Orcs & Elves (DS)

GameSpot editors' review

• CNET editors' rating: 3.5 stars Very good
  Detailed editors' rating
  Overall score: 7.0 (3.5 stars)

• Reviewed by:
  Austin Shau
• Reviewed on: 03/07/2008
• Released on: 11/13/2007
• Originally published on GameSpot: Orcs & Elves (DS) Review

When you think of casual games, first-person dungeon crawls probably aren't what spring to mind. They can be slow, difficult, and--if the level designers don't play their cards right--downright boring. id Software showed that this didn't have to be the case by releasing Orcs & Elves for mobile phone platforms, and now the game has made its way to the Nintendo DS. It doesn't hide its simplistic roots very well and the story is paper-thin, but it nevertheless provides quick, accessible fun for those who would normally be intimidated by your garden-variety, rat-infested dungeon crawl.

Playing as the elf Elli, you're tasked with plumbing the bowels of Mount Zharrkarag, where orcs have overrun a tribe of dwarves. Of course, as the fantasy template requires, there is greater evil afoot. Accompanied by a talking wand named Ellon, you'll find yourself going back and forth between delving deeper into the mountain to slay beasts and returning to the top to barter for supplies with the resident dragon, Gaya. What little plot progression there is presents itself through dialogue between Ellon and the ghosts of dwarves floating throughout the dungeons. You'll also come across scattered notes to help fill out what happened before you arrived. Ultimately, you're more likely to remember some choice interactions with an eternally drunken ghost as opposed to the lackluster plot.

It's slightly disappointing that there wasn't a little more put into the story, but the star of the show is really the streamlined first-person gameplay--especially the combat. Orcs & Elves is entirely turn-based--each time you take a step, chug a potion or some ale, or swing your weapon counts as one turn--but everything animates so quickly, with enemies acting immediately after you do, that it almost feels like a first-person shooter. Combat is simply a matter of hitting the A button to attack with a melee or ranged weapon. You can use the touch screen to access potions and other items with a few quick taps, and you'll need it to cast spells with Ellon by tapping runes in certain combinations, but it hardly feels like the menu-wading fare you might expect from other role-playing games.

Because of this, battles with even the most ferocious beasts don't last very long unless you happen to be surrounded. Even in these cases, if you're well stocked with healing potions, the battles aren't overly difficult. The game's challenge scales quite fairly, with the difference between victory and defeat being a matter of moving around and healing at the most appropriate moments as opposed to being at an insufficient experience level. Each area of the mountain has a set amount of enemies anyway, which takes away any opportunity for hardcore level grinding. This simply works in the game's favor by further emphasizing its quick pace.

Elli's quick movement speed and the compact level design make exploration pretty fast as well, but you'll want to slow down to hunt for secret doors by pressing up against certain walls to reveal goodies such as treasure chests and loose gold pieces. The game charts hidden rooms and tells you immediately when you've found all of the secrets in an area. Sadly, this takes away much of the challenge of hunting for secrets unless you consciously choose to avoid the map; the silver lining here is that there's little time wasted wandering around and hunting aimlessly.

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