Robot Entertainment’s Orc Must Die! Franchise is back, bringing all new ways for players to play. We’ve known that this free-to-play multiplayer game would place a heavy emphasis on competiive multiplayer, but we haven’t really known how it would embrace cooperative fighting. Today we do know that the classic Survival mode from the previous Orcs Must Die! titles is indeed returning and its been completely revamped to take advantage of Unchained’s new features.

Orcs Must Die! Unchained takes place years after the events of Orcs Must Die 2. The War Mage and Sorceress have worked hard to rebuild the Order, but a new enemy has risen. The Unchained have come, and they are no longer the mindless horde our heroes have fought before. Luckily, the discovery of new rifts have brought forth more heroes to join the fray.



Survival was the bread and butter of the previous Orcs Must Die! games with Orcs Must Die! 2 introducing co-op and the charming Sorceress to the franchise. Unchained takes that concept and goes even farther with it by introducing a whole plethora of new heroes, and five player co-op. There are dozens of new heroes in addition to the returning War Mage and Sorceress. Blackpaw, Hogart, Stinkeye, and Bloodspike are just a few of the new characters.

During my gameplay session, I stepped into the shoes of Oziel, the Soul Thief. This character starts off extremely weak, but gains in power with each kill. Many of his attacks are based around the idea of stealing souls from the enemy to fully empower himself. He’s also capable of summoning dead spirits to aide him in combat.

Once entering the game, I was happy to find a familiar set-up. The new castle level may have been bigger than any previous Orcs Must Die! map and I had three more allies than I did in Orcs Must Die! 2, but Unchained undeniably felt like an Orcs Must Die! game. At the start, players will be given a set-up period to lay out traps and strategize for the coming hordes. All the classic traps return. Place arrow traps on the walls, line the floor with tar, or send orcs flying back with the springboard. This time, players will be able to collect components and craft their own traps.



My team and I were swarmed by waves of orcs. By the last round we were keeping track of three different spawn areas. The addition of five-player co-op means that players can expect to battle a lot more orcs in much bigger environments. It wasn’t difficult to keep track of the orcs, as magic arrows on the ground indicated the path the orcs would take to the central rift. The maps are lined with their own environmental traps that can easily be triggered. These are great for crowd-control and can easily help turn the tide in a sticky situation.

In the end we were victorious, stopping all the orcs in their paths. At the end, players will be greeted by a match synopsis screen and have a chance to nab a chest that comes filled with special goodies. I took this time to talk with Robot about their free-to-play model. Everything in the game can be unlocked through playtime, though players can pay with real-world money to unlock items in-game at a faster rate. This includes characters. Characters will be cycled about five-at-a-time each week. Players can unlock the characters permanently by collecting enough components, or buying them. Robot Entertainment assured me that Orcs Must Die! Unchained will not be pay-to-win.



I did not get a chance to try out the 5vs5 multiplayer Siege mode, but players will be able to try this and Survival for themselves starting tomorrow, March 29. Orcs Must Die! Unchained goes into open beta on PC, and you’ll be able to play via Steam or the official Orcs Must Die! website. A PS4 version is currently in development, but will not be getting an open beta at this time.

Orcs Must Die! Unchained appears to be doing what a good sequel should, building on the formula set in stone by the excellent Orcs Must Die! 2. Here we have new characters, maps and competitive multiplayer all combined with the familiar gameplay and classic Survival mode found in previous games. The free-to-play model remains worrisome, though the open beta should shed some light on how it will work. For now, though, fans of Orcs Must Die! should at give Unchained a shot. After all, it is free to download.