Preview: Orc Attack (Xbox 360)

 You know, PAX East is an awesome experience. There is so much to see and so much to do and there are so many people that it’s really very easy to overlook something unless it has a giant booth on the exhibition hall floor or its own panel discussion or event. And that is why I am so glad that I took the time to explore every corner of the expo hall. It must have been late Sunday afternoon on the last day of PAX East 2012 that I passed by the Casual Brothers booth where they were showing off Orc Attack. I laughed until my sides hurt!

Orc Attack isn’t out yet, but the guy from Casual Brothers, I think it was Pablo Martin, was more than happy to talk with me and the wife and show off his game (Pablo is a wonderful guy, by the way). We played through the first level to the first boss and laughed the entire time. I would have gladly stayed longer, but the wife’s feet were hurting (mine too, truth be told) and she wanted to keep moving as standing still just made our feet hurt more. Ah, the joys of PAX. But I digress.

The basic premise of the game is that humans and their steampunk technology have displaced the orcs, poisoned their habitat and made them all sick from human pollution. Even the four orc heroes who are the player characters suffer from the excessive flatulence and belching that the pollution has caused. And it only gets better from there.

Orc Attack is a 1-4 player game for Xbox Live, the PlayStation Network, and maybe even PC, if I recall correctly. But the feature that excited me was that it offered local co-op. I love couch co-op and so many developers today have rushed headlong into online multiplayer games that there just aren’t that many good local co-op games around any more. I am glad to say that Orc Attack is a very welcome exception. Not only can you laugh so hard your teeth ache, but you can do it with your friends right there in your living room!

Some gameplay mechanics include jumping, rolling, regular and strong attacks and, of course, belching and farting. You can even combine belches and farts from the different orcs to create different effects, like explosions! You can fart in fires and blow the hordes of human attackers sky high! And you can also jump up on your fellow orcs’ shoulders and smite larger enemies. There are even coins to pick up for some kind of character customization that we didn’t get a chance to look at.

The graphics are done well. They are cartoony, but that fits perfectly with the tongue-in-cheek theme of the game. The sound and music are also executed nicely and the whole thing comes together into quite a nice package. But don’t take my word for it, check it out for yourself:

Orc Attack isn’t due out until Christmas of 2012, but I am already looking forward to it as it will give me, the wife, and our cousins another chance to sit down on the big couch and play some local co-op like we did back in the days of Call to Arms. Oh, and the fart jokes shall be endless – I can hardly wait! I know I’m going to check out Orc Attack and I hope you do too! Fffffffffrrrrrrrrrp!