Orcs Must Die! Deathtrap

This game was such a massive blunder by the studio, and I am very disappointed as a long time OMD fan. The funniest thing is Robot Entertainment ALREADY HAD a winning OMD Rogue-like formula via the 3rd game's "Scramble" game mode. ALL OMD:Deathtrap needed to do was copy that formula 1:1 and expand the amount of maps, traps, characters (with skill trees), weapons, and trinkets the player had access to, and Deathtrap WOULD HAVE BEEN AMAZING!! But... they didn't do that. Instead, they opted for egregious trap balance with infinitely scaling enemies which forces the player to use only meta traps (those with 'current HP % as DMG' dealt traps) because all other 'flat dmg' traps would get scaled out of existence, numerically speaking. What's the point of a spike trap dealing 350 damage when an Ogre has 30k HP by Wave 2 or 3 on the harder difficulties? The trap is being used SOLELY for combo at that point. Ridiculous! Out of the NUMEROUS dmg traps, there's ONLY TWO that deal 'current HP % as DMG', so the strategy gets stale VERY fast of spamming the map with both of those traps and supporting with filler traps elsewhere when you're in the late-game. If you're looking for that "OMD" feel, you won't get it from this title. You'd be better off replaying an older OMD title then soiling your experience with this one.

I'm a bit torn on recommending or not. The game is quite fun to play coop, killing some orcs while taking to a friend. However, having played OMD3 and getting 100% achievements.. comparing it to this version, it's a downgrade imo. Of course the game isn't a pure tower defense since you have war mages that shoot and have special abilities, but it seems to stray away even more from tower defense here. - Barricade limit: you have very little and the total is limited unless you pull a lucky card in between waves. With most maps having multiple entries and sometimes dual rifts, you usually end up blocking the same paths with the few barriers you have. This way you're not using 90% of the map because the orcs will always funnel to the same spots. It can be difficult to create a killbox in some maps. - Rogue element: fun in theory, but I feel like this should be a separate game mode. In the current state you can't replay a map to try and get better at it because now you have different boosts/penalties/abilities every time. At higher difficulties you can lose games just because you don't get the double barricade card for example. - Coop oriented: since I play this game mostly with another person, it's easy to split up and guard your rift against fliers. When playing solo you're just running around like a headless chicken and hoping you don't get a creature spawner at the other side of the map. - No endless mode: the endless mode was a way to test how well you could do on a map with your chosen traps/barricades. This has been removed due to the card system. The only other option is Endurance mode, but this starts at difficulty 10 and is extremely difficult. Conclusion: if you enjoyed the previous OMD game(s), you'll probably entertain yourself for a while with this one. Just know that the experience isn't as good as previous installments. Be sure to wait for a discount though.

This game is not what I expected from the developers. It is acceptable at best, but it has a long road ahead before it can become great. I will start with the positives. The visuals are impressive and the artistic direction fits well with the earlier entries in the series. Traps are easy to unlock and even easier to upgrade. I also want to highlight the creativity of the maps. Hedge Maze in particular was my favorite and truly enjoyable to play. Sadly, this is where my praise must end. The game is extremely buggy and I had to restart several runs because orcs moved through walls or became stuck in grappling hooks where they could not be defeated, which was very frustrating. The difficulty is also far too low. Nearly all challenge disappears if you or your teammates use the solar prism, which feels like it needs a balance change. The roguelike elements are acceptable but lack the satisfaction that endless mode provided in earlier titles. Endurance mode attempts to recreate that feeling, yet it ends up shallow with only twenty five waves. For me, the joy of the series came from building a powerful killbox and testing it against an unending horde of enemies. Endurance and classic roguelike missions do not deliver that experience. I appreciate that Robot Entertainment tried something new, but the result did not feel rewarding. The lore and music are forgettable and do not add much to the overall atmosphere. Bosses are easy, never present a real challenge, and their introduction and defeat animations feel poorly executed. I am also not a fan of many character designs. Some of them feel like exaggerated parodies, especially Mac, Vaan, and Harlow. The game urgently needs more maps, war mages, and traps because it becomes very repetitive once you defeat all bosses and complete endurance and challenge modes. In the end, I do not feel that this game holds the same relevance as earlier titles in the franchise. I would recommend it only to players who enjoy roguelike experiences and who already have knowledge of the OMD series and its tower defense roots. It is worth considering during a sale, and I hope Robot Entertainment learns from this release and delivers a true masterpiece when OMD 4 arrives.

First off, the gameplay is pretty much exactly what you expect from an Orcs Must Die game. If you've played any, you'll likely enjoy this game. That's the good. The bad is what makes me unable to recommend this game to anyone: the rogue-like elements added to this game with it being based around 'runs' of levels that COMPLETELY COLLAPSES in multiplayer if there is a networking issue. There is no LAN play, and if there is even the slightest hiccup in your network connection you lose all of your progress without ability to restore from a save and reconnect with your friends. The 'rejoin' system is completely unpredictable and the game's reliance on this feature is one of the poorest decisions I can imagine them making. Infuriating. If you're planning on buying this to play with friends, you had better all have a fiber line wired directly into the datacenter that hosts the OMD servers. Anything less than that will lead to countless moments where you're just about to complete a goal only to lose your progress to unrecoverable disconnections. That alone makes this a disappointing entry from Robot Entertainment.

just get omd2 or omd3, this title unneccessarily complicates everything and all of these maps are so ass, its pretty clear it was made for 3-4 player co op, because lanes are always split with no way to funnel them into one, so playing solo feels like you have to do the job of an entire squad.

