You thought it was over. Finally able to rest. Nope. More Orcs. More Traps. More Friends!
Orcs Must Die – Deathtrap gives you multiplayer mayhem from Robot Entertainment that’s
fun for the whole family 4 Player co-op. filling that evening hangout game slot. Chat with your
friends after work, meat grinder some orcs in the process. It does what it says on the tin.
I’m a fan of games like this. You scroll back through time and it was split-screen Goldeneye
at a friends, or all taking turns at Tekken. These days games like Overcooked, Helldivers,
and a host of others give you that meeting place for social connection. Depending on what
you’re looking for you can of course go more towards Call of Duty, or Moba’s but I’m a
sucker for banter games. Games where you can make it harder and a challenge if you want,
but it’s mainly about the friends you’re hanging with and not having to worry about everyone
try-harding their way to victory… Unless it’s Overcooked… WASH. THOSE… PLATES!
Orcs Must Die – Deathtrap fits snuggly in to that role. Up to 4 player co-op that scales pretty
well, so you can still play even if one of your friends is busy watching Nosferatu… DEVIN!
Progression so it makes you feel like you have a goal in mind. Talent trees, upgrading traps
and new traps to unlock reward you after each run. Runs can be pushed further to risk more
skulls if you want, or cut short if you need to stop. Runs themselves are shook up by
modifiers affecting each map you play and every map after it in the run which can lead to
stacking difficulty. Threads are unlocked after each wave that give you hero specific bonuses
to strengthen your run. And more threads can be added to the pool by achieving things like
killing a certain number of Orcs, or, launching yourself off the map at the worst moment. Run
progression and meta progression, give you short term and multi session goals.
Be warned, this is a “Wait, what does that do again” kind of game though as the in-game
information at this point is… Lacking. Trap info is solid. The on-boarding process for new
players though could really do with being reworked, or just… Added. Traps cause status
effects like Shiny, or Melted, with no indication what that means. As a new player everything
that’s thrown at you just feels confusing. Which enemies, what traps. The battle started
marine, get in the fight. No time. Go go.
After a few runs you’ll pick things up, or you’ll google stuff and find out how the status effects
work. There’s no reason the on-boarding and knowledge screens couldn’t be fleshed out.
There’s a stats page, but I’d love to see a bestiary breakdown for each orc type number
slain, the most used trap on them, total damage dealt to that type. It could also include info
about what they do in return. I mean if we’ve been fighting Orcs so long, wouldn’t we have
these records? I’m a sucker for stats and in-game info. There’s no need to be wiki watching
in 2025.
But at the end of the day. You’re a war mage, you’re not paid to think, you’re paid to hit Orcs
and friends. With mine carts. It’s a hang out game for you and your friends, slaughter Orcs,
chat bollocks. Relax after a hard day. Sometimes it’s just as much about who you’re playing
with as it is the game you’re playing. Orcs Must Die gives you that easy option. Jump in, kill
orcs, get some upgrades and off you go. It’s not perfect, but don’t overthink it. Just have
some fun with friends. And maybe one of them will know what shiny does.
