CowboyNeal Reviews Orcs Must Die! 2 62
If you haven't played the original Orcs Must Die!, suffice to say it was generally well received for its blend of tower defense, third-person shooting, and flippant humor. Just like the dungeon crawler Torchlight, the biggest complaint most people had about Orcs Must Die! was its lack of multiplayer options, and the sequel aims to remedy that as well as introducing new mechanics.
In the original, the protagonist warmage is tasked with defending the fortresses of the dead world against a horde of orcs, lest they find their way through the magical rifts into the real world. This time around, things are reversed, at least to begin with, as our irreverent warmage finds himself working in the dwarven mines following the events of Orcs Must Die!. New rifts are now opening in the mines, and the warmage must keep the orcs from escaping the mine and getting to freedom in the real world. He's also got some help in this endeavor from the first game's antagonist-turned-partner, the sorceress. Together they team up, and trade witty and not-so-witty banter as they defend the real world from the orcish hordes. The setup is basically the same as before, however several new features expand on earlier gameplay, both to make harder levels more accessible, and to provide new ways to play the game.
The most noticeable addition is the sorceress herself. Although billed as a new character class, her differences from the warmage end up being rather minor all told. She has less health, more mana, and different starting gear, which lends her to a slightly more strategic playstyle. Her wand's secondary attack is able to charm an enemy and make it fight other enemies. When used on some of the tougher enemies such as an ogre or an earth elemental, it's pretty effective crowd control.
In Orcs Must Die!, players were awarded skulls based upon their performance for each level. These skulls could be used to purchase new weapons and traps for your spellbook. If you wanted more skulls, it was an incentive to go back and replay older levels until you got a perfect 5-skull rating. This time around, that's still the case, but Orcs Must Die! 2 adds a new "endless" mode (it actually does end, eventually, when the orcs overwhelm you) where players can earn extra skulls regardless, but more skulls are still awarded for better performance. So if you get stuck somewhere and think a new trap or weapon would have made the difference, a few games of endless mode will let you get back into the game.
There's another new way to get help if you find yourself stuck in Orcs Must Die! 2, and that's to team up with a friend. The new multiplayer feature lets you team up with a friend, which can help covering multiple orc routes on the same map. The multiplayer has been done via Steamworks integration, however, so your fellow orcslayers have to already be on your Steam friends list. For myself, I already planned on only playing the game with Steam friends, but I can see where someone would take issue with this. It nearly rules out the idea of casual multiplayer where you just pop in and play a few games with a stranger, unless you want to friend a stranger to begin with.
Orcs Must Die! 2 continues the same system of dual currencies as well. There's coin earned during the course of each level that's used to buy traps, and the skull currency that's used to buy upgrades for your spellbook. The spellbook in Orcs Must Die! 2, however, has been greatly expanded, and now in addition to traps and weapons there's several buffing items and new costumes. Most traps also let you spend more skulls to increase their effects or to add new effects to their use. For example, you can buy a ring of chain lightning for the sorceress, and then spend more skulls to make the lightning jump to more targets, or to add a stun effect to it as well. This allows players to tailor their spellbooks to their own personal playstyle.
There's a few new mechanics present to help out our warmage and sorceress. The mine levels of Orcs Must Die! 2 add pre-placed mine cart tracks which will periodically send a cart barrelling into a mob of orcs. There's also a track switcher to choose which set of tracks the carts run on, adding another option for orcslaying. The early levels also contain several pre-placed traps, so players can see the traps in action and learn how to use them, and decide if it's worth buying the traps for the spellbook.
Despite all of the new stuff, there's plenty that's old as well. Many of the art assets are reused without modification, and the high fantasy meets hip hop soundtrack of the game is the same music as the first. Because of this, it feels more like an expansion pack instead of a true sequel. The release date of less than a year after the first game doesn't really help it feel less like of an expansion pack either. A bonus only available to owners of the original Orcs Must Die!, is the inclusion of ten levels from the original game, for use in single-player and co-op modes.
I would recommend this game to anyone who enjoyed the first but wish they could play it with a friend, or to someone who really enjoyed Dungeon Defenders or Sanctumo and wanted a break from the endless grind-fest of Dungeon Defenders. I'd also really like to see this game get the Humble Bundle treatment in the future, but with its reliance on Steamworks, that may be asking too much. At the very least, more ports aside from Windows and Xbox Live Arcade would be nice. As I mentioned before, the game feels more like an expansion pack to the original than a true sequel, however at it's low price point (15USD, 12GBP) it's priced less than DLC for a big studio game. At that price, they can call it whatever they want. It's cheap fun, and well worth a purchase.
