Names are important. For people who were born with unfortunate names, life is hard enough without all the teasing. That’s what exactly happens to this game and its cheesy title. If you judge a book by its cover and a game by its name, stop doing that now and continue reading. You wouldn’t regret it.

The tower defence genre is easy to be dismissed as a short, app-like game that has no action nor hardcore elements in it. Ask people about tower defence games, and they would think of Plants versus Zombies, or Kingdom Rush. Both games are great on its own, but it does leave a feeling that the genre has to be powered by mobile or tablet devices. This is…until Orcs Must Die! came to the PC in 2011, which truly redefined the genre. It throws us away from the classic top-down view of placing towers along a pre-defined path to controlling the the main hero, who would have a mean arsenal of traps and weapons to kill the green-skinned menace (hence the title…in case you haven’t noticed)

Nope….it’s not like this.

Orcs Must Die!2 and its prequel has a simple story.  Essentially, the story revolves around a faction of wizards known as the Order, who guard the Rifts as a source of magical power. Over centuries, the Order is to maintain the peace in the world through the use of magic for humanity. However, the Rifts are also sought by the Orc faction to pass to the human world – essentially a mix bag of Orcs, Orges, Gnolls, kobolds and bats. The Order were able to defend against them by having magically-empowered fortresses to guard the Rifts until the orcs appeared to have suddenly gained in strength and intelligence, which was shown later to be lead by the evil Sorceress, a past student of the Order who sought to use magic to control the Orc army for herself.

That of course, didn’t materialise. In Orcs Must Die! previously, the protagonist, an Apprentice War Mage, eventually found a way to seal the Rift, stopping the use of magic forever for humanity who has grown accustomed to using magic as a way of life. In Orcs Must Die! 2 now, the Sorceress, found to be weakened without magic, managed to escape from the mindless Orc army that she no longer can control and tag team (not-surprisingly) with the himbo jock of a War Mage to massacre her previously mind-controlled green minions. The dialogue between them is cheeky and hilarious, offering a light-hearted feel to a game that doesn’t take itself too seriously.

The gameplay is where it shines the MOST, and that is where a lot of game developers sometimes forget what is at the heart of a game: having fun. You control either the Sorceress or the War Mage, each with their own traps and weapons. The game rewards with its gruesome currency of having orcish skulls after each level, much like the 5 star system found in most app games for completing a level. These could be used for upgrades that are extensive to suit your gaming style. Taking the trap Arrow walls for instance, it could be upgraded with fire arrows or ice arrows. And if you were to upgrade it more, you can place them on the ceiling to create raining arrows of death. During the levels, by carefully (and sometimes creatively) placing traps on the floors, walls and ceilings, you find yourself gleefully smirking as your killbox of traps grind, cut, slash, burn, freeze or melt the huge variety of enemies pouring out to reach their goal. It is awesome fun, for example, to build a Rube Goldberg Machine of sorts, by having enemies flung up in the air by using a steam trap, and while they are levitating in the air, having a well-placed archer shooting at them (and consequently the ceiling), which would trigger a ceiling trap full of boulders to fall on the floating enemies.

That being said, the traps are limited by having a reset timer, and that is where it deviate from standard tower defence games by needing your character to be in the middle of the action to kill off what the traps were unable to. In addition, the traps are limited by the amount of cash you have and one have to brainstorm to place the traps in the most effective manner. There is a lot of thinking and the difficulty, especially for solo play, could be unforgiving. The designers obviously design some of the maps for co-operative play and that gave the game much criticism for its sudden difficulty spike. However, I enjoyed the challenge and frequently find myself pondering how to improve on the trap setup and how to spend the funds more wisely to kill orcs.

Ohhh…the traps are soooo delightful.

When give the chance to play with a friend, co-operative play makes it even more fun. And that were where Robot Entertainment took the feedback most from Orcs Must Die! and greatly improved on. It is deeply satisfying to play shoulder to shoulder with your friend against the tide of enemies rushing your way. From the Story mode to Endless mode, where 50 waves of enemies come crashing upon you, you will find yourself needing a friend most of the time. It is fun to devise together where to place the traps and where to defend, and this game delivers a nice buddy system to it.

