is the hub for powering up. By visiting various non-player characters, you can increase various elements. One such non-player character allows you to increase health, damage, and much more, all of which apply to any War Mage you play.

Each War Mage also has a specific skill tree that the same non-player character can upgrade; in Vaan’s case, he can increase his crossbow ammunition and increase rift damage, just to name a couple. Other non-player characters allow you to purchase new traps and improve unlocked traps, to name a couple. Ultimately, there is so much content to unlock that you will be coming back after each mission, spoilt for choice.

Orcs Must Die! Deathtrap also allows for four-player co-op, which is a great addition to the Orc-killing mayhem. With each War Mage coming with its suite of unique abilities and such a diverse range of upgrade options, approaches to protecting the rift are new and different when playing with others.

Unfortunately, my experience with the multiplayer servers was not positive. Only one in five games on average would stay connected. I checked everything on my end, and it was stable, so I may have been trying to join at an inopportune time, or the servers need a bit of a tune-up.

Orcs Must Die! Deathtrap maintains its aesthetic both visually and aurally. The bright cartoony colours pop, making it a visual delight as you eviscerate an Orc into chunks. The sounds are just as delightful as the traps whir and grind to life, while the heavy rock and roll pumps away. One thing that hadn’t evolved was the humour. Unfortunately, the humour fell flat for me, as it felt like the same jokes from Orcs Must Die! that newcomers will certainly enjoy, just as I did the first time.

However, to me, it was ultimately forgettable. Lastly, the user interface interaction was controlled by cursor navigation. This is a personal pet peeve of mine when playing on consoles. Cursor navigation is typically used for mouse input on a personal computer, while d-pad navigation is used for controller input on a console. Having only one form of navigation that is not suited for your platform makes navigation slow and clunky.

Orcs Must Die! Deathtrap maintains its core gameplay loop while taking smart, innovative steps to evolve its formula. The introduction of the rougelite element was that perfect step to keeping it fresh. While some elements are yet to evolve, such as humour and user interface interaction, these don’t take away from the fun of the Orc killing carnage. With four-player co-op, it’s a great time to join in with some friends and protect the Human World from the Horde.

Written by: MKAU Gaming