Orcs Must Die! 2 review

Skulls can be refunded as many times as you like, which encourages experimentation with different trap types and upgrades. If you can’t finish a level with a certain number of traps, you can always refund your skulls and pick your load-out from scratch. While this provides a little more variety than the original, it does mean you have to rely on trial and error more. In Orcs Must Die!, you knew that it was possible to finish a level with the traps you had at that point, and so you experimented with different strategies until you got through the level. In the sequel, you’re more tempted to mess around with different loadouts until you find the most effective.

Co-operative mode is a joy. You can only choose six traps each and have far less money than in the single-player game, so it’s vital to work together to lock down certain sections of the map and pile in to help out your buddy when necessary. There’s no limit as to where you can each place traps, so you can help or hinder your partner as you see fit. You can’t drop into each other’s campaign games, but Valve’s Steam service makes it very easy to pair up with a friend.

The main problem with co-op mode is that it has affected the single-player game. The later levels have four entrance points for the orcs, as well as more than one rift gate, and trying to cover them all can feel needlessly difficult. The first levels are fine, but the later ones are almost too large for one player to cover and difficulty goes through the roof. While it was possible to play the first game through on medium difficulty, with a few retries on the later levels, some of Orcs Must Die! 2’s later levels feel impossible until you’ve earned enough skulls to fully upgrade all your traps. To earn these skulls you have to hit the Endless mode, which feels uncomfortably close to grinding for us.

Nevertheless, there’s still an awful lot of fun here for £12. Once you’ve finished the main 15 levels you can always go back and play ten “classic” levels from the first game, only with all-new monsters and traps. If you’re after some challenging fun with a friend, Orcs Must Die! 2 is a great buy.