Orc, it's what's for dinner.

Everyone knows that orcs are disgusting.  They fall in roughly the same category as zombies as "evil creatures that should be slaughtered in droves."  That's why when I saw a game called Orcs Must Die, I knew I had to have it.  Orcs Must Die and the follow-up Orcs Must Die 2 are both fun, goofy base defense games that I would recommend to people who enjoy more defensively oriented games or slaying legions of orcs.

The story in Orcs Must Die is that you play as an apprentice "warmage," whose main task is to defend "rifts" that link the human world to other worlds from which magic derives.  Someone has created a gigantic orc army that is trying to gain access to these rifts and it's your job to stop them.  As the warmage, the player is given coins that they can use to purchase different traps to help them defend their base against the onslaught of orcs.  These traps vary in cost and a large part of the gameplay revolves around budgeting and using your coins wisely.  Once purchased, the player has time to place them around the map.  When the player is ready, they give the cue for the invasion to begin and take up a defensive position near their traps.  The player as the warmage is armed with a weapon that can be used to slaughter the orcs and spends much of the time during the waves running around shooting orcs.  Some orcs drop coins when killed and the player can gather them to help purchase more traps.  The player must be careful to avoid damage from the orcs because they can be killed and will be forced to respawn while the orcs run free.  Each level consists of waves or orcs with each wave getting progressively harder.  The early levels are fairly simple and players learn to look for choke points in which to place traps.  Later levels are much more difficult and may require the player to defend several different entrances at one time or defend against orc variants that are much more difficult to kill.

The overall tone of Orcs Must Die is very silly.  The warmage character is kind of a lovable, screw up.  As the game progresses you are able to choose abilities for the warmage that upgrade his weapons or allow him to use different spells.  You can also purchase upgrades for your traps that give them extra abilities like slowing enemies or making them take damage over time.  One thing I like about Orcs Must Die is the rating system for each level.  Based on how well you defend the rift you are awarded "skulls."  If you do an excellent job and mow down the orcs with ease you could earn five skulls.  If you barely squeak by and many orcs escape through your rift you might only earn one.  The skulls are used to upgrade your traps and abilities so it's vital to do well early on to have better traps for the later levels.  Trying to earn a 5 skull rating on all the levels is very challenging and offers a great incentive for replayability.

The sequel, Orcs Must Die 2, is very similar to the original game but adds in co-op play.  One player plays as the warmage while the other player plays as the sorceress.  Co-op play is great fun in Orcs Must Die 2 and having a partner makes the game much more enjoyable.

In the end you kind of have to feel sorry for orcs.  It's not their fault they were born to be evil.  Slaying them sure is fun though.

Pick up Orcs Must Die or Orcs Must Die 2 on Steam (pretty cheaply $9.99 for the first game) for hours or orc slaying goofiness.