Orcs Must Die! 3 (2020)

Orcs Must Die! 3 is a good game. It contains some improvements over the previous installments and offers some new features to keep it interesting. In the core, it is still the same Tower Defense game in which you blast away Orcs and Demons, before they reach the Rift. The additional DLC content, new enemies and daily challenges offer variety, and the overall experience is just really enjoyable to pass some time.

Story wise, this game is a classic tale of how the previous War Mage defeated the evil Orcs and the world was saved. But a new evil awoke, and the Orcs are attacking again. Of course, this new threat is far worse than the previous one. Two new apprentices are forced to continue the fight, and a new game is born. In the end, the evil is defeated, and the world is safe again.

One of the biggest improvements of Orcs Must Die! 3 is its Co-Op functionality. In the previous game, this was a complete disaster. I am still not sure what caused this, but sessions kept random disconnecting even on LAN and the overall experience was unstable. In this game, it works flawlessly. Not once did a session crash or disconnect so the developers learned from their mistake.

The Graphics are still cartoonish and jolly, the way it is supposed to be for this game series. The backgrounds and environments are nicely detailed and colorful. The ragdoll animations and gibs look great, although sometimes, enemies can have a little seizure when they are shot or yeeted over a barricade.

In terms of sound design, the grunts and reactions of the Orcs are hilarious and when you throw them in the air, the little “weeeehhh” sounds they make made me grin every time. The music is alright, although I still prefer the masterpiece soundtracks from the first game for some reason. So in this case, I turn off the music, get the playlist from the first game and play it in the background.

The new War Scenarios are really fun to play, although they feel a bit slow for some reason. Enemy hordes appear from the mountains at the far sides of the map and assault the keep that you are defending, making for a “glorious” battle. However, the best thing to do, is creating a corridor of death somewhere like always on a central spot and lure them all there.

Speaking of creating corridors, that is still the way you can “cheese” this game. The waves can get hard and some skill and manual defending is required, but when you use the strategy in which you block off other paths, create a corridor of death and despair and just camp there, you can win every scenario with ease, even on Rift Lord difficulty. The strategy for this corridor changes every level, so it keeps some variety, but it gets a little old and maybe even boring after ten scenarios or so.

There are some minor annoyances with Orcs Must Die 3!, like “ghost” enemies that are not registered dead. In case you want to complete the level with 5 skulls, including the time limit, this costs precious seconds. The game fixes the problem on its own, but sometimes nothing happens for ten seconds, before the game moves on to the next wave. Sometimes, an enemy glitches through a barricade and enters the rift, leaving you clueless what just happened.

After finishing the main game, I completed the Cold as Eyes Expansion. This was done in under half an hour, because it offers only three new scenarios.

In Orcs Must Die! 3: Cold as Eyes, a new threat arises in which Cyclops are attacking the Rift. This new enemy type plays exactly the same as the Orcs, with weaker, stronger and very strong variations, ranged enemies and mini bosses. However, for some reason, the Cyclops feel weaker and their strongest unit, the Chieftain, gets blown away in just a few shots.

Needless to say, this DLC was a cakewalk. Create a corridor, shoot some enemies up yourself and you got nothing to worry about.

Like mentioned, the DLC is very, very short. I like the extra piece of content, but for almost seven euros, it is not worth it in perspective. It felt like a quick reskin with the addition of some new, useless traps and that’s it.

In the end, I do not recommend this DLC, purely because of its price and the lackluster amount of content you get from it.

I also completed the Tipping the Scales Expansion. This was also done in under an hour, because it offers only five new scenarios.

In Orcs Must Die! 3: Tipping the Scales, a new threat arises in which Lizard people (Tuatara) are attacking the Rift.

This new enemy type plays exactly the same as the Orcs, with weaker, stronger and very strong variations, ranged enemies and mini bosses. However, for some reason, the Tuatara feel a lot tougher, although they should be the same in terms of health as the Orcs.

This DLC was an actually very challenging. The first two levels were laughable, but the last three were really hard. The end map with the big, glorious battle was really fun and I can play that scenario anytime.

But overall, Orcs Must Die 3! Is a worthy sequel and a enjoyable game. Would surely recommend it for the low price and the content offered.

#899