Re:Links? (Score:5, Informative)
Come on, man, surely you can use that Wikipedia search button too. Orcs Must Die! [wikipedia.org] (2011) is the original, and Orcs Must Die! 2 [wikipedia.org] (2012) is the sequel being reviewed here.
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The game is on Steam too with a 2 pack deal [steampowered.com]. The first is sometimes sold for 75% off (2.50 or 3.25 with all the expansions). The first one is a blast and I can't wait to try this one out. Both games have demos.
On the topic of tower defense, check out Defense Grid [steampowered.com]. It's a more pure tower defense game (with a crapload of polish). Free demo on steam. Do note, it's cheaper to buy the game (with expansions) on their kickstarter [kickstarter.com] (belive $15 gets you the game + expansions + any games developed from th
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All those words about tower defense games and you miss the most popular one [wikipedia.org] out there?
Free demo [popcap.com] is available for this one too.
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I burned out on TD games a long time ago, but Orcs Must Die 1 restored my faith in the genre. It's really well done, and bypasses a lot of the annoying things about the genre, while still being enough of a challenge to be interesting. Finale... grr.
Does the game allow the buyer to edit the keys? (Score:5, Interesting)
The previous game did not allow the buyer to edit the keys. Incredibly stupid. Not everyone uses WASD.
Re:Does the game allow the buyer to edit the keys? (Score:5, Insightful)
honestly WASD is pretty stupid. as a PC games of 2 decades I've used ESDF since the start. I got more keys around my hand in easy reach, and my hands are in the natural position just as they are when typing. also i can always find my keys in the dark without looking because the F had a ridge on it so you know your hand is placed correctly.
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Are you a camper?
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I used to use the numpad for everything, but too many games with poor support for remapping keys made me grit my teeth and go WASD like everyone else.
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Damn newbies. I have been using IJKL since Apple ][ days. Also U and P for digging left and right in LODE RUNNER. Also IJKM, which was the way you control the cursor after pressing esc in applesoft basic.
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+1, THIS!, etc.
WASD is for n00bs. I'm ESDX all the way.
TI-99 4-LiFE!
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I'm a lefty, I use the arrow keys (which I think is a bit better, better spacing for my monkey fingers, no chance of mishit keys). Take that.
When I don't use the arrow keys, I use ESDF, since it makes a bit more sense, and it doesn't feel as cramped.
Re:Does the game allow the buyer to edit the keys? (Score:4, Funny)
Are you some kind of ESDF heretic?
Re:Does the game allow the buyer to edit the keys? (Score:4, Funny)
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I am a southpaw (AKA lefty) who started using the arrow keys and "" for strafing in the Doom 1 days and haven't found a reason to switch except for the occasional wrist pain when I go on a serious FPS binge. I actually just picked up Orcs Must Die 1 about a week ago when it was on sale and found the transition to WASD surprisingly easy - enough that I am reconsidering my keys.
Back on topic, these games get a thumbs up from me too.
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I'm dismayed that my other ESDF homies all posted AC. Stand proud, brothers!
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I have always been a fan of SDFX, where D is up and X is down. Forward usually used more often than reverse, so having it in the home row is convenient. Plus it frees up the entire QWERTY row for other quick selects.
Re:Does the game allow the buyer to edit the keys? (Score:5, Informative)
The previous game did not allow the buyer to edit the keys. Incredibly stupid. Not everyone uses WASD.
The new version does allow the keys to be edited. I just went in and checked for you.
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Everyone knows the QWOP keys are the real choice of gaming champions!
Re:Does the game allow the buyer to edit the keys? (Score:5, Funny)
WASD directionals don't work too well on Dvorak... :/
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People don't work too well on Dvorak. FTFY
I kid, I kid.
Old mechanical typewriters don't work very will with Dvorak. People and modern computers are quite a different matter. I know a few people who use it and it's amazing how little their fingers have to move to type. I wish it wouldn't be such an effort to switch, or I would.
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Old mechanical typewriters don't work very will with Dvorak. People and modern computers are quite a different matter. I know a few people who use it and it's amazing how little their fingers have to move to type. I wish it wouldn't be such an effort to switch, or I would.
I recently made the switch to Dvorak from many years of working in Qwerty, and it's possibly the best thing I've ever done as far as my computing habits are concerned. You would be surprised at how little time it really takes in the scheme of things to get used to the new layout, and being able to type 70% on the home row is great. And, contrary to my worries going into it, I can switch back and use Qwerty at the same speed I used to; that's a great boon considering I can't switch some of the servers at w
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The... buyer? You mean the player? The user? What kind of terminology is "the buyer?"
