Clearly an underdog, this game is better than it seems. The main attraction is the story and original setting, playing as orc and goblin against the humain oppression.

PROS

- Overall good story and dialogues
- Over 16 hours of gameplay if you don't play on easy
- Overall nice graphics

CONS

- Uninteresting items
- Average combat system, interesting on paper but should have been better for a game focused on combat like this one
- Some not too serious technical problems like the camera not cooperating sometimes

REVIEW

This looked like a barely average game at first. But I was pleasantly surprised. The story is well tied together, the characters are generally well written and well fleshed out, and even the dialogues and exchanges between characters are well done.

The main downside of this game is that for something so axed on combats, it should have had more items, more skill involved in combat rather than using the mmo system of selecting targets and queuing actions, and the combat itself should have been better tailored to feel more authentic and fast paced. Don't get me wrong, the combat is decent, it just could have been better.

It also lacks depth in some aspects, like for the character stats for example. There doesn't seem an alternative to putting all points into stamina on orc and all on damage for the goblin, the harder difficulty you go the more obvious it becomes that there is only one viable build.

All in all I do recommend this game, it is good value if you get it on a sale.

This game is one of the greatest underappreciated gems I have had the pleasure of finding in a long time. There are obvious things that sully the experience a bit, but given this is the effort of small studio on a tight budget these aren't hard to look past.

The story takes a twist on typical fantasy by having orcs being oppressed and subjegated by humans, and in light of this, your main character is on a quest to kill the emperor who seeks to unite elves and dwarves against "the greenskins."

The main character is Arkence, or the "butcher" as he has been dubbed after a bloody masacre in his past. What's great here is that this story element actually works into the gameplay. As you take damage your rage meter builds, and if you don't use skills to keep your calm he becomes enraged. In this state, he more powerful but reckless and uncontrollable, attacking foes in random order.

Evening this out is his original odd couple partner in crime, Styx. He is a goblin assassin, the only one of his race who can speak or display any intelligence at all. He causes bleeds, poisons and lowers defense in combat, and out of combat he small stealth sections where he dispatches as many soldiers as he can before things eventually fall to pieces.

The story is well surprisingly well written considering every other line of dialogue has a swear word, because it fits into the narrative and general feeling of the story. I was honestly surprized at myself when I started the characters, admiring the way the duo chirped eachother and eventually grew into a like-minded friendship. Combat slows down when you pause so you can plan each of their actions, and everything works quite well. The graphics are nice enough and the game has a surprizingly good soundtrack that hits all the right notes when a sad or intense situation takes rise.

Sadly, there are some issues, though they are just a lot of nitpicks that don't effect the solid feel of gameplay. Character models don't sync up in most cutscenes, a weapon constantly floats in air against Ark's back, voice acting apart from the main duo is largely sub-par. You are told of great battles going on in other places due to what's happening in the story and can't be there because the budget game wouldn't allow it, and some people might not like how the stealth sections work. You essentially sneak around and kill guards in order of which would be able to see the act from their FOV, the ai will walk past dead bodies without raising alarm which seems silly but is also necessary to that element of gameplay. This is a stop motion turn based rpg first, the stealth is more like a small minigame that you are never actually forced to do that makes fights easier.

Past that, there are a bunch of sidequests which never feel pointless as the duo banter and you find out more meaningful things about the story. I'm not usually someone who likes sidequests but it worked well for me. You have a mission hub in different zones and when you pick a mission it is generally linear except for a few hidden treasures. There's a couple of choices to be made in the game that have small outcomes on story, but nothing with permanance.


All and all, the flaws take you out of the experience in a small fathom but do little to stop this extremely charming game from taking your heart. The prequel, Styx:Master of shadows is out soon, and I can't wait to delve again into this world again, and see how much the studio has grown since their time between the titles.

9/10 There's nitpicks, but the story, the gameplay and the pacing are all great and a low budget doesn't change that.

I really wanted to like this game. It has a really unique take on a fantasy setting and I wanted to press through and see it come to a great end that justifies its slow start.

Didn't happen. The game controls like complete garbage. I found myself constantly frustrated by one of my characters either standing still getting beat on or conversely, sprinting off at a random group of enemies half the map away from the current battle. You can do every side quest and explore every corner but random difficulty spikes will slap you down and left me scratching my head about how I could conceivably progress.

I can give a recommendation with a qualification if you want to run through on easy and see how the story goes but other than that Of Orcs and Men isn't worth your time. There are better games to be played than this unenjoyable slog.

