➤ Watch out for those two 🎮

Ugly dirty and bad. In almost all fantasy RPGs we have had to face them. We are talking about the terrible orcs, with their muscular bodies and the very inelegant manners, and the slimy goblins, disgusting and full of mystery. Cyanide Studio has decided for once to reverse the roles and catapult us into a world dominated by the tyranny of humans, who become the real enemy, the result is this Of Orcs And Men, an action RPG with stealth grafts that leverages cooperation, offering a combat system typical of turn-based role-playing games set in a dynamic structure.

The protagonists of this adventure are the ogre Arkail, a proud member of the prestigious elite tribe of the Bloodjaws, and the goblin Styx, much more evolved than his peers, a cunning and highly disreputable character. The two unlikely subjects find themselves working together to defeat the kingdom of humans by hitting it directly in the heart, that is, killing the emperor. Meanwhile, we will see them perpetually at the center of an endless series of vicissitudes and alternative missions, such as the disinfestation of a village invaded by angry goblins, for one thing, which will only drive them further into trouble.

The adventure is not spared in the description of these two races through a fair number of cut scenes and illustrations, testifying how mere necessity can represent a persuasive means of coalition. The brutal strength of Arkail, in fact, finds completion in the infiltration ability of Styx, in order to make the first a devastating striker of breakthrough, the second a silent assassin hidden from the enemy's gaze. The two can also decide to attack together through a series of combined moves, the choice of the strategy to be applied is up to the player alone.

Green is beautiful

Right from the start we have the possibility to change the control of the two characters through a special button, while with the upper backs we open a radial menu with which we can select three specific assets: offensive, defensive and special. The aim is to choose a series of actions that go to queue up in a row of commands that the character performs in combat. Opening the interface drastically slows down the action, but does not stop it completely, thus making the dynamism of the clashes alive. Basically we have a system that prefers the strategic side, where the various skills that can be purchased along the adventure change both the fighting style and the effects, but which is sunk by a series of questionable choices that compromise its balance.

There are no healing items and the only help provided by the characters is to be able to resurrect each other, but everything is plagued by the intricacies, the confusion of the clashes, the delay of commands and targeting. It is also good to understand as soon as possible the importance represented by the goblin in the economy of the duo, otherwise serious problems in the progression of the game. The very pissed off Arkail after having suffered a certain number of blows enters a berserk phase, where he totally loses control, becoming dangerous even for the poor Styx, who finds himself being the true balance between enemies able to drain greedily the energy bar. Particular attention must necessarily be paid to equipment and weapons, which must be carefully updated to ensure any hope of survival. The structure of the levels is too linear, with a series of narrow and claustrophobic environments, often interrupted by a free zone that takes on the role of hub for the acquisition of secondary quests and dialogues with NPCs. The exploration is therefore reduced to a minimum, if we exclude the remote possibility of getting lost or the collection of some special object in sacks and chests scattered in the maps. Not shocking but pleasant the use of interactive dialogues, along the lines of Mass Effect, able to modify some choices of the story. This aspect is unfortunately reduced by the paucity of the script, a jumble of insipid dialogues and mortified by a truly belittling trivial jargon, especially in the first part. Probably this is an effect desired by the writers and there is a certain irony (at times the game looks like a dark version of Shrek), but the fact remains that the quality of Bioware is only a distant memory.

Xbox 360 achievements

Of Orcs And Men presents 45 objectives for the classic 1000 player points, given the nature and length of the game, although only single player, it will take a considerable amount of time to get them all. Do not forget to complete all the side quests, not only functional to fatten up your Gamer Tag, but necessary to facilitate progression in the main campaign!

He is worse than me

Technically Of Orcs And Men relies on the graphics engine developed by Spiders to paint a dark and menacing fantasy world, not very epic, with rather mixed results. A precise artistic direction is missing, with characterizations focused on the two protagonists, actually well done, while everything else is limited to appearances that are not aesthetically incisive and scarcely diversified, closing with a series of environments that are really uninspired and already plagued by recycling in the early hours. of game. The rendering of the graphic engine is substantially good, rich in effects and textures, even if the image quality is slightly marred by the presence of jagged edges, probably attributable to a not particularly aggressive anti-aliasing. The most relevant problem in the gameplay is represented by the shots during the fights, which often prevent you from understanding what is happening, and the drops in fluidity in the most excited situations, which aggravate the response to commands. The menus are not characterized by their beauty, but rather accuse the PC derivation, often resulting confused and uncomfortable to navigate with the pad.

The music somehow reconnects with the oppressive and medieval atmosphere of the title, presenting a series of pieces performed with the use of cellos. A choice of this type requires a high compositional quality in order not to fall into the trap of boredom, and unfortunately this is not the case with Of Orcs And Men. Also in this sector we are looking for an "anti climax" effect, probably desired, but highly questionable, the songs are rarely able to excite the listener or emphasize the clashes, so much so that on certain occasions they are even disconnected from the action. You first take them off and put on Apocalyptica's Harmageddon. The overall duration of the title settles on 15-20 hours, an excellent value for a title of this genre, too bad that a large part of this time will be spent cursing the combat system and all the problems that afflict Cyanide Studio fatigue. The game is in English with Spanish subtitles.

Comment

Version tested: Xbox 360 Resources4Gaming.com

5.5

Readers (31)

7.6

Your vote

A pity, there are no other words to describe Of Orcs And Men, an interesting project on paper but that did not give too much hope in the execution, given the past of Cyanide Studio. Obviously we are not yet at a maturation stage for the French team, with the result that it is really hard to recommend its product, anachronistic in almost all parts, plagued by technical and design problems that lead to irremediably undermine its playability. The combat system proves inadequate in managing a structure probably more suited to a hack 'n slash. Unfortunately, the stimuli do not even come from an insufficient narrative plot and characters who do everything to be unpleasant, reducing the game to a crusade in an attempt to reach its conclusion, a goal for the exclusive prerogative of the most persevering. But with all that the market offers, one wonders if it will be worth it.