Orcs Must Die! first jumped into the spotlight roughly a decade ago with its unique take on tower defense and character action.  Taking heavy inspiration from the Deception series, Orcs Must Die! manages to be its own through the strong narrative presentation spread throughout the series.  The question on many people’s minds is probably if the series still manages to be fresh enough after no major releases in several years.

In the last numbered title, an extreme emphasis was placed on co-op mode but has been diminished here. There is still that element present for the player, just that it isn’t as directly placed in their face and treated as the almost exclusive way to play the game. There is plenty here for solo or co-op players.

You can check out our stream of Orcs Must Die! 3 here:

Something else that should be pointed out is that the title manages to get rather difficult rather quickly.  As is the nature with some of these games, tactics that had been working for stage after stage will suddenly not be enough, while others that have been pushed aside in the past will find their way to the front of the queue.  These stages, namely the “Front Lawn” seem almost to give universal trouble for most players and can randomly have enemies perform unconventional actions and strategies.

None of this is bad, as games are expected to become more difficult as they progress – just a word of warning.  The real strength comes from trying to figure out what traps work best with each other, and placing them in combination.  There is a sense of gratification when something insanely constructed series of events works together and takes out an entire wave of enemies exactly as it was planned.  That is the true core of this game.

While the title is an easy recommendation for anyone who has played the previous titles and truly enjoyed them, this one is a good place to jump into the series if you haven’t.  While it is still rough around the edges in places it still presents a great time to be had with friends, and also playing solo.  It does not support remote play on Steam, which seems like a lost opportunity.  For anyone passing interested, or with a friend willing to jump into it with them, this is worth a pickup.