This Summer, Orcs Must Die!

Posted June 22 2011 by Keadin
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Ever since PAX East this year I've had my eye on a little game called Orcs Must Die! Being developed by Robot Entertainment the game is a fun blend of third-person action adventure and classic tower-defense with a whole bunch of whimsy thrown in. Players use an incredible arsenal of traps to stop an oncoming wave of Orcs as they barrel towards the rift at the center of their tower. The game has quickly become a fan-favorite among the Xbox.ca community and I can finally talk about it because, it's coming to Xbox Live Arcade this summer!

I managed to catch a few words with Robot Entertainment's own Sir Justin Korthof the Brave to talk more about the impending Orc invasion, what I can do to prepare myself and settle exactly why all the Orcs Must Die!

Call me an Orc sympathizer if you must, but why do all the Orcs have to die? What did they ever do to us?

If you want to be friendly with a bunch of murderous, drooling, obnoxious monsters who are trying to sneak through the rifts and wreak havoc, that's up to you. But don't expect any sympathy from them in return. All they want is to get through the rifts, and if you're caught in their path, they'll cut you down without shedding a single tear. And it won't stop with you. You need to quit hugging trees and get aboard the Orc-killing train before it leaves the station.

Okay, I guess that makes sense. But, how exactly are we planning to kill these Orcs?

Any way we can. You'll have plenty of traps and spells to dispatch the Orcs. Burn them, launch them, flatten them, chop them to pieces. I don't care how you do it, just be sure that you get the job done before they get to the rift. And I'll respect you a lot more in the morning if you can hit them with more than one trap at a time.

You really think that plan's going to work? What if they like, start attacking me? Do I get a weapon?

If you're some kind of amateur trap-layer and you let some of the Orcs actually get through your defenses, you better be prepared to stand your ground. You'll have your magical crossbow at all times to put them down. If you're a bad shot and they're stepping on your toes, you'll have a trusty bladestaff in hand to hack them to pieces.

So with all of these traps and weapons we'll be able to take care of the Orcs, but that's it right? No other crazy monsters?

Maybe it was like that for the old-timers, but not anymore. This time, the Orcs have brought help. You won't even have time to clean the Orc blood off of your bladestaff before you'll be overrun by huge Ogres, lightning-quick Kobolds, fire-breathing Hellbats, lethal Gnoll Hunters, and a lot more. If you're looking for easy, then you came to the wrong fight.

This doesn't seem really fair. Have you got any tips on how to get rid of all these things?

You'll get money for killing things. Don't be afraid to spend it. Lay plenty of traps and don't be afraid to let them do some heavy lifting for you. If you can get Orcs to bunch up into groups, you'll be a lot better off. Take them out in big numbers and you won't have to worry about doing much clean-up yourself. Also, get good with that crossbow. It's a great way to start thinning out the mob from across a fortress. At the very least, you'll soften them up a bit for your traps.

Alright, I guess I'm ready. When does the Orc invasion start? How long do I have to get ready?

The Orc invasion begins in just a couple months, later this summer. In the meantime, you can buck up on your Orc research at orcsmustdie.com