GOTY 2011: Best Downloadable Game Runner Up - Orcs Must Die

As digital distribution becomes a normal part of the gaming experience, we’ve been flooded with a variety of high quality titles in recent times. I’ve tried out quite a few this year, across the PC, PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360, but by far one of the best experiences was with Robot Entertainment’s Orcs Must Die.

While tower defense games have been around for quite some time, Orcs Must Die adds, besides the regular strategy gameplay, some highly polished third person shooter mechanics.

I’ve already praised it in my review but it’s worth pointing out the amount of fun you can have with this great little title. You play as a young warmage who, after the death of his mentor, must now defend a variety of fortresses against the onslaught of Orcs. To help you on your quest, you have the ability to place all sorts of traps and summon allies to stop the waves of orcs in their green tracks, before they reach the portal into the human world.

While the premise isn’t that impressive, you’ll have a lot of fun during the actual matches, as you need not just to be smart and place your traps in the spots where they do the most damage, but also have some quick reflexes and shoot down your enemies with your variety of powers, from the extremely efficient crossbow, to gauntlets that allow you to shoot fire or ice.

The Orcs are also varied enough to cause a lot of problems for the player, ranging from regular soldiers to massive Ogres, small but fast kobolds, or even flying hellbats, each requiring a different tactic to take down.

While the lack of a cooperative online mode does diminish its replayability, it’s still a great game that’s always drawing me back, largely because you can easily clear a level in around 5 to 10 minutes, depending on your skills and its length.

If you want to try out a fun downloadable experience, then Orcs Must Die is definitely for you. The game is currently available for download on the PC, via Steam, and on the Xbox 360, via Xbox Live Arcade.