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Orcs Must Die done with DLC, dev working on two new projects
The latest episode of the Rocket Jump podcast contains more than its usual banter between the hosts. Special guest Justin Korthof, Community Manager at Robot Entertainment, drops by to talk about the studio's recent release, Orcs Must Die. In the discussion, he confirms that there isn't any more DLC planned for the game. Apparently Robot set out to offer two different DLC packs and that's it. Bummer. But that doesn't mean the studio is kicking back in Hawaii, counting the coin made off the genocide of the orc race. Korthof also explains that the studio is working on two new titles but, obviously, he doesn't explain what those are. That's fine by us, because we need more time to get five skulls on every Orcs Must Die map anyway. You can find the pertinent info right around the 34-minute mark of the episode; DLC discussion takes place around 44 minutes in.
Orcs Must Die's 'Lost Adventures' DLC comes to PC on November 8
While we can all agree killing orcs is a good thing, after a while it can get a bit monotonous. No one knows this better than Robot Entertainment, creators of orc-killing sim, Orcs Must Die, who has just announced a new DLC pack for the PC version, entitled "Lost Adventures." On November 8, $2.99 will net you five new killing grounds to populate with orc corpses, two new enemy types and the Mana Well, an emplacement you can put anywhere that will give you a "burst of magical energy at just the right moment." Great, now the guy who cleans up the orc corpses has to clean up bursts of excess magical energy too? Give the guy a break already!
Orcs Must Die! more than ever with the first DLC pack, The Artifacts of Power
It's time for the orcs to die deader than they've ever died before with the help of the first DLC pack for Orcs Must Die! (See? Told you.), The Artifacts of Power, due out Tuesday, Oct. 25 for $2.49 on Steam. The DLC includes two new weapons, two new traps and an item-upgrade upgrade, as listed by Robot Entertainment: • Vampiric Gauntlets: Armed with these grim gauntlets, you can drain the enemy's health while healing you at the same time. If you have a desperate need to use spells, you can also use the gauntlets to drain your health in exchange for mana. • Alchemist's Satchel: Toss a series of deadly acid bombs that explode on your command to melt flesh from the bones of multiple groups of orcs at once. • The Shock Zapper: Mount the Shock Zapper on the ceiling and zap fliers and ground units equally dead with this oversized pest remover. • Floor Scorcher: By the time they see the fire, it will be too late. Burn entire groups of complacent enemies with this pop-up flaming surprise. • New Trap Upgrades: You've got two new reasons to go back and earn those 5-skull ratings on War Mage and Nightmare levels. With the Artifacts of Power Pack, you can now spend skulls on new upgrades for Shock Zapper and Floor Scorcher. The Artifacts of Power is the first of two DLC packs Robot has planned for Orcs Must Die!, so keep on killin', Mages.
Orcs Must Die! springs a trap on Steam
The thing about Orcs is, as misunderstood as they possibly may be, they still gotta go. They must die. It's kinda like destiny. And, as was foretold (give or take a day) by the great seers at Robot Entertainment, Orcs Must Die! is now available for download on Steam. PC gamers, you no longer have an excuse for not doing your duty and killing a whole lot of Orcs -- well, unless you can't afford the $14.99 cost of admission.
Orcs Must Die review: Building a better Orc trap
There truly are few things more satisfying in a video game than watching a plan of your own invention be executed with immaculate success. For all its bells, whistles and promised hordes of greenskinned invaders, the real meat of Orcs Must Die happens in the moments before your fortresses doors are kicked down. You're given as much time as you need to survey the area, choose your traps and weapons, and begin crafting piecemeal your survival strategy for the waves ahead. There are far more layers than the game's straightforward, titular directive would suggest. Over the next few minutes, you don't just have to make all of the Orcs dead. You have to tend to that very first seed of strategy, growing it into an engine of impenetrable destruction.%Gallery-122837%
Orcs Must Die! on Oct. 5 for XBLA, Oct. 12 for PC
Orcs Must Die! will unleash the horde on October 5 and 12 on Xbox Live Arcade and PC, respectively. Robot Entertainment's third-person tower defense game charges the player with defending their castle from wave after wave of Orcish invaders, using diabolical and silly traps. Robot Entertainment has been showing off the game since early this year, so there's plenty of gameplay footage to check out. Most recently, the developer made a clever interactive trailer that gives the viewer a choice on what traps to place. %Gallery-126147%
Orcs Must Die! in interactive trailer
If you haven't had the chance to try Orcs Must Die! at a PAX this year, here's the closest you'll get before the game's October launch (or a demo). This interactive walkthrough trailer, with 30 possible combinations, lets the viewer choose traps and see the results.
