Orcs Must Die Some More

Another game I tried out during ScampLAN was Orcs Must Die!

I previously played the demo, and while I thought the game was a lot of fun, I could see myself getting tired of it.. especially without co-op or versus mode.  Therefore, I didn’t pick up the game, though I will keep my eye on it in case of a nice Steam offer 😉

The full game has more maps and a wider range of traps, though.. including some throwable acid pots which were very nice against small enemies.  These were easier to use than the Boom Barrels, as they detonate with a right click.. or shatter when a trap goes off, rather than relying on you being able to shoot it in the middle of a horde of Orcs.

The demo had limited maps, so I was keen to look at the new ones on offer.  Some of these had numerous routes for the enemies to take, meaning there was even more ground to cover.. for these I set up lots of traps down one path while I fought enemies down the other, rather than try to take them all on nearer the Rift.

The new defenses included Wall Blades, Spring Traps, and the Floor Scorcher.. I used Spring Traps and Floor Scorchers to knock enemies back, though I wished for a faster reset on both!

I was pleased to see new enemies too, as they add a bit of variation.  The Kobolds were fast and rather good at slipping past my defenses.. though acid pots were great for wiping groups of them out.. and the Ogres were tough..

I didn’t get as far as looking at the upgrades for the new defenses, or at some of the other weapons for the Warmage.. but yeah.. waiting for that Steam offer 😉

Dungeon Defenders

Dungeon Defenders is a Tower Defense Action-RPG game by Trendy Entertainment.. delayed some months, but finally released yesterday.  There have been a few combination tower defense and action games lately, and like the others, there are two phases per round: the Build phase, where you place barriers and traps, then the Action phase, where the enemies come..

Our enemies here are goblins, orcs, dark elves and similar, and they head towards the Eternia Crystal in the centre of your castle, while you use your player character’s abilities to help fend them off, as well as repairing and upgrading your defenses as you go..

There are four classes of player characters to choose from: Apprentice, Huntress, Squire and Monk, each with their own abilities and defenses, and apparently more to come later.  The characters all level up and acquire loot through the game too, unlocking more defensive options and stronger abilities.

The game has a singleplayer mode, as well as co-op for up to four players, and a PvP mode.  We had a few problems getting into the game to start with.. being unable to connect to the servers or each other.. we managed to launch the game around an additional update coming out, but after validating the game files and restarting a few times, we were able to get into a co-op game together.

Starting off, you are placed in the host’s Tavern.. this has a number of other features I’ve not yet explored.  From here, you can choose whether you’re doing a Campaign or a Challenge, and choose the level and difficulty.

For our first co-op playthrough, I took the Apprentice, who specialises in elemental towers and magical attacks.  He starts off with a Magic Missile Tower.. but it wasn’t too long before I was also able to use Magic Barricades.  I’m looking forward to the Fireball and Lightening towers, but I’ll need to level up more first!

The enemies will go out of their way to attack your defenses, but you can repair them, and with enough mana, upgrade them too.

Killing enemies awards mana, and at the end of every level you can open chests around the map, which provide mana as well as various pieces of loot.. armour and weapons.  Loot comes with varying stats on it, and some pieces are class-specific, so as it dropped we shared it out accordingly.. my friends were playing as the Squire and the Monk.

After defeating all waves on the first level, we were able to move straight on to the next level, which had enemies coming from three sides.  We were doing well enough until the Kobolds arrived.. but they explode, and cause rather a lot of damage..

If you are killed, you have a short count-down to respawning.. but if the enemies have reached your crystal, that’s time you don’t want to spend laying on the floor 😉

The three of us were unable to beat the second level on this attempt, but as the characters have levelled up and gained some nice loot, I’m sure we’ll do better next time..