Orcs Must Die! has always been that nostalgic series lingering in the back of my mind, a blend of action andtower defensethat, while enjoyable, never quite became a mainstream favorite despite the developer Robot Entertainment’s efforts to keep up with modern gaming trends, particularly with Orcs Must Die! Unchained.
Each installment introduced enjoyable small additions and tweaks, but I’ve never clicked with the later games like I did the first one.
Orcs Must Die! always struck me as a series that, perhaps unintentionally, felt stuck in the early 2010s, despite the developers' efforts to adapt to the shifting tides of gaming trends withOrcs Must Die 3!, and Orcs Must Die! Unchained.
Orcs Must Die! Deathtrap is another bite of the cherry, and one that seems to represent a return to form for the series.
Deathtrap brings back all the elements that made the original title enjoyable and encourages you to play it over a hundred times more. After four installments, it is now making the leap into theroguelite genre, and it feels like a natural evolution for the series.
Tower-Defense Goes Roguelite
Provided you aren’t burned out with Roguelike fatigue due to the slew of releases in recent years, then you’re in for a treat. Orcs Must Die! Deathtrap retains its classic formula of purging greenskin and placing traps, but does it with the core principle that death is as much part of the process as survival.
The Roguelite aspect feels like a solid step forward for the Orcs Must Die! series.
Fans of the series can rest assured as Deathtrap, at its core, is a tower defense, and it doesn’t deter from this throughout the runtime, so everything you love about the series remains intact.
However, it does build atop this strong foundation to enrich the experience with roguelite elements and a humble roster of heroes. Unlike Unchained’s forced PvP, which was entertaining at times, this roguelite approach feels like a perfect fit for Orcs Must Die!
On top of that, you can now choose from a humble roster of heroes, each equipped with unique abilities that have a meaningful impact on gameplay, which is still all about placing traps on walls, floors, and ceilings. And that’s exactly what I want from an Orcs Must Die! game.
The introduction of bespoke heroes is a revelation that makes players adapt their playstyle to suit their situation, rather than simply revert to type and play the way you always have in this series.
For instance, playing as a druid-like healer bear made me prioritize placing traps as soon as I could afford them because my wooden club and my core skills weren’t very useful for slaying orcs in large numbers.
Whereas when I played as Sophia, a feline warrior with twin blades and an undead bodyguard, I spent more time in close combat, earning more coins to spend on expensive traps.
It’s this decision to offer set archetypes for players to step into the role that gives players as much or as little variety as they want from game to game. you may routinely play your usual role, or you can become a versatile player who can adapt to any situation.
The latter is a great way to be if you want to be an asset to your co-op partners, and speaking of which. When you also factor in abilities and 4-player co-op, along with a solid array of upgradable traps, it really feels like Orcs Must Die has finally found a fresh angle to reinvigorate its still beloved formula.
While I’m incredibly tired of picking cards in every game that will supposedly “change how I play,” this overused roguelite element doesn’t feel forced in Orcs Must Die! Deathtrap. Since the series has always revolved around surviving runs and waves.
For example, there are moments where roguelite elements actually introduce meaningful challenges, like having to fight against fiery earth elementals that accompany orcs or having to choose modifiers that make your floor traps trigger more frequently but deal half the damage.
It’s stuff like this that encourages you to change your strategy for each run instead of stacking traps on top of each other to keep the orcs at bay. And with some pals alongside you, these tactical decisions only add to the pandemonium on screen and, by extension, the chaotic fun.
Feel Like Part Of The Action
While a lot of tower defense games ask you to set your traps, prep your defenses, and then sit back and watch to see if your plan was enough to keep the enemies at bay, Orcs Must Die! has always allowed you to get out there and be part of the action.
However, this has often felt a bit clunky and underwhelming in practice, as if you were stepping into the fray of a panicked free-for-all after dropping in when playing OG Fortnite. But the good news is that fighting in real-time feels much better on this occasion.
Playing as a different Warmage, though true fans will always stick with Max, has always been fun, but the melee combat wasn’t one of the strongest aspects of the series.
This changes somewhat in Deathtrap, where the melee combat feels more polished. Each hit is satisfying due to improved hitboxes and much better visual feedback.
Of course, having different heroes contributes to this. But hitting orcs with a massive, magical wooden club or slicing through them with two blades is something I could repeat for countless runs, and that’s exactly what I did.
Trap Enthusiasts, Rejoice!
Bigger isn’t always better, but in the case of this bombastic series, big is best. So you’ll be happy to hear that Orcs Must Die! Deathtrap has bigger maps with more complex layouts.
But they aren’t just bigger; they also come packed with different modifiers, like day and night cycles, weather changes, and tile corruption, which stops you from placing traps and pushes you to fight head-on.
The roguelike ‘Threads’ system already means that adapting on the fly is an essential skill for survival, but these modifiers really up the ante, which will sate the appetite of orc-slaying veterans hungry for a tough challenge.
That said, you’re able to also use these modifiers to your advantage if you’re clever, like selling the traps you already have for the full price and then buying them back for cheaper after price modifiers kick in.
Then, you also have the option to pay through the nose for map-specific defenses that are well worth the price of admission if you can muster up the cash.
In short, this new iteration gives you more ways to succeed and, equally, more ways to fall flat on your face. Which, in a chaotic game such as this, is exactly what you want.
A Barricade to Entry
Orcs Must Die! Deathtrap promises 4-player chaos, more orcs, larger maps, more traps, and a plethora of upgrades. But it also comes with a limit on barricades you’re able to use.
Knowing how impactful the barricades were on previous games, this might be a real dealbreaker for many fans. It means that there will be no more death mazes and crazy labyrinths.
Although upgrades are available to increase the barricade limit before each run, I was genuinely concerned about having enough barricades while trying to defend the rift.
This limitation makes each run considerably more difficult and highlights how essential a simple pile of wood and steel can be, compared to lava floors, massive crossbows, or lasers raining down from the ceilings.
That said, this limit on using barricades makes sense, especially considering how large and intricate the maps have become.
With more orcs to fight against and a myriad of upgradable traps, I can understand the possible balancing issues of having a high number of barricades. Still, it’s one of the boldest decisions in the game that will trouble fans of the series.
Closing Comments
After years of the series feeling running in place, the roguelite and hero-based approach to Orcs Must Die’s decade-old tower-defense formula feels perfect. Deathtrap is a return to form with much-appreciated new twists like 4-player co-op, upgradable traps, hero abilities, and much bigger maps. Although the barricade limit is a solid deal-breaker, Deathtrap feels and plays like a solid Orcs Must Die! game and finally feels like a proper step forward for a series that felt like it was doomed to be forever chasing past successes.