Age of Empires Online review: Casual conquest
In reading online discussions surrounding Age of Empires Online, you'd think that the developers had taken to traveling the country with the express intent of running over kittens. Clearly, players have taken issue with this latest in the Ensemble-created historical strategy franchise, which layers the series' core formula beneath a highly stylized coat of paint and free-to-play business model. However, much of the mechanics that made Age of Empires a household name remain, though now alongside new features designed explicitly to both ease new players into the experience as well as capture the attention of the coveted MMO crowd. %Gallery-124916%
Orcs Must Die players at PAX Prime get Cardboard Tube Samurai skin, comic book
Robot Entertainment is not only bringing tower defense title Orcs Must Die to PAX Prime later on this week, but the company is providing a show special as well. At the booth in Seattle during the show, they'll be giving out special codes for the game's War Mage character, designed after Penny Arcade's own Cardboard Tube Samurai, to visitors who sign up for the company forums. The first 200 people to play the game each day of the show will also pick up a prequel comic book from the company. The rest of us, at home, who can't play the game live on the floor of PAX? All we get is to wait until the game comes out later this year on XBLA and PC.
Orcs Must Die! coming to PC and XBLA this summer, Comic-Con this weekend
Robot Entertainment announced today that third-person tower defender Orcs Must Die! will be published by Microsoft Studios and available later this summer for PC and Xbox Live Arcade. The developer previously gave us a window of "late August or early September." Orcs Must Die! will be playable this weekend at San Diego Comic-Con in the Xbox Lounge, located at the Hard Rock Hotel, and Robot Entertainment will have an OMD prequel comic book available at the show. Not going to Comic-Con, but still want to get your hands on the transmedia companion fiction that is sure to deliver Great Gatsby nuance to the Orcs Must Die universe? Don't worry, the comic will be available in a digital format "later this summer, also at no charge."
Robot Entertainment planning to set a trap for Orcs Must Die! in July [Update: Actually, it's late August, early September]
While checking out Orcs Must Die! at E3 this week, we spoke with lead designer Ian Fischer and inquired about the game's planned launch window. The current plan is to launch on Steam and Xbox Live Arcade initially sometime this summer. "It'll be launching on XBLA and Steam initially, then other platforms after that," he explained. "We haven't talked about price point yet, but we're looking to launch it sometime this summer -- July, at least, is what we're looking at right now." Keep it locked for our preview, which should be live on the site here soon. Update: Orcs Must Die!'s community coordinator, Duncan Stanley, emailed me to say that Ian was mistaken when he gave me the initial July window. The game will likely launch in late August or early September, he says.
Orcs Must Die! preview: Pleasure in panic
It's hard to define Orcs Must Die!. On paper, it's a marriage of the Tower Defense and the action-RPG genres -- but the influence of one doesn't trump the other; it doesn't feel dominated by either one of those two genres. Robot Entertainment has expertly blended the two genres together to create something new: a panic-infused experience where the player is constantly under duress. %Gallery-126147%
Age of Empires Online begins August 16
Age of Empires Online is ready to be ushered out of beta and onto PCs worldwide on August 16. The game, which will initially launch with the Greek and Egyptian factions, will be available at retail and online at AgeofEmpiresOnline.com. The freemium title will offer "more than 40 hours" of free co-op and competitive gameplay, but if you're looking to upgrade straight out the gate, Microsoft has booster bundles available. %Gallery-124916%
Orcs Must Die trailer springs a trap
Sure, you could set up elaborate, expensive traps to try and quell the invading armies of Orcs in Orcs Must Die, or you could go the route of your cheapskate uncle Terry: the spring trap. It's cost-effective, effective-effective and something any skeet shooting aficionado should appreciate.
