Orcs Must Die! Deathtrap
PC (Steam & Epic), Xbox X | S (Game Pass)
1/28/25
Robot Entertainment
Orcs: they're mean, they're green, and they've been a dominant force throughout gaming history. From Warcraft to Dungeons & Dragons, orcs are the quintessential bad guys we love to hate. The Orcs Must Die series has been stomping its way through the gaming world since the dinosaur era of the Xbox 360. Yet, I must confess—Orcs Must Die: Deathtrap is my first foray into this franchise renowned for its strategic tower defense gameplay. How these releases eluded me for so long remains a mystery, but, as they say, so many games, so little time. So, did Orcs Must Die: Deathtrap serve as the perfect introduction? Or is it time for this series to, well, die? Let’s find out in our full review!
Orcs Must Die! Deathtrap, much like its predecessors, is a tower defense title at its core. For the first time in the franchise, it allows up to four players to team up online and delete nasty trolls faster than Mr. Beast’s lackeys can hit the shadow ban button. The good news for newcomers like me is that, while there are references to previous releases in the franchise, you don't need to have experienced them to understand this game. If multiplayer isn't your style, the game can also be enjoyed in single-player mode. Sadly, you can't cozy up with a buddy for split-screen local co-op at the time of this review, but at least, if your internet decides to take a snooze, you can still enjoy the experience in offline mode.
Narrative isn't much of a focus in Orcs Must Die! Deathtrap. The story simply revolves around six main war mages and an unlockable seventh, all tasked with fending off various brutes, flying goblins, and massive ogres across six waves per battle. You'll need to defend your base on a variety of maps using an assortment of melee attacks, magical abilities, and, most importantly, deadly traps that can be set by spending currency earned through each wave. If the orcs overrun your base or all players are eliminated, your run is over, and it's back to the central hub for you. There, you'll need to spend any earned skulls on trap upgrades and character progression. Think of it as a mandatory shopping spree without the discounts.
Each of your War Mages plays drastically differently and has unique abilities. There's the bow-wielding Vaan, who is the most well-rounded of the bunch; the magical healer Wren, who is kind of terrible in my opinion; Harlow, who is decent and wields a mighty blunderbuss; the sharpshooter Mac, who works well from a distance; Kalos, the extremely overpowered bear; and Sophie, everyone’s favorite in my play sessions because, well, it’s a cat. Max needs to be unlocked, but I won’t spoil those details here.
I had a blast with this quirky cast of characters, each with their own special tricks up their sleeves—though juxtaposing some of them directly is like comparing a beef Wellington prepared by Chef Ramsay to a dollar store knock-off Slim Jim. While some are more fun to use than others, they are all worth experimenting with, and at the very least, they provide players with variety. These characters also level up together on the game’s massive skill tree, in addition to having a smaller, character-specific skill tree, so switching between them isn't too punishing.
Before setting out on a fresh run and subsequently upon finishing or failing one, you’ll find yourself in the Order Fortress. This is where you can party up with friends—a relatively straightforward process in my experience—visit vendors to improve traps and skills, get in some practice sessions, and inevitably select the next mission. It’s a nice place to catch your breath for a while in between the wave-based mayhem.
This game is challenging and felt even more so when teamed up with friends. That’s because the difficulty seems to scale depending on how many players are participating. This means that upgrading is going to be paramount to your success. With Roguelite elements present, expect a long, slow grind towards improvement. The currency needed for upgrades is handed out as if it were coming from a stingy leprechaun who is furious you found his pot of gold, so anticipate a lot of runs before you start completing missions and making meaningful progress. This can make the game feel like a bit of a slog after a while.
Customizing your trap loadout is crucial. While unlocking new traps might feel like an eternity, there's a wide variety to choose from, and experimenting with them is a blast. From wall traps that shoot out blades to fire pits and even poisonous portals, a great deal of creativity has gone into each trap. Deciding which ones to take into battle can potentially mean the difference between life and death.
And then there are threads, which can be both earned and purchased. These threads are presented between each wave of a run and offer valuable perks that can change the tide of battle. Equally important are barricades, which, if set up properly, will redirect orcs, forcing them to take the scenic route. It might sound like a lot, but Orcs Must Die! Deathtrap is quite easy to pick up and play and is best learned by doing.
On the battlefield, you’ll have time to prepare and set up traps before and after each wave, usually involving placing traps near gates where orcs will be flooding in from. A handy dandy map and shadowing feature does a nice job of showing you the path incoming orcs will be taking. Since you have limited currency, it’s important to work together and choose wisely where to place traps. Essentially, you want to slow down or kill as many orcs as possible before they reach your central location. This gets harder as waves progress, as new gates open up, meaning that you’ll have to strategize which areas to defend, ultimately dealing with more headaches.
I found that voice communication was not only important but essential to succeeding when playing in a group. It wasn't long before my team was shouting directives on who should go where, and honestly, it was a lot of fun, except maybe for the other players who were on the receiving end of a few dick jokes from yours truly. However, the single-player mode felt lonely and dramatically easier in comparison. Without the thrills of communication and teamwork, the game loses much of its luster. While it's nice to have the option, Orcs Must Die! Deathtrap feels fundamentally designed to be played with a team.
Visually, if you are familiar with games such as Fortnite, you’ll have a good idea of what to expect here. The game uses a bright and colorful cartoonish visual style that jumps off the screen. The animations are quite lovely, characters and enemies are brimming with personality, environments look pretty, and the over-the-top violence adds a sense of humor to the entire visual presentation. The game runs smoothly too; with my 4070 GPU, I was obtaining 120fps without much issue. There are plenty of visual customization options to accommodate rigs of all shapes and sizes, so getting the game to run shouldn’t be much of a hassle.
I also adored the sound design of this title, featuring plenty of rocking guitar riffs fused with an Irish musical style throughout each battle. Characters have cute quips, with most of the voice work being well done. When considering everything, the game looks and sounds nice, but if you weren’t a fan of this visual style before, you won’t be now. I know the self-proclaimed “Fortnite” art style simply isn’t popular with everyone.
As I mentioned at the start of this review, I wasn’t very familiar with the Orcs Must Die franchise before this entry, but after playing Deathtrap, I walked away a fan. The sheer amount of unlockables here is impressive, with plenty of traps, combos, and skills to be learned. I just wish that earning everything didn’t feel so slow, as I must admit, the fun did run a bit dry after seven hours filled with failures and modest gains. I do feel that eventually, this is a title that could benefit from some new modes should the developer decide to add them down the line. Despite this, there’s lots to be mastered here that I didn’t even get into. If you enjoy tower defense titles with a bit of humor, I think you’ll appreciate this one for what it is. This game is as advertised and doesn’t offer any major surprises, but sometimes, that’s okay considering it’s a well-made product.
Bronze - Good
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