"Fun, original and pretty dam good. oOaM is well worth looking into and buying. Play as the blood crazed orc and the witty Goblin in this awesome Game..."

A over used story with a new twist. Finally you can play as the enemy of man... Of Orcs and Men is a 3rd Person Action, RPG. It features a unlikley pair, an orc and goblin, who team up to end the enslavement of the orcish kind. After the Emperor of the realm of man expands his empire into the orc domain the green-skins are enslaved or killed. Few survive waiting for the moment to strike back. You have been tasked with killing this emperor and freeing the orc's.

Fun with a varied playstyle I will definatly be playing more of this game...

Of Orcs and Men is a game that you will either love or hate. If you can forgive the initial awkwardness of the combat and the linier corridor like levels, what you will find is a rich and rewarding, well-acted story that turns the men good orcs evil premise of almost the past 20 years on its head. The two main leads really pull you into the story and once you find the flow of the combat, it becomes almost second nature, demanding a little tactical thinking to win. I can’t recommend this game highly enough. It finished leaving me wanting more with a lot of great memories of my time in its world.

"Of Orcs and Men" has become a favorite of mine. Its fun, engaging and memorable. The characters, though simple at first, become more complex as you continue on through the story. Styx especially is one of the more interesting characters in a video game that I have ever seen.

Great music, likeable characters, and a decent story with some interesting twists. Diamond in the rough.

This game had a lot of potential, with an interesting plot, crisp graphics and an innovative dual character system, but I just can't get past how dissapointed I am in a few key aspects of game play;

The combat mechanics system they introduce here is unlike other RPGs. For each of your two characters you assign a list of actions they will execute in order, which allows for the near simulataneous control of your orc and goblin, but robs you of the fluidity that is normally present in comparable games. I never got the sense that success or failure in combat was at all connected with my level of skill or understanding of the game. I clicked the 'attack' button and the orc attacked. I didn't feel in control of my own characters.

The constant interuptions, especially in the beginning, do a lot to slow down the pace of the game and make you feel less like you a playing an RPG and more like you are watching a CGI movie. Each time you go around a corner the camera pans to show you where a group of guards is standing or draw you into dialogue with a character that you don't want to interact with.

Even some of the dialogue choices you are given are largely irrelevant as option A will lead you to fight a person now, while option B will have to fighting the exact same person 90 seconds later. It is common for this genre to not include these choices. No Zelda game ever let you choose if you wanted to fight Ganon or not, and that is perfectly fine, but if we will have choices make them real choices that have different outcomes. If the developers wanted to make a precisely scripted game without minor plot variations then why let players choose their dialogue response at all?

I was honestly looking forward to playing this game, but quickly became frustrated by these annoyances that detract from the emersion experience. If these traits don't sound like they would bother you then perhaps you will enjoy this game more than I did.

An amazing game with combat similar to the original mass effect or dragon age. But an awesome skillsets that wil let you adapt the game to your needs. Defintely an understated gem. You get to be an Orc and a goblin, a warrior and assasin. How cool is that? Cant wait for more!!

this game is fantastic. this game has the most amazing combat system ever, mixing elements of realtime and turn based. the graphics are all right and even though this game isnt meant for its music the music in it is pretty good. the story line is to die for and it is definitly worth the money.

Don't expect much choice or loot. But the game gets an 'A" for graphics and storytelling. The combat is similar to the original mass effect or dragon age. But the skillsets are very cool. Defintely an understated gem. You get to be a tank and a stealthy assassin. Orc and a goblin. How cool is that? Cant wait for the sequel.

Love the story and the gameplay!

Very nice game. I would recommend only buying this game if its on sale, but its still very enjoyable for a 10$ or under game.

Infact, Its one of the most fun games ive played in a while. The assasinations are very fun!
I think It could use some work personally, but I would also like to acknowlege it is outdated and still looks amazing.
I wouldn't buy unless you have an i7 though, not because its hard on your PC, its just less laggy, and will look and run alot better :)

Not for everyone. I played it for the story, which is sorta addictive.
Played through in 15 hours

isnt ♥♥♥♥ just a wonderful word. ♥♥♥♥. ♥♥♥♥. ♥♥♥♥. ♥♥♥♥.FUUUUUUUCK.

