Orcs Must Die! Unchained Playstation 4 Review

"Console Orc Trapping"

Multiplayer

For this Playstation 4 review I've altered my thoughts on the PC version for this including the various changes and unique aspects of the console version. Orcs Must Die! Unchained is the latest entry in the glorious orc killing tower defense series which takes the original format and tweaks it into a free to play experience. It's split into three distinct areas of Survival, Sabotage and Endless. The survival mode is essentially the story portion of the game where players work together to defend rifts. This is completely traditional with ratings for each level and you'll need to replay them to get a firm idea of what works best to defend the areas. The Endless mode is similar to the Survival, but you just attempt to survive as long as possible.

The final and core mode within the game is Sabotage, the PVP area of the game. I left it for last mention since it's the biggest part of the game and where I've had the most fun while playing. Both sides play at the same time with the goal of surviving the onslaught while also messing with their foes. Each round you'll quickly set up traps while also picking a couple of cards to attack the enemy with whenever during the round. It's actually a very well balanced mode aside from some cards appearing to unbalance things though for the most part a solid mode.

Gameplay

Unchained plays like your typical Orcs Must Die! title where you are a direct supporter of your traps. As a squad you need to coordinate placement and create paths for the orcs to traverse. The traps cause all sorts of damage to the oncoming orcs and company, with a massive variation in what they do. It's crazy to see how expansive the system has gotten in this one with a trap for everything and an option to upgrade them. This is where the improvement system comes in as you work towards upgrading them by making them better with skulls or adding attachments over time. You gather supplies for improvement through boxes as you do other goods and while slow, feels like a fine system of gathering better equipment. I did notice that on the console version that there were some performance issues during intense moments of combat and this could bog down a relatively fluid experience. These weren't entirely often, but enough that I wanted to make note of them. The visuals were impressive for the console and while not quite to the level as PC, pleasing to look at.

The map layout is also just awesome in this, there's such a wide range of maps available with so many unique setups to use during matches. It's quite intricate with how large the maps have gotten and there are so many enemies to kill. These range from the regular orcs, to larger monsters and even some of the special card based bosses. This is one aspect that's somewhat questionable as while mostly balanced, some of the high level opponents brought out intense creatures. While that does provide more coins for the ones that can take on the bosses, some inexperienced players I was partnered with couldn't handle the sudden extra difficulty increase. It's very satisfying though when you're able to mulch through enemies as the quantity of bodies reaches a point of insanity with bright colors, traps doing their thing and bits of orcs flying about.

The Conclusion

Orcs Must Die! Unchained is a strong continuation of the series providing the full experience of orc slaughtering for nothing. It offers countless hours of carnage, trap layouts and maps to master as you work together with others online or friends. There's a set of modes for all types of players whether you like the confined challenge of improving your scores for each round or trying to beat out others online. It carries that addictive style of gameplay that's worked well in the past and brings it all at no cost. I did notice that some aspects from the PC version aren't available yet including characters and there were some minor performance issues that did show up during intense moments of combat.

Orcs Must Die! Unchained Playstation 4 for Playstation 4

Rating Overall: 8.2