Get blown away by the Orcs Must Die Wind Belt
Times aren't just tough in the real world, you know. The world of fantasy video games is feeling the pinch as well, making us appreciate the most recently revealed weapon for Orcs Must Die all the more. Check out the energy-efficient, environment-utilizing Wind Belt after the jump!
Orcs Must Die trailer packed with barrels of boom
The only thing more fun than a barrel of monkeys is a barrel full of explosives. Robot Entertainment is gearing up for the "summer" launch of Orcs Must Die with clips highlighting the arsenal options in the castle defense title.
Gas Powered Games replaces Robot as Age of Empires Online developer
Chris Taylor's Gas Powered Games (makers of the original Dungeon Siege and Supreme Commander) has taken over development of the upcoming free-to-play Age of Empires Online title, according to the game's official blog. Microsoft says that it became clear during development of some of the game's content packs that the GPG team "share our long-term commitment to make this a success," and that the move has been "the plan for some time," and won't delay the game at all. This, of course, leaves previous developer Robot Entertainment – comprised of AoE veterans from the now-shuttered Ensemble Studios – in the lurch, as Microsoft has shown them the door. On its official message board, Robot confirms that "this was always in the plan," and says that the goal all along has been to work on original titles. Now that they've handed off the reins to Taylor and GPG, the company is reportedly hard at work on a new title called Orcs Must Die! Still no word on how close we are to a release date for Age of Empires Online, but Microsoft is still pushing beta signups on its website.
Robot's 'Orcs Must Die!' lays siege to consoles, PC this summer
Robot Entertainment, the studio behind the upcoming Age of Empires Online, has announced that it's bringing Orcs Must Die! to "personal computers and consoles this summer." The game is billed as "a white-knuckle blend of action and strategy" and tasks players with defending their fortress from an Orc onslaught. In addition to fighting the Orcs personally, players can also set traps throughout the fortress to crush, impale, immolate or otherwise kill the invading horde. Orcs Must Die! is planned as a download-only title for PC and consoles, making PSN and XBLA likely candidates for console distribution. Check out the first screens in the gallery below and find the debut trailer after the break. %Gallery-117513%
Age of Empires Online preview: Build like an Egyptian
Despite its cartoon look and smiling warmongers -- not to mention its free-to-play gameplay model -- Age of Empires Online is undeniably an Age of Empires game. The new direction doesn't much change the series' core gameplay, as this real-time strategy title is still all about resource management, with a pretty steep learning curve. This is not Age of Empires "Lite." So, imagine my pleasant surprise when, below the coat of cute and colorful paint, I found a deep gameplay experience that quickly summoned my dormant nostalgia for Age of Empires 2 and 3. I jumped right into the Egyptian faction's first mission -- a skirmish in which I had to rid the map of the opposing Greeks -- without issue, despite never having played AoE Online before. %Gallery-114988%
Age of Empires Online freemium model not looking to 'nickel and dime'
Age of Empires Online may be a freemium title, but Microsoft Game Studios General Manager Dave Luehmann tells us "it's not a nickel and dimey microtransaction thing." During an interview at Gamescom today, the executive expressed that the studio doesn't want it to feel like some other freemium titles where "what you don't want to do in the game is what you pay for," or "that you pay to skip the parts you don't like." Luehmann explained, "I don't like to pay for things I don't like to do, that seems kind of backwards. So how about we produce things that people actually want?" Robot Entertainment Designer Jerome K. Jones, who is working on the game chimed in, "So it would be like paying for an expansion pack. ... You won't buy one thing at a time. You might buy an entire civ or another region with a bunch of quests in it." The game is currently in Beta and will officially launch in the first half of 2011. Both Robot and Microsoft are trying to figure out how much to eventually charge for content. The duo told us the game currently has over 25 hours of free stuff available, which kind of stops making the game sound "freemium" and makes it sound more, um, free?
