Of Orcs and Men

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Of Orcs and Men
General
Developer	Spiders Cyanide Studio
Publisher	Focus Home Interactive
Release Date	11 October 2012
Platforms	Microsoft Windows PlayStation 3Xbox 360
System Requirements
OS	Windows XP Sp3/Windows Vista Sp2/Windows 7
Processor	AMD/Intel Dual-Core 2 GHZ
Memory	2048 MB RAM
Graphics	512 MB 100% DirectX 9 and Shaders 4.0 Compatible ATI RADEON HD 3850/NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT or higher
DirectX	9
Hard Drive	6 GB HD space
Sound	DirectX 9 compatible

Of Orcs and Men is a fantasy role playing game developed by Spiders and Cyanide Studio and published by Focus Home Interactive. It was released for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC on October 11, 2012. In an interview with Sylvain Sechi, -- a producer, game designer, and writer for the game, -- Sechi says that development on the game started as early as 2008 before Cyanide partnered with Spiders in 2011.

Like its successors, Of Orcs and Men originally had a website containing information about the game and story, however this website is now defunct and links to it will be redirected to the page for Styx: Shards of Darkness on Cyanide's website.

Plot

Of Orcs and Men first puts you into the role of an elite orc soldier from the legendary Bloodjaws, a special unit of warriors deeply involved in the war of Orcs (and 1 goblin) against all humans.

As a veteran warrior who has seen the most brutal of battles, you are appointed by the Orc commander to complete a mission that could change the course of the war: kill the one man responsible for all of this bloodshed, the one who has, for years, exhorted the human masses to loathe and fight the green-skinned people: the Emperor himself.

The game is an RPG allowing you to edit the style and technique of the orc, Arkail,(who uses more strength and brute force) and the goblin, Styx (who uses assassin tactics and magics to overwhelm his foes). These combat choices become more and more important in order to survive and the wrong choice cannot be rectified without some difficulty.

List of Quests

CHAPTER 1

• The Mission
• The Guide
• Sarkyss
• The Black Hand Challenge
• The Last's Past
• The Scourge
• The Bloodjaw
• On Our Own
• The Shaman of the Bowels

CHAPTER 2

• The Mire
• The Miner's Revolt
• Infiltration
• The Uprising
• The Prisoner
• The Rain of the Fearless
• The foremen
• Pick a raiding party
• The assault

CHAPTER 3

• The Monastery of the Mages

CHAPTER 4

• The Island of Laments

CHAPTER 5

• Time to settle scores

A timeline including details is posted here.

Gameplay

The focus of gameplay is halved between combat and dialogue. Players will navigate through levels killing enemies to reach quest objectives, utilizing the various combative skills both protagonists gradually unlock over time. They may choose to approach combat in real time or slow down time to queue actions, whichever character they are not controlling doling out basic attacks automatically. Both protagonists will receive experience points through combat (and other rare occasions) that allow the player to allocate points to various stats on level-up and either unlock or upgrade skills. The skill trees for both Styx and Arkail have the same structure and number of skills, and all able to be upgraded at least once.

Equipment obtained throughout the game also improves stats, able to be bought or sold with vendors or gotten via exploration and combat. At a certain point during the game, players are able to choose between two classes provided for both Styx and Arkail, opening up a new channel of special skills unique to the class picked. Depending on what you picked for Arkail will also change a line in the game's final cutscene.

The game boasts a linear narrative, with branching paths interspersed throughout the story that all lead to the same ending. Players will be regularly provided choices and differing dialogue options that influence later dialogue, start side-quests, or provide resources (such as items and skill points) but ultimately do not greatly affect the gameplay.

The game features 48 achievements, some of which require a replay with alternative choices made.

Player Choices

There are various ways in which players are prompted to make decisions, the medium for most being dialogue. Choices made ultimately do not change the game's ending due to its linear nature, however they may provide useful or interesting information, as well as new items, skill points, or experience.

When the player is given a choice, they will typically be presented with a dialogue wheel. Each option is noted as either being done or said by one of the two protagonists, and can consist of either dialogue or an action. Oftentimes Styx and Arkail are of a different opinion, and the player can choose to:

• speak up or be quiet
• attack or refrain from it
• help a friend or not
• investigate a matter or not
• accept or deny an event

Some decisions will result in side-quests that will then be automatically started, and will often provide new items as rewards. If the player completes side-quests or makes important decisions (such as sparing an enemy) they may receive unique commentary from characters immediately after, or later on down the line if it has significant enough impact on the story.

Trivia

• The soundtrack was composed by Olivier Deriviere and played by the Boston Cello Quartet. Some samples are available on Soundcloud.

Promotional Screenshots

Logo

Trailers

OF ORCS AND MEN LAUNCH TRAILER

OF ORCS AND MEN BUDDY TRAILER

OF ORCS AND MEN SUMMER TRAILER