Orc Lords is an extension of the original Hinterland, a medieval-style RTS that combines battles and building into a single, colorful package. The game begins, like so many others, with character selection. After choosing an avatar, you are essentially plopped into the middle of the playing grounds. Your ruler declares that he expects you to turn the land into something great, a task made even more daunting by the game’s lack of training instruction or tutorial sections. This is problematic for any game in the real-time strategy genre; fortunately, Hinterland is relatively familiar in its feel and operation. Juggling the game’s resources require that you take part in a sort of balancing act, comprised of exploration, fighting, and construction.

Since the game starts with very little to offer in the way of resources, it relies upon the player’s initiative to head out into the wilderness and start hacking up baddies. Movement and controls in the game are thankfully simple, though a few things would have been better clarified in a tutorial. This forces you to learn much of the game through raw experience, which some would argue is more effective, anyway. Picking on foes of an inferior level is your best bet for collecting money early in the game. Zombies, dark elves, skeleton warriors – they’re all just mobile purses for you to rip apart. Bullying enough of these baddies also results in a boost to your reputation, and – assuming you are successful in your ventures – more folks will want to join your town. Attracting visitors through your success is crucial to progress, as they help with anything from production of food to creating slick battle equipment for you and your followers. If circumstances demand it (or if you’ve had a particularly bad day), you may conscript villagers and force them to fight for you in battle.

It is worth noting that death in battle will cause your fame to plummet, which will have an adverse effect on other elements in the game. If it drops low enough, the game ends because your reputation is apparently unrecoverable. A roguish style of gameplay might have been an interesting way to develop the game further from the perspective of an unpopular character, or one that perhaps gains greater prestige within one faction over another. As it stands, your main concern in the game lies with the development of resources, establishment of buildings, and general ferocity in combat. The upkeep of the town raises its overall efficiency, and bolsters your own abilities as well. Keeping the blacksmith happy can result in better weaponry, while drafting the hapless farmer into my merry band might allow one of my better fighters to stay home and defend the town. The town is very much vulnerable to attack, and this is worth considering whenever plan on taking an extended leave to slaughter savage creatures in the uncharted lands.

Probably the greatest attraction for Orc Lords is the game’s general accessibility. While there are a few technical hitches with regard to control and interface design, it is generally easy to learn for anyone with RTS experience. The depth is reasonable, nothing overwhelming but just enough to keep casual players hooked for multiple campaigns. Hinterland: Orc Lords bears excellent compatibility for younger audiences as well as beginning RTS players, since it is mostly forgiving of your mistakes once you have a firm grasp of the core mechanics. The biggest gameplay snag lingers around death, which causes heavy damage to your reputation and health, making it the most difficult event to recover from in the game. Once the game’s techniques are mastered, the game can become a bit dull. Thankfully, a variety of classes, customization, and adjustable game settings help to boost longevity.

Hinterland: Orc Lords features a fairly appealing visual design. Characters and objects are bold, colorful, and easy to recognize; this reinforces the accessibility of the game. As is often the case with strategy games, there are places where the complexity of events take a toll on the frame rate, which can substantially frustrate the actions that must be taken in real time. There are plentiful icons to aid the player, though some can be ambiguous and are best examined with the classic mouse-over. Sound effects are appropriate robust for a game of this style, though little in the soundtrack stands out as particularly memorable or beautiful. Still, Hinterland: Orc Lords holds its own as a friendly real-time strategy game fit for most audiences, with a very competitive price tag. It may not be Total War, but it can safely satisfy a very difficult itch for RTS fans to scratch.

Gameplay: 7.0
Despite the ambiguity, most elements are friendly and simple to utilize.

Graphics: 7.5 
A generally pleasant visual design that suits the game’s style, without looking ugly.

Sound: 6.0
Audio is decent, nothing distracting, but nothing worth calling home about.

Difficulty: Medium
Once you struggle past the initial disorientation, there’s plenty to enjoy.

Concept: 6.0 
This is certainly not a revolutionary title, but it seems to accomplish everything intended.

Overall: 7.4
RTS fans and newcomers alike can pick it up, play it, and enjoy it. Accessibility is its greatest asset, and while there’s no denying the fun, there is little to call “outstanding,” either.