After the less than stellar Orcs Must Die! Unchained, the free to play moba-esque version of the game, the series returns in all its original glory with a focus on tower defense once again in Orcs Must Die! 3.  Jason and I dove in head first to see what has changed since the last proper game was released in 2012.

When Robot Entertainment released Orcs Must Die! 3 out of nowhere last year, the news was bittersweet. Many of us were glad to see a new game in the co-op action-tower defense series but less excited about it being a Stadia exclusive. Thankfully, it was only a timed exclusive, and Orcs Must Die! 3 will now be coming to Xbox, PlayStation, and Steam in July.

This one came out of left field for me, as I had no idea there was a sequel in the making. But Orcs Must Die! 3 is out now...and it's a Google Stadia Exclusive for the time being. The sequel takes place 20 years after Orcs Must Die! 2, which was a fine example of a co-op tower defense game.

Last week, Robot Entertainment announced that their free-to-play third-person action/tower defense-ish game, Orcs Must Die! Unchained, will be coming to an end this April. Sadly, it sounds like this attempt to shift the popular franchise to the "games as a service" model didn't pan out for the Texas-based developer.

Following their big overhaul of the system this past fall, Orcs Must Die! Unchained officially got released on the PC back in April. There have been a number of patches and updates since that time, including one that added a 3v3 PvP mode back into the game, and it appears the title is now at a point where it's good for a console release.

Last night we went back and checked out the recently updated Orcs Must Die! Unchained, which is now up to beta version 1.7.  If you missed the news, the game has recently retooled itself dropping all PvP elements and strictly becoming a co-op (PvE) affair. 

This past summer we checked out Robot Entertainment's next entry in the Orcs Must Die! series, Orcs Must Die! Unchained, and enjoyed what we played of the co-op Survival mode. While the game has received a few updates in between then and now, the next one (1.6) promises some big changes that will improve the "Survival" mode experience.

Last night the Co-opticrew took to the latest update of the beta version of Orcs Must Die! Unchained - the free to play sequel to one of our favorite co-op games, Orcs Must Die! 2. The game is split into two modes, with one being a competitive MOBA style game and the other more traditional OMD style survival. It's the latter we hit up.

Robot Entertainment's Orcs Must Die! Unchained is now available for all to play. The free-to-play title with some MOBA elements has entered the open beta phase on PC.

Developer Robot Entertainment is celebrating "Orc Week," a holiday with which I'm wholly unfamiliar but hey, just go with it. During this time, all Orcs Must Die! games are on sale with a whopping 90% off discount. That means you can get Orcs Must Die! 2 for just $1.50, or you can get a two-pack (for you and a friend) of the "Complete" edition (i.e., the game and all DLC) for just $3.99. What savings!