"♥♥♥♥," is essentially the whole game's dialouge. Nothing but pointless and repetitive swearing. I understand the premise and in war swearing is commonplace; that whole swearing like a sailor metaphor rings a bell. Although I WISH they would swear like a sailor, it would at least be more colorful. Every two minutes its, "look at me I said the word ♥♥♥♥." Yes, ♥♥♥♥ is a versitile word but there are a variety of other swear words that can be used to articulate communications between characters. And dont give me the crap about how "theyre dumb, theyre orcs and only know how to kill." The first scene shows complex communication and articulation, Its a very wierd disconnect to go from "Oh, why thank you. Look at my manners, arent I so polite," to "♥♥♥♥. Me swing ♥♥♥♥ing sword. You bleed all over ♥♥♥♥ing ground," (not actual quotes). Was the script proof read by a 13 year old who just discovered he can swear among friends?

Oh right this is a game. WHY DO I HAVE TO MICRO MANAGE EVERYTHING? I undestand the game developer probably didnt want another hack and slash game but this is not the way to do it, Im just hacking and slashing really slow. I also understand that other games have done this sort of mocromanaging well such as dragon age: origins.

The way this game's comabt works is that you have to issue commands on the fly in a slowed down period which essentially pauses the fight every 20 seconds. Lets return to DA:O, you created a preset queue of attacks to perform based on certian battle conditions with respect to the individual character's skills and abilities. Because its all preset the combat happens a lot faster and creates more complex combat scenarios.

In DA:O you can interupt individual characters from performing their attack queues (or even quickly switch to a different preset queue) to issue specific commands to address a unique battle situation. In Orcs and Men, you dont get that tactical experience, the attack queue is created on the spot and then terminated, repeating every few seconds. This would be a thousand times more bareable if I could issue my character to auto attack when I dont have attcks in the queue.

Although, I do like the slow down aspect of the battle rather than a complete pause because that forces the player to act and not just sit there and figure out every small detail.

A dark fantasy RPG buddymovie with reversed roles, where you play on the side of the greenskins and humans are the bad guys. A game that tries to pick up sensitive topics like racial conflicts. Sadly it fails miserably.

What remains is a cool idea executed in the worst way possible. Edgy writing, nonsensical storyarc, HORRENDOUS combat; I did not enjoy my time with this game, and I really wanted to like it. I'm not opposed to a sequel since giving up this universe right away would be a tragedy (and indeed we got a prequel centered around the originstory of one of the main characters) but there's a lot of room for improvement.

Good soundtrack though I guess.

Main theme for this game: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJzDrGP8KdE

Some games are bad on paper, but have something in them that makes you ignore the negative traits in the game. This is such a game.

It has very narrow and boring level design. For an rpg, very limited and boring skillset and levelup system. Main characters look great, but all the others not so. Items and exploration are meaningless and very simple. The pattern of enemies is very limited and uninspiring. AI is horrible and you have to abuse the AI to win some battles.

Still, the setting of the game is very interesting, and the main characters are really well done and you enjoy journey with them. When its over, you want to see more of them. The music is really, really good and atmospheric. The battles can be annoying at times, but in the end they are still rewarding. RPG decicions are few and don`t change a thing in the story, but they add the immersion and give a nice touch for character development. How the game focused in these 2 characters and their journey together, was well made. I did want to see a longer ending though...

Even if the game has problems, it left me wanting for more, and I would buy a sequel the first day it would come.

Of Orcs And Men is another RPG from Cyanide Studio and Spiders Studios yes the sames guys who made Mars War Log which was another great action RPG.

the combat this time is more like action RPG. so you have to arrange a series of attack and stop to change the order or change the target. it is good to note the game suffer from difficulty spikes so be aware or change your tactics.

it is rough around the edges but it still a great game with well a written story. Get this game of you can,you will enjoy it.

A short budget RPG that doesn't overstay its welcome. Tells a neat story with a few twists and turns and stays on course with the story even with the sidequests. Pretty much 100% linear with all missions pretty much being "go there and kill everything", but combat is fun enough to make it not matter.

Each character can also be built in a combination of different ways so there can be replayability if you wanted to try a different combat style. No complaints about the graphics, writing, or voice acting for the most part. Styx is probably the best character I've seen in a long while.

Only thing that really felt wrong about the game are its dead environments. As with other Spiders studio games, towns are full of people that just stand there and do nothing, and you have pretty much zero interaction with the environment besides looting a glowing chest once every couple of maps.

Itemization is interesting in that there are very few items, but most items even from the beginning of the game are completely viable to endgame. Only difference is the stat bonuses they give you, and you customize your gear based on your preferred combat style. Very interesting design choice.

I am someone who can look past underwhelming gameplay for a good story. Sadly, this story is as boring as the game's repetetive combat and tiresome level design.

It was a nice idea, but it could have been done better.