[h1]Sum-Up[/h1] [h3]In-depth analysis further down.[/h3] [table] [tr] [th]🟩 [b]Pros[/b][/th] [th]🟥 [b]Cons[/b][/th] [/tr] [tr] [td] • Excellent variety of traps to suit different strategies and situations. Combining their effects together into the perfect killzone is extremely satisfying. • Great gameplay variety thanks to a large amount of modifiers, buffs, debuffs and threats that are different for each run. • A huge amount of randomly shuffled upgrades, called Threads, that significantly change how traps, heroes and weapons work as you progress further. • Challenging bosses that have unique, powerful skills and feel like a proper obstacle in your path. • Satisfying progression system that greatly rewards taking higher risks, and always has something new for you to unlock between each run. [/td] [td] • Balance issues with barricade limits: if RNG isn’t on your side, some maps will prove incredibly frustrating or even impossible without additional blockage. • Not all heroes are equally useful: some are defence powerhouses, while others simply don’t have skillsets good enough to be competitive, especially at higher difficulties. • Low variety of maps: only 11 of them, plus weather variations that, however, don’t change the layout. • A few traps have no point whatsoever in being used, and can be replaced with other ones that do a better job in all aspects. [/td] [/tr] [/table] [table] [tr] [th]🟨 [b]Bugs & Issues[/b][/th] [th]🔧 [b]Specs[/b][/th] [/tr] [tr] [td] • Rarely, enemies might get stuck. • No option to cancel ‘ready’ status in multiplayer. [/td] [td] • i9 13980HX • 64GB RAM DDR5 • RTX 4090 • SSD • 3840x2160 [/td] [/tr] [/table] [quote]Follow our [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/41449676/]Curator[/url] and [url=https://summitreviews.biz]Website[/url] to see more high-quality reviews regularly.[/quote] [table] [tr] [td][b]Content & Replay Value:[/b][/td] [td]It took me, alongside my partner, around 32 hours to complete OMDD, taking extra time to fully upgrade all heroes, traps, and finish a run on Difficulty 10. After that, optional challenges, achievements and Endless mode are available. The content is linear, so there’s no reason to replay from scratch once you have leveled up everything.[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td][b]Do I Recommend It?[/b][/td] [td]Yes. If you’re a fan of the previous series entries, then you’ll surely have a blast with more orcs slaying; this time, with more variety than ever before. Even for newcomers who enjoy hands-on dynamic tower defense games, this is still a solid pick.[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td][h3]Conclusion:[/h3] [/td] [td]A remarkable fifth chapter for the series, which manages to stay fresh in the long run thanks to its light rogue-lite mechanics and excellent variety.[/td] [/tr] [/table] [h1]In-Depth[/h1] [h3]Writing & Worldbuilding[/h3] As with previous entries, the premise of OMDD is straightforward: the Order needs to defend their realm against the dimensional incursions of Orcs and other dark creatures, only this time around, this duty is left to the newer generations of apprentices. After the dark lord’s demise in OMD3, the remaining Orc forces are led by fearsome generals that, once again, want to lay waste to the Order’s worlds. As expected, there isn’t a lot of narrative depth or intricate lore, which is fine for this genre and was never a strong suit of the series. Those sparse narrative parts are ultimately for the sake of gameplay, and never develop further than necessary. Nevertheless, each character has its own identity, and their lines or banter are pleasant to listen to. The worldbuilding doesn’t differ much from what was seen in the previous entries, with the exception of a large, fully explorable hub in between missions. There’s good attention to detail in the making of each map and to the Order Fortress area, although you shouldn’t expect to find any pieces of indirect narration or any deep lore. OMD was always a franchise that put function before form, which is not a bad choice when done right. [h3]Exploration, Tower Defense & Building[/h3] OMDD takes place throughout stages with a fixed layout, and while they’re fully explorable, there isn’t really a point in combing every nook and cranny, other than figuring out the map’s layout and finding the occasional collectible or hidden chest you can open for a cost to get bonus Rift Points and coins. An exception can be made for the fortress hub, which instead has several secrets, some of which allow you to unlock hidden playable characters. Laying out a solid defense is the most important aspect in each level. To do so, you’ll have a varied arsenal of traps at your disposal, with more unlocked between each run; from simple floor spikes and brimstone pits, to the more advanced acid dispenser or explosive dispensers, there are endless combinations you can experiment with, but always considering what’s most efficient for that specific map’s layout and modifiers. An intuitive and effective building system allows you to place, sell and move traps around with ease, while the enemy ghost outlines between each wave will tell you exactly where they intend to go—so that you can efficiently organize your limited barricades to reroute the Orc forces in your killzone. There’s enough nuance and depth to this system, such as figuring out what element works better against which enemy, or what traps are best at dealing with specific foes, that there’s room for improving your strategy for many games ahead. [h3]Combat System & Bosses[/h3] OMDD is a hands-on type of tower defense, meaning you’ll fight with your character alongside the defenses to repel the Orc invaders. Fights play out in third-person, with each hero equipped with a signature weapon and several unique abilities, including a powerful Overdrive skill that fills up with combo points, gained by combining different traps together to make the kill. While some heroes are definitely more effective than others overall, they’re all fun to play and have their own clear identity on the field: some are direct fighters, tanks, while others work better as snipers or support. You’ll have to be careful in battle, especially on harder difficulties and during boss fights, enemies can deal tremendous damage, and dying usually means losing a chunk of Rift Points; if you hit zero, that’s game over. Your objective is always to defend one or more rifts in each map, which can be passed or hit, depending on the type, by Orcs—the bigger the orc, the worse the damage inflicted is. Boss fights are single-wave maps that, in addition to a tremendous amount of enemies, will also spawn a powerful boss with unique skills, which may include disabling traps, healing allies, or even instantly killing heroes if they don’t dodge in time. [h3]Character Progression & Threads[/h3] The progression is handled differently compared to previous entries: each hero has a personal skill tree to progress using Skulls, earned by beating levels, and there’s also a global skill tree granting upgrades for everyone regardless. A good chunk of it is, however, entirely tied to RNG with the Threads mechanic—a system that, after each wave, allows you to select one of three random talents that either influence your hero, enemies, traps or the map itself. Choose them wisely, as they’re paramount in making traps significantly stronger, or specializing your hero further in their role on the battlefield. All of them are permanent, and the same goes for the debuffs you’ll progressively gain with each new map, such as random spawns of stronger enemies, increased trap cost, and many more. This RNG factor improves variety tremendously, but also leaves you at the mercy of fate, and that can be frustrating sometimes.