My only gripe for this game is the lack of player-produced maps. Please do not get me wrong, Orcs Must Die has a lot of content with weekly challenges released by Robot Entertainment that restrict the player to certain types of equipment and traps. However, it would be cool to design a map for a friend to complete, much like the Warcraft 3 Map editor which spawned off lots of fun and creative TD games.

For all its content, depth and the extensive replay value, Orcs Must Die! 2 is remarkably cheap. I got it from the Steam Sale that occurred during the Christmas Season (which just ended yesterday) at just USD3.74 (- 75% off!!!), which is way cheaper than some of the paid games you see in you mobile or tablet apps. For you guys who ignored my post or missed the sale, fret not. Orcs Must Die!2 is still very cheap at UD15. This is a game that I highly recommend for kids and adults alike.

I would give it 9/10. For more tips on Orcs Must Die!2, be sure to check out the posts in the coming weeks. =)

Steam Autumn Sale had just pass us by, but from 19th Dec to 3rd Jan, Steam Holiday Sale is ready to give all gamers another round of bang-for-the-buck.

For those who are new to Steam (e.g my female work colleague who thought Steam is a hydro-electric energy company), Steam usually releases its summer sale around mid-July, and its autumm sale at around mid Nov. These sales give PC gamers huge discounts on popular titles (some of which at also in PS3. For inspiration, check out the Top 10 PS3 games for Christmas). Recent, blockbuster hits could see absurd discounts up to 75% to 90% in some cases, and these discounts do change dynamically.

Being a kiasu Singaporean, let me summarise a few pointers on getting the game you want for as little as possible:

1) Check Steam sales regularly. By regularly, I mean daily. You do not have to go crazy and track the Steam Sale like a stock market

2) Be patient. Don’t buy a game unless it’s a daily deal or a flash sale. Standard store discounts are 25% to 50% in general. And these are everywhere in Steam. Don’t buy them. Resist. Like any obedient young Padawan, your patience will be rewarded in a more impactful daily deals/flash deals, which would bring discounts up to 50% and above.

3) If you miss your game as a daily deal or flash sale, wait for the Encore sale. If for whatever reason, you choose to not follow pointer 1 above, then wells, you are not screwed. Usually, like a good bazaar stall, the last day of the Steam Sale is almost always an Encore Sale, and that’s where you pounce.

4) Anything above 75% is likely to be the best you can get. I have tracked Steam’s discount structure. And usually new games either come undiscounted or having 25% to 40% discount. If you are patient, it will pop out at few months later at 50 to 70%, which is about the time to strike if the game you want goes below $10. However, if you see anything appearing more than 75% discount, that is probably the best deal you can get from Steam. Cowabunga!!

Drool……

5) Use the wishlist function. Steam allows for wishlists to be made, allowing you to be notified via email whenever there is a deal for the game you want. Use it to get notifications and then strike fast and true.

6) Buy publisher bundles as soon as you see it. Why? You asked. Because they are dirt freaking cheap. Usually an Ubisoft/Activision/Rockstar etc bundle is the cheapest you can get. So when you see that, think no more. Just go. Go…really. Come on.

Hopefully with all these tips, you get to have the awesome “WIN” feeling especially you know you have gotten a good deal (P.S Farcry 3 is at 75% now!!)

2013 is an exciting year for PS3, particularly because we witness a lot of blockbuster titles that tests the very limits of the PS3 system. As Santa bells ring and Christmas approaches, what does one do when your loved one is a PS3 gamer? Well…there is still time to do some last minute shopping and I am here to help you.

