Being an apprentice in any new job can have its fair set of challenges, after all, you want to prove to your predecessor that you’ve got what it takes to get the job done. Now, what if I told you that job was to defend a fortress that was under siege by a wide variety of blood thirsty Orcs? Would you still want the job? Publishers Microsoft Studios partner with Developers Robot Entertainment, Inc. to answer this question on October 5th in Orcs Must Die! For Xbox Live Arcade.

Right off the bat I know you’re going to assume that this is a tower-defence game, but in fact, it’s a whole lot more than just that, it’s more like an action strategy game with tower defence elements...minus the towers. Players assume the role of an unnamed “hero” who is reluctantly thrown into his position after his mage pedagogue passes away. You’d think that this would leave you with confidence to “save the day” but it’s clear from the opening cut scene that the so called “hero” is seen as cocky, incompetent moron. To paint a picture, he kind of reminds me of Bruce Campbell’s portrayal of “Ash” from the Evil Dead except instead of a “boomstick” you’re given a crossbow and sword to start...not a bad trade off.

Players start out each level with an opportunity to strategize where they would like the placement of each trap to be, they’ve also been bestowed with a spell book that contains a variety of weapons and traps to use. A total of 6 weapons, some magic spells and 17 traps (this includes environment triggers) will become available as the player progresses. It’s important that each item is chosen carefully because there are a preset number of slots that are given to hold only a select few of these items. Once all the selections have been made, it’s time to bring on the hoards. Pressing the [Back] button will bring on the rush of enemies, so I recommend positioning yourself accordingly for ample Orc destruction. The first wave is easy to prepare for, but as the waves increase, you have to act fast if you want to place more traps because the countdown timer won’t wait for you to be finished setting up before sending in the next batch.

The games controls are what you’d expect. Using the Left Stick moves the “hero” around while the Right Stick controls the camera. There’s also the ability to quickly select the crossbow using the [Y] button if you find yourself being swarmed by enemies but have a different item selected. If you can survive the onslaught, at the end of each level you’ll be awarded with a “skull rating” from 1 - 5 based on how you did. These skulls can be used to upgrade traps and weapons which definitely can come in handy later on because each fortress has a unique floor plan that you have to take into account. There are a total of 24 fortresses to defend from 11 kinds of monsters, so there’s plenty to choose from when it comes to “favourites”.

One of my favourite levels is called “The Corner” and it has several environment traps such as: boiling acid buckets and chandeliers that you can shoot to activate. Watch as some Orcs are reduced to skeletons or flattened by the falling objects, while others get impaled by spikes; it’s actually quite rewarding. If you place traps appropriately you can get some crazy combos and kill streaks, so get creative. There’s Leaderboards for each level, including one for “Career Kills” so if you want to be the best, you have to think strategically.

The difficulty settings are: Apprentice, War Mage, and Nightmare. Nightmare can only be unlocked once the campaign has been completed on War Mage. If you find you’re having difficulty completing a level on War Mage it will ask you if you want to try it on Apprentice Mode which is a nice touch I found so that you don’t have to Quit out to the Main Menu and jump into settings. Other options include: changing the Camera Offset, Inverting the Y Axis and increasing or decreasing the Controller Sensitivity.



Accessibility Issues/Concerns:
As fun as this game might be, I have to approach my review from a disability standpoint and rate it as such. With the games lack of subtitles, this could affect users with hearing impairments end-game experience and it will also make the story difficult to follow. With that said, the story isn’t needed to understand what is needed to complete the campaign but it sure does help to tie everything together.
At a Glance

Mobility: There are quite a few buttons that this game requires the use of. Gamers with precision issues or the use of only one arm may find it difficult to manage without the assistance of an adapted controller. Recommended score: 5/10

Hearing: With subtitles not being an option available, players with hearing impairments will miss out on the story, but other items are clearly labelled and there are path trails showing the direction Orcs will be heading in once they arrive so these elements help to cub that. Recommended score: 7/10

Vision: Orcs are green against a dark palette and are easy to spot at a distance. Also, the Left Stick can be used to zoom in on enemies when the crossbow is selected and the Minimap can be enlarged by selecting Left on the D-Pad. Recommended score: 8/10

Overall: This game is actually a lot of fun. If you’ve been waiting for a top quality Arcade game to be released, I’d say this one is right up there. For 1200 MSP it is well worth the cost, just be sure to use my review as a guide before you purchase if you think it won’t cater to your abilities.