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Orcs Must Die! 3 Is Woke AF

Orcs get deader, humans get woker

By Aubrey KatePublished 3 years ago 5 min read
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Growing up, a computer's main function was to play video games. They were designed to fly around space, shooting wolf like creatures in Wing Commander. They were for shooting droves of aliens in Duke3d, or demons in Shadow Warrior, or different demons in Blood. They definitely were for Ages of Empires, and Battlezone multiplayer antics and most definitely they were specifically designed for Half-Life, especially online, and especially mods.

Sure, I had a Nintendo and a PlayStation, but PC gaming, that was where it was at. Many of the jokes and stereotypes lobbed at PC gaming enthusiasts were one hundred percent accurate when they came to me, and I was proud of them. Even today, I wonder why people settle for a console when they can utilize Steam, the wonderful and amazing GoG, Epic + more to build vast libraries of the world's greatest games, both old and new. I guess like any sort of elitism, one learns to temper it, but it never really goes away.

Nowadays, I mostly use computers for business. I don't play a lot of video games anymore, but an old friend of mine bought me Orcs Must Die! 3, knowing that I wouldn't just be a fan of the third person shooter meets tower defense game's gameplay, but of its politics. He knew that I, being a fan of being woke and violent video games, would appreciate the subtle genius behind possibly the wokest title of the year.

See, Orcs Must Die! 3 isn't just massacring entire groups of people based upon their skin color and belief system, but it is about human acceptance. In this original and vibrant game world, skin color and sexual orientation matter not to people. For example, one of the two main characters in the primary campaign is actually a young gay black man of color. To me though, what really makes that a choice to applaud is that his race and sexual preference don't sum up who he is as a character. He is a person, unique, who just happens to be gay and black, as opposed to some stereotype of what a gay black man is supposed to act like. It is incredibly sad that writing sans stereotypes is such an impressive thing for me to see, but hey, it is, what can I say.

See, Orcs Must Die! 3 creates a world in which the only thing that matters is smashing the invading Orcs. It is a world where power corrupts, much like our own, and just like our own as well, a place where petty jealously lead many to their downfall. But the traditional hierarchy placed upon us by the systemic power plays put into place is all but bucked here. Women give the orders. People are free to be who they want to be. It's a heart-warming place, for sure. I almost wish I could be there, living in peace and harmony with its denizens, united by our love for each other and our hate for the Orcs. It almost sounds like Portland a little bit, to be fair.

A gameplay loop one can truly enjoy, in Orcs Must Die! 3, you get some time between rounds to lay the ground, walls and ceilings with whatever traps you can. Once the horde comes, you can use a wide variety of weapons to try and ruin the Orcs' day by taking their lives. You get more money from killing Orcs, and that is multiplied when you kill enemies in quick succession. The player does have the ability to place traps during the round itself, but time is given to the player to both buy and sell their traps in between the rounds. On harder difficulties, this time is greatly shortened, adding to the frantic nature Orcs Must Die! 3 puts out there.

The really super cool thing is you aren't just wiping out Orcs by the thousands, but their supporters too! There's these stone guys and these other fire guys that aren't Orcs but sympathize with the Orc cause, so you get to kill them too! Even amongst the Orcs, there are a wide variety of enemy types, including archers, heavy armored Orcs, little children Orcs and even somewhat armored Orcs. You've also got things like Trolls and Ogres, who, while they aren't Orcs themselves, are often associated with Orcs in fantasy fiction, plus probably in real life too if these things were real.

The game isn't without it's sense of humor however. Orcs die in hilariously ways, burning away into skeletons while running around on fire, exploding into chunks and spasming from electric shocks. The one liners and banter are as good as writing has ever been, plus, the old white guy is by far the stupidest character in the game. I love tropes like the old white guy being the only one who can save the day being thrown on their head, as the old white guy does do some day saving, albeit in an accidental, and almost ignorant way. I won't spoil anything, but when people say "Well, it ain't Shakespeare.", they aren't referring to Orcs Must Die! 3.

I haven't played the first two games so I have no idea if they are woke. I heard the third game is a truly expansive sequel, something they definitely couldn't have done in an expansion pack for the second game. I respect companies who don't pander to extremism and care about their fans, and from what I can see, whoever made Orcs Must Die! 3, a robot something or other I forget, deserves our respect, love and admiration. Maybe even our money too!

Thank you so incredibly much for reading this piece. If you haven't spent your money on Orcs Must Die! 3 yet, what are you waiting for? Also, do yourself a giant favor and check out my profile on here for other great articles that will expand your mind, and if you are a sick pervy guy, probably expand something else too! I would say follow me on social media but you'd probably just take that as an excuse to stalk me, wouldn't you?

action adventure
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About the Creator

Aubrey Kate

I do stuff but we're just getting to know each other so why don't you slow down a bit?

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