We start from:

Number 10: Far Cry 3

Far Cry 3 is an amazing game that balances over-the-top explosive action with guns ablazing with decent stealth gameplay. The world is immersive and lush with constant danger lurking around every corner.  The drawbacks would be its cheesy storyline and the annoying misrepresentation of how people of South East Asia would sound like. But if one is prepared to ignore all that, be prepared to experience the adrenaline ride of your lifetime as you see the transition of Jason Brody (the protagonist) from a naïve young man to a murdering monster.

Number 9: XCOM: Enemy Within

XCOM provide a deep tactical gameplay that constantly reminds players a mix of Valkyrie Chronicles and Ender’s game. In this game, the player is thrust into the role of the commander of an elite military organization XCOM and directs the soldiers in turn-based missions against powerful aliens with superior technology. Winning these missions with tactical style is deeply satisfying as one strives to lower the body count and to collect the valuable resource Meld. In between missions, the strategy element continues by having the player overseeing the R&D in creating new technologies, improving the base of operations and managing the organization’s resources. The learning curve is unforgiving, making players feel the heavy weight of command and layers of planning, which speaks truly well of a well-made tactical game. The only comment was that the ending feels a bit rushed, and maps were unfortunately not randomly generated. Fortunately, the replay value remains high.

Number 8: Dragon’s Crown

Dragon Crown strikes a chord and revitalises the nostalgia buried deep within gamers that played Golden Axe from Sega. The artwork was unique and stellar, with rich brush strokes accompanying the environment, characters, special effects and spells. Gameplay-wise, Dragon Crown actually caters to a broad audience, from entry-level gamers to hardcore Dungeon & Dragon players, depending on your character class and play-style. While the story may be non-existent, it could be forgiven by engaging in its spectacular boss fights, which is fascinatingly chaotic when all 4 players attack with explosions, spells, and combat animations all over the place.

Number 7: The Walking Dead (GOTY edition)

The Walking Dead offers a unique feel to the bevy of zombie games that flooded the gaming/media scene in recent years. It is not like Left4dead, Dead Island or Dead Rising. Instead of non-stop heart pounding action, Telltale games created The Walking Dead with a superb plot at its core, allowing players to interact with the environment, objects and characters with moral choices that has ambiguous consequences. It reminds us of Heavy Rain but in a different apocalyptic spin to it. The survivalist tone and the poignant connection between Lee Everrett and Clementine delivers the defining reason why even zombie games can touch the heart.

Number 6: Puppeteer

Number 3: Tomb Raider

I have done up a review for Tomb Raider in April 2013. That said, Tomb Raider and Ni no Kuni are ties for the same place (with Tomb Raider maybe slightly winning the edge since the new Lara Croft is so hot). Read the review and understand what the hype is all about.

Number 2: GTA V

GTA V is probably Rockstar’s masterpiece on the PS3, and rightly so. It munches up all the previous GTAs, chews them into pulp and spit it out like a badass. If your heart is wavering on this, or affected by all the publicity surrounding this, do not worry and just read this. Then buy it. Because your boyfriend might just break down and cry in joy upon receiving this.

Number 1: The Last of Us

If one can mix the superb story from The Walking Dead and combine it with the gameplay of Tomb Raider and then add a bit more of a stealth gameplay together, you would get the Last of Us. This game does so well in so many fronts that it receives the coveted 10/10 score in IGN, and obtained critical acclaim for its writing, its voice acting, sound design, art design and level design. The protagonist is Joe, a brutal hardened survivor who was once a single dad before the world turned into a pandemic-ridden wasteland. With him, you have a 14 year old Ellie, a street-smart, wise and endearing girl that can’t help but to have the player rooting for her. For the setting, we have despair everywhere, depicting the ugly side of the human condition, yet exploring themes of love, sacrifice, hope and scientific ethics. The end result is a chemistry that is so amazing between the two characters as they slowly build their bond together in the face of uncertainty and danger everywhere. I wouldn’t go deeper into the story, but know that the story could have brought tears. It is that riveting and powerful.

 

So there we have it. All 10 of them. I hope you have enjoyed reading the top 10 PS3 games of 2013 for Christmas. If you feel that other games should also be in the Top 10, please feel free to leave your comments below.