Of Orcs and Men, or why haven't I heard of this game?

F

Fine Ham Abounds

Member
Couldn't find a thread, but slaughter if old.

VlznA.jpg


Trailers:

Early Teaser
E3 Trailer
Summer Trailer

Behind the Music Production


Stolen shamelessly from RPS:

“The game starts you in the role of an elite Orc warrior, deeply involved in the war against their persecutors, Humankind. You have been sent on a dangerous mission that could change the course of the war: kill the one responsible for all the bloodshed and mobilization of the human race to destroy the green-skinned people – the Emperor himself. Joining you in your mission is a Goblin, an assassin and master of stealth, who complements your Orc’s brute strength in battle.”
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And equally shamelessly from Destructoid:

While the smaller goblin can do things like sneak around, backstab soldiers, and find small holes to crawl into -- and the orc can break doors and move heavy objects -- combat is meant to be played more tactically like a short game of chess. The orc soldier might be strong, but he's not an invulnerable tank. Especially spear-wielding soldiers can do a lot of damage against him, which is where the goblin comes in to dispatch of them with faster attacks.

When in control of either character, you can pause combat and assign a queue of attacks for both of them using a weapon wheel (think Dragon Age or Mass Effect). Of Orcs and Men is an RPG at heart, so you also have your special attacks to level up and use on whatever enemy they are best tailored for. You can even do "co-op" attacks (this is a single-player game, though) in which the orc throws the goblin at a soldier for damage, and if you switch to the goblin in mid-flight, you can then stab the hell out of the poor human when you land on him.
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Having not played the Game of Thrones game, I have no clue whether I should be excited by this developer, but the concept and gameplay have piqued my interest.

This thing is listed in a variety of places as releasing this month, but as far as I can tell has no buzz whatsoever. Anyone been following this?

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Edit: So yeah, this thing has a launch trailer now, and it seems to be launching...Thursday?
 
Well, it's not the Humies Must Die! version of OMD! that I've always wanted, but it sounds interesting nonetheless.

Then I got to the Cyanide part. Welp, there goes all expectations and desire to look forward to this game.


Tizoc said:
Seems they made the Game of Thrones video game, were their previous titles not that impressive?
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I think all Cyanide games taken together would give you an average of about 50 on Metacritic.
 
I saw this on RPS not too long ago. I think it looks interesting but yeah, I'm not getting my hopes up that it will be amazing either.
 
I guess this explains the lack of discussion for this project.

The last game I got really burned on that I only heard about shortly before release was Hunted:TDF. Hey, at least it's single player, so it couldn't possibly be worse than that, right?



Right?
 
Yeah, looks interesting... but Cyanide...
 
"Cyanide Studios (Concept and Production) and Spiders (Realization and Development)"

So it might actually turn out ok.
 
Looks solid, but now that im busy with life only the easily accessible games, or games to die for are enough to merit playing. Will keep and eye on it though.
 
Metacritic user reviews appear to be getting shitbombed by that weird cult again today, and Gamefly appears to be carrying only the PC version. If I can find it somewhere to rent, I'll give some impressions.

Found a few reviews. The only one I can read is

Gaminglives - 6/10

By far the most irritating part of this title was its pacing; it is obvious there are problems right from the get-go, and doesn’t get better as you continue. The game is composed of five chapters, each of which is held in a different location. The first two of these feel like the set up for a huge story, as they took nearly five hours apiece to complete. Once you have finished with these locations, which are replete with side missions, optional quests, and people to save, you are then rushed through to the end in three completely linear missions. It was both disconcerting and disappointing, as it felt like I was being set up for an epic and then rushed to the end.
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Pros

Intensely tactical combat
Beautiful graphics and score
Attempts to tackle some touchy issues

Cons

Exposition. So much exposition
Often goes too far in search of maturity
Tasteless and immature in some of its portrayals
Shocking pacing throughout the game
“Fuck”
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Take those cons as you will.

Also, Eurogamer.it gave it an 8/10.
 
Seeing this on Steam I thought it was a game announced years ago that had a teaser showing Orcs/Goblins rising up against humans. Doesn't seem to be the same game though.

This game has me slightly interested, but not sure if I want to take the chance on it right away.
 
Hmm might give it a try seeing how well the gameplay is recieved.
Furthermore, the concept interests me as well, but I dunno if I'd get it full price >_<.
Fine Ham, have you yourself gotten the game yet?
 
Tizoc said:
Seems they made the Game of Thrones video game, were their previous titles not that impressive?
Click to expand...

The GoT game was rather decent, even the Codex with their high standards liked it. Unfortunately, it didn't have any big name behind it, so people weren't willing to overlook some flaws.
 
I have to imagine that Dishonored and XCOM releasing on the same day is why you haven't heard of OaM.
 
Since this will never get an OT, I'm just going to update this with a final review from Destructoid, 8/10.

Both characters have one of three combat stances -- melee, special, and defense/ranged, depending on the character. Each stance has its own particular set of skills that can be queued up by slowing down the action and choosing up to four desired attacks, which will be performed in sequence once time has been returned to normal.

