- Publisher: Robot Entertainment
- Release Date: Jan 28, 2025
- Also On: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X
- Critic score
- Publication
- By date
- Unscored
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Jan 27, 2025Orcs Must Die: Deathtrap retains the frenzied fun of its predecessors despite a mixed bag of format changes.
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Jan 31, 2025Orcs Must Die! Deathtrap's new rogue-lite mechanics add some interesting twists to a classic formula, but the tower defense aspects are the true star of the show.
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Jan 29, 2025It's been a long time since I played Orcs Must Die!, but this franchise and this studio are always at the forefront of trying to apply new ideas to the genre and take it a little further, which is always appreciated.
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Jan 27, 2025Death Trap proves that the series' basic formula is still a hell of a lot of fun. The moments of triumph, when your traps work in perfect sync, or when you throw an orc into a lava pit and watch it bounce off the saw blades, are still just as satisfying as they were a decade ago.
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Jan 27, 2025The upgrades, the new orc species, and the controls and mechanics of the new character have added a lot of fun to a saga that at first seemed to have nothing new to offer. It's a good game, but I think it still needs more innovation in its main mechanics.
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Jan 27, 2025Orcs Must Die! Deathtrap is good, but in a very workmanlike sort of way. Although it's not the most surprising or inventive multiplayer game on the market, it upholds the strong balance of strategy and real-time gameplay that made the franchise so beloved in the first place. Fans of previous entries may be somewhat split on things like the roguelike progression and heavier emphasis on multiplayer at the cost of solo play, but the strengths of the series are still there, and in some ways, they're more finely tuned than ever.
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Jan 27, 2025Orcs Must Die! Deathtrap's roguelite spin on the action-tower defense series works pretty well. Even if most of its traps and endless parade of highly killable enemies are carried over from past games, the new Warmages' abilities and the combined impact of its randomized modifiers can really shake things up nicely for quite a few runs.
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Jan 27, 2025Orcs Must Die! Deathtrap is a blast with friends, but returning fans may find that not enough has changed to warrant a return visit.
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Mar 22, 2025Orcs Must Die! Deathtrap feels like the result of expanding in every direction except forward. While it throws plenty of new elements into the mix, none of them stand out as true innovations over Orcs Must Die! 3. That said, it does have its strengths: a few great ideas, an enjoyable soundtrack, wide-open maps, a skill tree, and even and genuinely engaging gameplay. Just don’t even think about playing solo—you’ll end up suffering twice as much for the effort.
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Jan 30, 2025Orcs Must Die! Deathtrap takes a now-established idea and gives it new life via a roguelike progression system. Whilst the foundation of the idea is still solid and provides many an hour of fun, the implementation is needlessly grindy and imperfectly scaled. Deathtrap is not the evolution of the series we wanted it to be. It’s still a good amount of fun but falls short of its ultimate potential.
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Jan 27, 2025The introduction of a roguelike element in Orcs Must Die! Deathtrap results in a somewhat contradictory fusion. Setting up a defence with traps and tearing apart entire columns of Orcs remains highly entertaining, especially with friends, with constant pressure forcing you to adjust your strategy, wave by wave, map by map. However, progression through the levels is inconsistent and outside of combat it's simply uninteresting. Even so, Orcs Must Die! Deathtrap offers many good moments of gameplay, if its slow progression doesn't bore you.
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Jan 27, 2025A typically snappy entry in the best series that action tower defence has to offer, held back by a repeating roguelite structure that's only partially successful.
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Jan 27, 2025As someone who plays a lot of games, it is very rare to question “Why am I doing this?” “Why am I getting platinum trophies?” “Why am I levelling up every sub-class?” “Why am I prestiging?” We do it because it's fun, or satisfying, or because it will reward us in some way. Orcs Must Die! Deathtrap had me questioning those rewards and that satisfaction in a very fundamental way. I have leveled up characters, beat hidden bosses, and gotten golden gun skins… But to what end though? So I can do it again? So I can move the boulder ever slightly further up the mountain before it slides back down again? For most games, we do it because the answer is, “It's fun.”...Simply put, the act of playing Orcs Must Die! Deathtrap is not fun enough to abate that existential question from rattling around your head while you play.
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| This publication has not posted a final review score yet. | |
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Jan 27, 2025Orcs Must Die! Deathtrap is chaotic fun, just like the previous entries into the franchise. However, by taking plenty of new risks and offering plenty of rewards for players willing to stick it out through the difficulty spikes, there’s an extremely rewarding and satisfying game here. Visually great, extremely chaotic, and well-optimized, Orcs Must Die: Deathtrap is a great evolution for the franchise and gives us a better picture of how future games may play out. Honestly? This may be the best one yet. [Strongly recommmended]