Продолжение серии игр. Когда запустил первый раз, сразу сказал - "о, графика получше выглядит". А вот дальше пошли разочарования. Здесь нет кампании. Здесь нет сюжета. Есть базовый геймплей, есть лобби, из которого вы выходите на забеги (серии из заданий-карт) соло или совместно... и всё. По сути, это реинкарнация [url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/427270/Orcs_Must_Die_Unchained/]Orcs Must Die! Unchained[/url], которая являлась мультиплеерной гриндилкой. Тогда у разрабов не сложилось - видимо, затраты на сервера превышали доход от игры. Теперь вторая попытка наступить на те же грабли (только сейчас играть можно соло). Что ещё хуже, здесь нельзя просто поиграть, обязателен челендж. Каждое задание получает случайное "искажение" (например, в каждой волне нестабильный орк, который при смерти отключает все ловушки в гигантской области на долгое время) и относительно безобидных среди них мало. После каждой волны вы выбираете "нити" (бафы-усиления или бонусы)... но опять же, рандом - вы хотите какие-то конкретные (особенно если выполняете испытания), а не всякий мусор, но хрен вам. Ну и вишенка на торте. После выхода игры было множество исправлений, а всё равно баги встречаются. То враги в текстурах застрянут, то орк с нулевым здоровьем не даёт закончиться заданию, то мобы начинают кружить, потеряв дорогу... да и навыки героев тоже не слишком радуют (особенно неконтролируемые прыжки). Текстовая локализация в наличии, но халтура и тут проглядывает - например, героини в субтитрах говорят о себе в мужском роде, fliers (летуны) в некоторых местах перевели как "листовки" (флаеры), есть огрехи орфографии. [b]Резюмирую.[/b] Поиграть можно, платина тоже не сложная (гриндовая только немного), но рекомендовать не могу, особенно если вы только с серией знакомитесь - лучше поиграйте в первые три игры ([url=https://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198092241169/recommended/102600/]мой обзор[/url] на первую).

This game is a big fail, as far as I am concerned. I have played all Orcs Must Die (OMD) games, and enjoyed them all, except for this one. The levels are far too open, with limited barricades, and it's hard to cluster the Orcs into traps. The new upgrade system is too big and too fiddly. Instead of the previous straight-forward system of earning coins and buying weapons and trinkets, now you have to fiddle around by going to different locations to buy stuff, which is just a waste of time (and therefore annoying). However, one thing I like about the game is that the player characters are interesting and their attacks are fun (good weaponry and attack styles). The graphics are about the same as OMD 3 - not improved, but ok. This is not a defence game any more; it's more like an open world shooter (like World Of Warcraft). For me, it has too many changes (compared to the old OMD games). Also, there is not enough originality in it. The core fun of OMD is gone. All things considered, the whole game is a big fail. So, in conclusion, I would recommend that players buy any other OMD game, but not this one (unless it is on sale for a super cheap price)