The battle between humans, goblins, and orcs has been waging for centuries, and your tribe, the Bloodjaws, are caught in the middle of it. You begin by controlling Arkail “The Butcher”, an elite warrior within the Bloodjaw clan. He is considered one of the most feared warriors in all the clans.
Of Orcs and Men is a turn-based strategy role-playing game that is nothing short of amazing. Gamers who played Dragon Age will feel very comfortable playing Of Orcs and Men. Like Dragon Age, you can pause the game during combat to issue orders to your party members.
This is absolutely brilliant; it gives the player complete control over the battle. You can also issue more than one command/order to your party members .
Once your party members run out of orders in their battle queue, they will resort to standard weapon attacks until more are issued. You have to micromanage your warriors constantly to keep up with the pace of the battle. The game’s AI isn’t easy to beat and it will look for any openings in your strategy. Battles can take five minutes or more depending on the number of enemies you’re fighting. The action is fast, furious, and very unforgiving.
The main characters Arkail and Styx can be controlled manually as well. When you level up, you have access to new skills and can enhance existing ones. Skills can only be enhanced once; you must choose from one of two enhancement options that usually include either extra melee damage or status aliment. Some skills will allow Arkail and Styx to attack together or support each other when they are overwhelmed.
The story enables you to make important decisions that affect the outcome of the game; your choices will change things dramatically. With that said, you can play Of Orcs and Men multiple times and never experience the same outcome twice. This adds to the game’s excitement. In many ways, this allows the story to develop and the outcome to change depending on what the player chooses.
You can also choose side-quests that are outside the main story arc. These side-quests are open-ended and tailor the experience based on your previous actions. It’s a great way to earn extra coin, weapons, or even rare gear. You never know what you will find.
The soundtrack has the appeal of a blockbuster movie. Provided by the Boston Cello Quartet and composed by Olivier Deriviere, the OST is full of dynamic scores that compliment each scenario as they play out. Like the graphics, the music conveys a cinematic atmosphere. This is not common in most turn-based strategy RPGs.
Of Orcs and Men is a sensational role-playing game that will take you on an adventure of a lifetime. Add it to your gaming library if you haven’t already.
James ‘ Daripp3r’ Pittaro
Platform: Playstation 3 (Available on PSN)
Developer: Cyanide Studios
Publisher: Focus Home Interactive
ESRB: M (Mature)
Price: $49.99
Focus Home Interactive’s Website
| Review Score | |
|---|---|
| Graphics |  |
| Graphics that are pleasing to the eyes. | |
| Sound | |
| Epic music with incredible emotion. | |
| Gameplay | |
| Fantastic turn-based combat and incredible battles. | |
| Overall | |
|---|---|
| Of Orcs and Men allows the player to explore the ‘other’ side of role-playing instead of being the hero. It’s a rare concept that should be explored further in role-playing games. | |
