'Orcs Must Die! 2'

Robot Entertainment

Windows 7/Vista/XP

$15 download

ESRB rating: Teen

Review rating: 4.5 stars

Zombies may be popular now, but Orcs used to be the wildebeest of the gaming realm. Whether you fight with them or against them, Orc strategy is always the same; swarm the enemy with superior numbers! Now Robot Entertainment has transformed the chore of slaying countless Orcs into a virtual art form with the action/strategy/tower defense hybrid, "Orcs Must Die! 2."

Virtual Orc slayers take on the role of either the hero War Mage from the first game or its sultry villain, the powerful Sorceress, as they slay hordes of Orc invaders. As soon as players enter each level, they gain access to a wide variety of traps that are quite adept at spilling Orc blood, if the game had any. After laying down several trap combinations, it's Orc-slaying time!

Players use any combination of more than fifty traps, hand weapons, trinkets and environmental hazards to repel wave after wave of enemies. This hefty arsenal comes in handy because there are so many different evil creatures to slaughter, including Earth Elementals, Trolls, Orcs, and Bile Bats.

What makes this game so fun is the freedom of creativity involved in chaining traps together. Sure, it's damaging to hit an enemy with a wall of spikes, but it's much more deadly to make them walk through fire, then get hit with arrows from a mounted ballista, then spun around by rotating logs and finally hit by a wall of spikes. These combos also help to increase the player's score.

Trinkets also give players handy bonuses like a temporary shield or increased damage, and all weapons have powerful secondary modes. Even more customization comes from ability to upgrade any trap, weapon or trinket. When you add Classic and Endless mode to Adventure mode and then toss in the new 2-player co-op mode, "Orcs Must Die! 2" is sure to fulfill every greenskin-slayer's fantasy!

'The Book of Unwritten Tales'

Nordic Games

Windows 7/Vista/XP

$19.99 download

ESRB rating: Teen

Review rating: 4.0 stars

Point-and-click adventure games sure have come a long way in the last 15 years. Although most of them coddle to casual players and rarely break from the mold, "The Book of Unwritten Tales" stands out as a different type of point-and-click game. It's smart and funny and features great voice acting, challenging puzzles, a wide variety of locales and gorgeous visuals.

Instead of playing as one character throughout the game, players take on the role of several spirited characters, including: an old gremlin, a sneaky elf and an annoying sea captain. It's up to them to stop the evil Arch-Witch from retrieving a valuable artifact that can help her rule the world. I like the story, but I really love the witty banter between characters that pokes fun at conventional fantasy games. Everything from MMO addiction to laboriously crafting countless copper pots to increase one's blacksmithing level is raked over the coals.

Although "The Book of Unwritten Tales" strays from the norm, there are no action elements to this game. Players enter small areas where they can click on several items that either let them interact with the item, learn information about the item, and/or take the item. Some items can be combined with others to create useful tools, such as a pickaxe and a bow, which are then used in other areas.

It can be challenging to figure out how to use some items, but just remember that everything that can be clicked on is useful in some way. It also really helps when you figure out that holding down the 'space' key displays every item onscreen that players can activate. Sadly, this isn't mentioned in the game.

"The Book of Unwritten Tales" is a great fantasy-themed alternative to action-packed, over-the-top blockbuster games.