Steam Link (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Steam Link (Score:5, Interesting)
I didn't think I'd live to see the day where I found a DRM scheme I was happy with, and Steam is it. Unlikely other DRM schemes, Steam actually adds some new incentives, so it's worth considering.
Cons:
I can't lend or sell games.
My GF can't play a game I bought on her computer at the same time I'm playing one on mine.
If I lose internet connection, it's a crapshoot whether I'll be able to play or not (you usually can, but I've had issues where Steam's offline mode didn't work)
Hypothetically possible that Steam could shut down in the future, causing me to lose access to everything I've bought.
Pros:
Always have access to all the games I've bought
Easy to install any game I want on any computer I want
Don't have to keep track of any physical media, license keys, download links, or other paraphernalia.
Frequent sales and competitive pricing for older content.
In my case, I decided that the pros outweigh the cons, and I'm willing to trade those rights away for the benefits I receive. I feel that it's a fair trade.
Incidentally, you do need to be careful when buying games on Steam that they're not encumbered with additional DRM above and beyond Steam itself. Here's an excellent user script (for Chrome or FF w/Greasemonkey) that warns you of any mention of additional DRM [userscripts.org] on a game page. It's saved me numerous times from buying something I really would have regretted. That's one big issue I have with Steam, that they allow this bullshit and that they don't make it more obvious when it exists.
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If only I'd known about that script before. I wouldn't have bought blasted bulletstorm with that evil GFWL. You sir, are a gentleman and a scholar. You have my thanks.
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Don't get me started on GFWL. That's burned me so many times... I must have saved $100 over the Steam Summer Sale from this script warning me that the game I was about to buy had GFWL in it.
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Well, you can go to their site and take a look: link [robotentertainment.com]
From the front page, I see three purchase methods listed: Steam, Gamersgate, Gamestop. All three state that it has Steamworks DRM. Seems like the game is using Steam as its primary distribution method.
From Gamestop, who deals in primarily in physical media (correct me if I'm wrong):
IMPORTANT NOTICE: This game requires the Steam client to install & play.
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Original developer:
http://www.robotentertainment.com/games/omd2 [robotentertainment.com]
It's amazing that this article doesn't contain any links other than the wikipedia one.
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I am a longtime fan of Heretic 2. And in fact have played it recently. On modern Hardware. Orcs Must Die 1 definitely has better graphics. Not sure about 2, I haven't had time to fire it up yet. Also it was enough fun (as is Heretic 2) that I don't really give a damn about the graphics.
On an unrelated note, I'd love to see a Heretic III or a reboot. And Hexen. I always thought Heretic was more fun than doom.
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Plus, y'know... Pole vaulting. :)
Man, I miss Heretic 2 sometimes... The online multiplayer community for it was small and very tight-knit.
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I was unfortunate enough to not have a reasonable Internet connection back then. But the LAN blade matches were awesome. Pole vaulting was awesome too. I kept hoping they'd do another, and even bought singularity (which was reasonable) just to support them, even though I knew nothing about it.... :)
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By the way, any idea how the giant chicken came about in the blade match mode? I never worked it out- it seemed random...
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I honestly have no idea what you're talking about. Blade dueling was pretty much all we ever did (I do recall a rough CTF sort of mod being under construction around the time I stopped playing), but I don't remember anything about a giant chicken.
Then again, I don't really remember what I had for dinner last night. *shrug*
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For some reason in a blade match, every so often the morph ovum turned you into a giant chicken with 999 health instead of a small chicken with 1 health. We used to play blade match a lot. A heck of a lot....
But does it play on Linux? (Score:2)
The answer to that is yes, perfectly on wine 1.5.9 at least on Debian.
http://appdb.winehq.org/objectManager.php?sClass=application&iId=14392 [winehq.org]
Platinum rating for me, fresh wineprefix and no tinkering.
Enjoy.
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Just to play devil's advocate, I actually think I got bored with the first one because the traps were too effective. In particular, I hit upon a combination that could be laid out on most maps that would basically kill anything (force them to run along the path of a swinging mace over tar pits); the game devolved into..
1. Find the spot to put my killbox
2. Get enough money to set up my killbox
3. Rarely, shoot a normal guy who somehow managed to make it through the tar between mace swings
4. For large enemies,
Just finished Orcs Must Die 1 last night (Score:2)
And I mean at 2:45am. 5 skulls on all levels on Nightmare, all 'cheevos 'cheeved. It's frighteningly addicting due to the great play balance, unrelenting pace, and that "Just one more level / attempt" factor.
In fact, the only thing that could make it better would be more content... wait, what's that you say? Oh, great, there goes my sleep for the next few weeks.