Orcs Must Die 2 Review

I have to admit I had my doubts going into Orcs Must die 2, and I had good reason to. The game's predecessor had launched only just ten months before the release of its sequel, not garnering much praise for the developer by myself. I've never been one to praise a developer for milking a game's success by releasing sequel after sequel until its popularity simply ran dry.

And that's what I had originally assumed with Orcs Must Die 2 releasing so quickly. Why not nourish the blow out success of the original game? Brew up some DLC? The reason for a full-fledged sequel still appalls me, but in the end, it made sense. And most importantly, it worked.

In typical fashion, the title of the game pretty much says it all.  In the first entry, Orcs were bursting into your keep by the thousands and you needed to kill them, all the while protecting your Rift(s). And the second iteration of the game is no different. While the gimmick remains unchanged, developer Robot Entertainment threw in so many new perks it almost felt overwhelming.

As before, you earn skulls and bonus skulls for completing each level, but now, those skulls can be spent on a variety of upgrades to current traps and weapons. Do you want to shoot flaming arrows or simply deal more damage with your machine gun like crossbow? Now you can! Or you can customize your Tar traps to slow down an enemy for a longer duration of time. Or configure the steel arrow wall trap to strike enemies from a further distance.

The purpose of skulls can also be used to buy new traps and weapons as well. There are a variety of new traps to choose from such as my personal favorite, the Ice Vent trap, which freezes those enemies who cross over it. Items like trinkets and amulets can be bought as well, which can serve as healing devices for those dire times in battle or served to increase the hit points your Rift has. They can even be used to summon demonic like enemies to the battlefield to fight along side of you, such as the bone amulet which will send for a giant bone like creature to your side.

The possibilities to which you can customize your arsenal are endless, thus allowing for experimentation and the stride to unlock all the items the game has to offer all the more appealing. And no one item is locked to either of the game's two protagonists.

That's right, I said two. When you begin the game, you can choose from either the original War Mage from the first game, or the now all-new sorceress. And for those of whom enjoyed the dorky, yet humorous comments from the protagonist of the first game, you won't be disappointed this time around as the sorceress's personality is just as witty.

From their quirky little bantering among each other at the beginning of each level, to their sarcastic comments in the heat of battle, the dialogue and chemistry between the two characters really helps brighten the mood of the game from the typical boring, setup and watch tower defense styled game and actually does a great job of creating a connection between you, the player, and the game's protagonists.

The plot of the game is extremely bland, or in other terms simple. Even though Robot Entertainment organized the list of levels under a "story" tab, that story is weakly elaborated on, save for a few, brief slide show cut-scenes familiar to those who have played the first game.

The game takes place a few days after the events of the first game, where a sorceress is hiding from the Orcs when a Rift mysteriously opens up next to her. She steps through to find the War Mage in the Dwarven Mines. She then enlists his help in fighting of the Orcs, where they later enter a Rift to enter the Dead World to stop the Orcs once a for all. Apparently, the master War Mage had not died and had begun to communicate with the sorceress explaining that he started to open the Rifts again because the world beyond the Rifts could not survive without the magic they provided.

And with the addition of the sorceress comes the addition of coop! A fantastic mechanic for the game that gave Orcs Must Die 2 its much-needed breath of new life. It was a blast fighting through hordes of Orcs side by side with a friend. You'll likely need voice chat to successfully coordinate your masterful plans between each other, so for those who do not own a headset, I'd highly highly recommend one. From the moment I played the game coop with a friend, I never turned back to playing single player on my own. It truly is a blast!

Closing Comments

Orcs Must Die 2 is a stunning sequel from Robot Entertainment that bolsters the game on every front, a rare find in the saturated video game market we have today. The game's unique, third-person action oriented take on tower defense games is a blast to play with and now coop makes that experience all the more enticing and enjoyable. And with a vast array of upgrades and new items to unlock, the game is sure to keep you busy for a very long time!

Score: 9/10

Replay Value: High