Arkail and Styx can be manually controlled at the press of a button, and it's worth approaching combat with the idea that you will be using both of them. Unchecked, the A.I. isn't particularly good at handling battle situations, even when switched to the suggested defensive stance. Fighting is all about constantly maintaining both characters, keeping them both focused on the right tactics and ensuring they work together to take down foes. You don't play Of Orcs as a single character -- you really are both of them.
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It's worth noting that, for at least the first half the game, things are brutally unforgiving. As often seems to be the case with RPGs out of Europe, players are thrown into the deep end and come up against unwavering, hard-hitting opponents almost immediately. As characters level and gain new powers, the challenge eases up considerably, but it's a rough start that risks putting players off before the action's even truly started.
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In stealth mode, Styx can assassinate guards, thinning the ranks before they're taken on in full combat. It's not exactly "stealth" gameplay, however, since there's no real need to hide and most enemies are stood in place. These sections are more like puzzles, as players scope out the environment, check where guards are looking, and work out the optimal number of guards that can be killed without being seen or sniffed out by dogs.
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--

Tizoc said:
Hmm might give it a try seeing how well the gameplay is recieved.
Furthermore, the concept interests me as well, but I dunno if I'd get it full price >_<.
Fine Ham, have you yourself gotten the game yet?
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I'm not having a lot of luck renting this, and a purchase is unlikely any time soon for unrelated reasons. I think I'm genuinely interested from the sound of the combat and the praise the soundtrack has received.

I'll bump this poor thread later when I have impressions to offer. Even better, the game will probably be $20 by then :p
 
yeah I too was a bit surprised when I 'discovered' the game on amazon that there isn't more hype around it.

I think all Cyanide games taken together would give you an average of about 50 on Metacritic.
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Who cares? In this day and age for whatever reason review scores are probably the most useless they ever were.
 
Fine Ham Abounds said:
I'm not having a lot of luck renting this, and a purchase is unlikely any time soon for unrelated reasons. I think I'm genuinely interested from the sound of the combat and the praise the soundtrack has received.

I'll bump this poor thread later when I have impressions to offer. Even better, the game will probably be $20 by then :p
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Is this game digital download only BTW? I notice on US PSN it's under 3 GB, I wouldn't mind getting it off PSN if it went for $20 there ^_^;
Is still waiting for KoF XIII to be $20 so he can trade off his disc ver.
 
Rofl, some nice bugs there. What looks good seems fun, what looks bad looks like Dragon Age 2. I dunno, I'm willing to bet the like 4 or 5 clunky problems they encountered in this 45 minutes can't have been isolated bad luck, the whole game must have these constant issues. The pop-up spam from walking too far from your partner (even if it's only like 3 paces) looks infuriating, and I didn't see any review mention this.

That said, they basically mashed through the combat and seemed to suffer for it, so it's tough to judge that aspect of the game from this Quick Look.
 
Fine Ham Abounds said:
Rofl, some nice bugs there. What looks good seems fun, what looks bad looks like Dragon Age 2. I dunno, I'm willing to bet the like 4 or 5 clunky problems they encountered in this 45 minutes can't have been isolated bad luck, the whole game must have these constant issues. The pop-up spam from walking too far from your partner (even if it's only like 3 paces) looks infuriating, and I didn't see any review mention this.

That said, they basically mashed through the combat and seemed to suffer for it, so it's tough to judge that aspect of the game from this Quick Look.
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I've encountered no bugs during my playthrough. An ocassional glitch, sure. Nothing gamebreaking though.
And the only time you have to wait for your partner is when you're in stealth mode and walk too far away from him. Makes sense, because most of the times you can't survive the combat when you're alone. The combat is actually done in a very cool way. You have to switch between the characters constantly because they're nothing alike. And yes, sometimes it can be frustrating, but there's always a way to finish a battle.
Also, there's practically no pop-up. Only time I've encountered it was during the last part of the game. (Edit: pop-up was meant in a different context I see)

Great game if you ask me. Only downside is that it doesn't always save after a cutscene, meaning you have to skip through it again whenever you get killed.
 
deejay said:
I've encountered no bugs during my playthrough. An ocassional glitch, sure. Nothing gamebreaking though.
And the only time you have to wait for your partner is when you're in stealth mode and walk too far away from him. Makes sense, because most of the times you can't survive the combat when you're alone. The combat is actually done in a very cool way. You have to switch between the characters constantly because they're nothing alike. And yes, sometimes it can be frustrating, but there's always a way to finish a battle.
Also, there's practically no pop-up. Only time I've encountered it was during the last part of the game. (Edit: pop-up was meant in a different context I see)

Great game if you ask me. Only downside is that it doesn't always save after a cutscene, meaning you have to skip through it again whenever you get killed.
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Yeah, sorry, I shoulda said text/voice spam.

Thanks for the impressions, good to hear about the bugs. While amusing, the QL basically was "I hate the combat in this so I'm not even gonna try", which is fine unless it's the one part of the game you're hearing good things about and want to see attempted properly.

Hattifattener said:
Luzarius stream this with no death rule set. (1. The Hero can never die 2. No combat pausing...) His chanel is 50% gameplay and 50% viewer-caster interaction.

Cyanides RPGs have better story and dialog than most of bigger companies. Bethesda story and dialog is always mediocre. Obsidian starts story so slow you must play 5-10 hours to get into game. (or not)
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Thanks for the link, but that guy's self-rules sound utterly ridiculous for a live stream. Also, I dunno why we need to complain about other devs in here.

Appreciate that this guy is highlighting the soundtrack.
 
I was bummed to see it used the same combat setup as GoT. I was hoping for something a little more actiony. I did find the story concept interesting though so I may pick it up down the road.
 
I have had my eye on this one. Seems like it's a game that gamers love more than the press does. From what I have seen, it looks like a bit of a flawed gem in that regard. Really like that it plays like KotOR as well. I may check it out at some point.
 
sublimit said:
Why not? I recently saw some trailers and i thought the concept was very interesting (and it also looks quite good).The only negative aspect (for me) that i heard off is that it's quite linear.
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I just meant I didn't have the time to make one, and was likely the only person who would make one since interest seemed pretty low.

This thing seems to have ended with a 65 on Metacritic for consoles, 71 on PC. I'm definitely going to give the game a try, but I can't find anywhere to even rent it.
 
Heads up, the digital ver. is going for 20 Pounds on EU PSN that, and with an additional small discount for Plus members.
 
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