Orcs & Elves

"Talk about under the radar..."

Back in November 2007, this little gem was released for the Nintendo DS with absolutely no fanfare. I didn't see it in a single magazine, review show, or internet site at all. I learned of it purely by chance. It was after Christmas, and I'd gone to a local gaming store to spend some of my gift money. I was browsing through the DS section when I just happened across an odd, RPG-ish looking game. Normally, I don't like to make blind gaming purchases, but the back of the box said "from the makers of the Doom-RPG engine" and "featuring strategic, turn-based combat from a first person perspective."

That was too intriguing for me to ignore. A first-person RPG that wasn't an action-RPG or a Wizardry clone? I HAD to try that out.

So how was it you ask? Well, lemme enlighten you people about this little known game...

Plot - 6/10

There is one, and it does the job. That's about it. Don't expect FF level drama or detailed cutscenes on par with Xenosaga, most of it is presented through text between your wand and NPCs.

Yeah, your wand talks. That's about the only unique thing about the plot, but that's fine. The story isn't overly cliche either. You're basically out to save a dwarven kingdom from an evil goddess. Why does she wanna kill the dwarves? Why did the orcs ally themselves with her? Who cares. That's not the point.

But alas, I did like some of the dialogue, as there's some witty banter between your wand and the drunken dwarves. So I'll be a bit nice to the score.

Graphics - 9/10

VERY nice. One of the best looking games I've seen on the DS, and appropriately atmospheric. Most of the levels, with maybe two or three exceptions, look the same, but they still look very good and stylish all the same. There's a great deal of detail in the 3D environment that would give the PS1 a very good run for the money.

I only take a point off because some of the monsters and character models look a bit ugly up close, but even those have a certain western fantasy style charm.

Music and sound - 6/10

There's not much music in this game aside from the title screen. Occasionally when entering a level you might hear a 10 second little spiel, but that's about it. That's really fine though... one could make an argument that the lack of music is meant to help you feel alone and isolated deep within the mountain city.

On the other hand, the sound effects are fantastic. From the clanging of swords and arrows, to the whizzing and zapping of spells, to the distant rumblings and roars of monsters, every action you take sounds pitch perfect.

Gameplay 9.5/10

Now this is where things get interesting. Remember earlier when I said this game features "strategic, turn-based combat from a 1st person perspective?" Every move you make in this game takes up exactly 1 turn. If you move forward or backwards, that takes up one turn. If you attack (even with nothing nearby), it takes up one turn. It's very similar to playing a roguelike game, only in 1st person. Moving is tile based like many older RPGs.

Your job is to explore each mazelike level within the city, kill each enemy, solve some puzzles and get to the end. No party members either, just you and your talking wand taking names and kicking arse. Simple right? Pretty much, but it just works great. Battles are very fast paced. You just hit A to attack and X to switch weapons and voila. And you often have to very carefully select which weapons and items to use. Some weapons are more powerful, or hit a wider area, but they all have ammunition, and restocking on them can be expensive.

Replay value - 5/10

Once you finish the game, there's not much to do except perhaps try to get 100% of the enemies and secrets in each level, or run through the game on a higher difficulty. The game's pretty short to, it'll take around 10 hours to finish, though possibly a bit longer on the Nightmare setting, as there's more enemies to manage and they take longer to kill (plus they can come back to life if you don't dispose of them properly...!). However, I found it to be quite fun to replay it just for it's own sake. The user friendly approach to the RPG gameplay makes it easy to pick up and play, especially since you can save anywhere.

Rent or buy?

You might wanna rent it first since it's a somewhat short game, but if that's not an option, this isn't a particularly expensive game. It's probably not for everyone, but give it a shot it you feel lucky, and it sounds like something you'd like.

Final score - 7/10

So there you have it. It's not a groundbreaking game, but it is a fun, and well made little dungeon hack for the Nintendo DS.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 01/22/08

Game Release: Orcs & Elves (US, 11/13/07)