The original Orcs Must Die allowed you to platform around the levels, harness fully 3D physics against ragdolling orcs, and weave traps across floors, ceilings, and walls to great effect. Not only is it a welcome return to form, but it serves as a gleaming example of designing for fans without restraining a franchise’s potential. It shows in Orcs Must Die! 3 (heretofore Orcs Must Die 3, sans punctuation), which after a year of Stadia exclusivity has finally launched on Steam.
It shut down after two years in 2019, but developer Robot Entertainment clearly learned from the experience. But then Orcs Must Die! Unchained happened, becoming a sore spot among the community as a free-to-play Tecent-funded stab at the MOBA market.
The original from 2011 was a third-person shooter as much as a tower defense game, and a sequel with a bigger story, voice acting, and a successful run of DLC maps followed in 2012. Orcs Must Die! has had a surprisingly tumultuous run for a budget downloadable game series.
