Orcs Must Die! Deathtrap Review – Roguelite Twists

Orcs Must Die! Deathtrap on PC

There are certain genres in video games where mastery can breed a sense of stagnation, where players get so good at what they do that it renders the enemy’s effort irrelevant. What better way then, than to infuse a classic gameplay formula with the unpredictability of a roguelite? That’s the idea behind Orcs Must Die! Deathtrap, the latest entry in the series from Robot Entertainment, and for the large part, there is something fresh for veterans and for newcomers, a great way into tower defence.

For the uninitiated, Deathtrap maintains the same setup of players having to protect key portals in any given level. With waves of monsters eager to overrun you, the solution is to create elaborate mazes of traps, defensive structures, and more to delay, debilitate, and ultimately eliminate them before they even sniff the portal.

The on-the-ground perspective of Orcs Must Die! Deathtrap also intensifies the action, keeping players on their toes by being in the thick of the action while managing the bigger picture of deployment and strategy. There is only so much planning you can do, and once the monsters start invading, you’ll need to be ready for any curveballs along the way.

As the saying goes, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, but the developers are willingly taking a risk with the roguelite setup for this new entry, and like the briar traps, the sharp thorns can both help and harm in equal measure. For a start, the cast of War Mages available for selection is one of the strongest we have seen, visually distinct and, more importantly, full of gameplay differences in terms of attacks and skills.

There’s Vaan, the old-school crossbow-wielding archetype, Wren with her magical wand and magical traps, the blunderbuss-using Harlow with powerful AoE attacks and a dragon, sniper Mac who loves manipulating gravity, Kalos the tank that hits as hard as he supports; and the anthropomorphic cat Sophie, the swift attacker with a skeleton buddy along for the ride. There’s even a secret War Mage to unlock, all of who are efficient at killing orcs and their friends.

Once you have decided, the game presents a selection of three maps with different modifiers that significantly affect how the rest of the run will play out. This is probably where there is most jeopardy, as these are significant caveats that fundamentally affect how you set things up for future levels. Of course, the maps and their layouts matter, but when push comes to shove, being able to cater for curveballs like this can make runs much more manageable.

This is complemented by the thread cards system, where victory over waves of enemies enables players to pick boons that fit into how they play and potentially exploit the conditions through traps and the general layouts. It isn’t exactly hard to determine the best combinations that can make your success an almost guaranteed result, and you will have a good time experimenting along the way.

From learning about the potential chokepoints and incursion points of the maps, the healthy variety of enemies that can come your way, to how best to use your traps and barricades, that beloved formula remains as strong as ever in Orcs Must Die! Deathtrap. There is also an infusion of freshness in that there is a limit to how many barricades you can use, which are also distributed among co-op partners to mix things further up, so you have to be genuinely strategic with each wave.

That said, experiments can go awry as well, and when you do not get the right combination of modifiers, thread cards, layouts, and enemies, it can become frustratingly clear that failure is right around the corner. The balance is not perfect, but that’s a good thing because it keeps you on your toes when it comes to the meta, just as long as you are okay with the occasional annoyance.

Keep chaining those wins, and eventually, players will be rewarded with the opportunity to take on one of the four bosses, which switches things up considerably. Get past an initial wave of numerous foes, and you will suddenly find yourself drowning in resources. And you will need it, as the boss is one foe who will travel the map and seek opportunities to catch you out if you are not planning carefully.

This constant push and pull of focusing damage on one main target while ensuring its minions are not causing you issues is at the heart of the boss fights. While your mileage may vary when it comes to enjoyment, it can be a welcome respite that caps off a successful campaign or one that shatters into pieces right at the end.

The roguelite nature continues as you bring back your winnings and proceed to unlock permanent upgrades that take effect for future runs. There are undoubtedly powerful upgrades that bring instant impact on how you play, like damage buffs or character ability buffs, but on the other hand, there are also upgrades for things like speed and trap damage that gradually start to feel like a waste of money. In this sense, the grind becomes less and less worth it.

This is compounded by the way Orcs Must Die! Deathtrap gates progression with difficulty. Rather than having more enemies attacking, they get stronger instead, and the power elevation is not mutual. Between traps and your abilities, it can become frustratingly hard to kill even a basic invader as you complete more runs and beat more bosses. It feels at odds with how the game is structured, where you are supposed to be repeating the cycle over and over again while still having a fair challenge.

The attempt of Orcs Must Die! Deathtrap to change the formula with a roguelite twist is not perfect, but neither is it a disastrous failure. The game looks better than before, and the gameplay is still exciting and satisfying for the most part. There is always joy to be had at figuring things out, but whether you can keep up the momentum is the issue, and the longer you go, the more it feels like the game is actively working against you. The orcs still need slaying, but hopefully, the heroes trying to do so don’t get all ground up in the process.

Orcs Must Die! Deathtrap is available now on Xbox Series X|S and PC.