Orcs are the scum of any fantasy world and when you come across one you should kill it first and ask questions later. Orcs usually carry weapons, are heavily armoured, ugly and always stink. They live only to drain the blood from anyone or anything that fights for light and good. I have put many Orcs to the sword this week thanks to the DS game Orcs and Elves from id Software.
Orcs and Elves places you in the green pixie boots of a half-elf, called Eol. Playing as Eol you find yourself in the middle of a war in the mountain citadel of Zharrkarag, King Brahms’s massive Dwarven fortress. You’re accompanied in your adventure by a talking wand, Ellon, who likes to comment on your swordplay and interact with characters that you meet. You use Ellon to deal doom, in the form or killer spells, to the Orcs, Vampire Rats, Slime things, Wraiths and all manner of other evil creatures that have invaded the fortress. You’re also equipped with a sword, armour, a map, a quest log, a bag for items, rings that give you different powers, potions and some ale. Mustn’t forget to mention the ale.
O&E is a pretty standard action and adventure RPG game. You collect items, buy and level up weapons and magic enabling you to take on the tougher enemies as you progress through the dungeons. There's nothing particularly new but don't let that fool you. The physical puzzles are well thought out, if not too challenging, and the action based combat system is involving and fun. The grid based gameplay feels old school but perfectly suited to the D&D style of the game and adds to the overall experience.
The game looks old school too and is not too far removed from the look of Doom or Wolfenstein 3D. The 3D environment in O&E is well crafted, detailed and solid looking, Carmack has clearly been at work here, with nice use of dynamic lighting. The characters and monsters you meet are all sprite based and, although they would look at home on the Commodore Amiga, add to the atmosphere and charm of the game.
I've played through the game once at the normal difficulty level and it took about 10 hours. I did try to explore as much as I could of the 12 levels so O&E isn’t a particularly long game. There are two more difficulty levels and I’m sure "Nightmare" will present a stiffer challenge and take me bit more time to get through.
To me it's obvious that Orcs and Elves, despite the short development time - John Carmack states 6 months, is a labour of love. Carmack has been a fan of Dungeons and Dragons since before the days of Doom so there is probably no one more committed to releasing quality D&D titles.
So although Orcs and Elves isn’t perfect it is far more than just the sum of its various parts. It’s a lot of fun to play, has a charm all of it's own and it will keep you coming back for more. There's nothing else like it on the DS.
Elvish isn’t dead.
Zach writes: 'When you think of old mobile games, chances are you think of games like Snake, and maybe a few Bejeweled clones and mascot platformers. What I highly doubt, is that you think of old-school first-person RPG’s.'.
Games On Deck talks to Id Mobile's Anna Kang in depth about Orcs & Elves II, the recently released mobile sequel to the original Orcs & Elves, discussing the new additions, the differences between developing for DS and Mobile, and more.
HardGame2, one of the most important Spanish (and european) web of videogames, has published the List of the best games in the last 2007 on Nintendo DS.
Best Game of the Year -> The Legend of Zelda Phantom Hourglass
Second best Game of the Year-> Hotel Dusk Room 215
Third best Game of the Year-> Elite Beat Agents
Other Awards:
1. Best Action Game: StarFox Command
2. Best Adventure Game: Hotel Dusk Room 215
3. Best Strategy Game: Anno 1701
4. Best Miscellany Game: Elite Beat Agents
5. Best Sports Game: Tony Hawks Proving Ground
6. Best Platform Game: Drawn to Life
7. Best Role Game: The Legend of Zelda Phantom Hourglass
8. Best Racing Game: Race Driver Create & Race
9. Best History: Hotel Dusk Room 215
10. Best Graphics: The Legend of Zelda Phantom Hourglass
11. Best Music: Elite Beat Agents
12. Best Sound: Elite Beat Agents
13. Best Gameplay: The Legend of Zelda Phantom Hourglass
14. Best Sequel: The Legend of Zelda Phantom Hourglass
15. Best Dubbing: The Simpsons Videogame
16. Most Innovative Game: Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney
17. Game Revelation: Hotel Dusk Room 215
18. More Addictive Game: Elite Beat Agents
19. Best Atmosphere: Hotel Dusk Room 215
20. Best Conversion: Tony Hawks Proving Ground
21. Best Multiplayer Experience: Worms OpenWarfare 2
22. Best Spanish edition: The Simpsons Videogame
23. Best Game of the Year for the readers of HardGame2: The Legend of Zelda Phantom Hourglass
In few days, HardGame2 will publish the best of 2007 on Xbox 360 and PS2.
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Best of 2007 on PlayStation 3: http://www.n4g.com/NewsCom-100013.aspx
Best of 2007 on PSP: http://www.n4g.com/psp/News-101816.aspx
Best of 2007 on Wii: http://www.n4g.com/wii/News-102292.aspx
Best of 2007 on PC: http://www.n4g.com/pc/News-102577.aspx
Poor year for the DS. Only Zelda: Phantom Hourglass is a "must have", the rest are only normal or acceptable games.
Could have swore a lot of those came out in '06. But then again it's a European site, so maybe those games were released there. Funny how Elite Beat Agents won a lot of awards, even though it's Japanese cousin is better by a long shot.
And I just noticed that Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney is on that list (the first in the series) Maybe it's a typo, but it still made me laugh.
Good score and nice review. This is a game I had to hunt down for the DS. It's pretty fun and yes it really has the Carmack touch to it