9 Best Games Where You Play As An Orc

Fiction often depicts Orcs as a villainous creature that goes after the heroes, as shown in J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-Earth universe. Video games are no different, with Orcs typically a savage race meant to be slain in mobs, but over the years, more games have strayed off from the norm by making Orcs playable.

Whether it is an RPG or an action game, Orcs have been mainstays for decades now. In some games, the Orc is a preset character who becomes the fleshed-out protagonist of a story, while others are custom characters that the player can build from scratch to be immersed in a fantasy world.

9 King’s Bounty: Dark Side

Monsters Become The Protagonists In This Spin-Off

• Developer: Fulqrum Publishing
• Release Date: August 14, 2014
• Genre: Strategy RPG
• System: PC

The strategy-based RPG, King’s Bounty: Dark Side features three playable monster-like characters: vampire, demon, and orc. Previously, in other King’s Bounty games, the three races would be antagonists, but in this off-shoot, they can be used in grid-based combat in which they command units to fight until every enemy unit is defeated.

As a bonus, each of the three characters in King’s Bounty: Dark Side features a unique backstory and abilities, inciting replayability to try each one. However, King’s Bounty: Dark Side is often criticized for feeling like a full game despite mostly strong reviews, with the content being rather limited and filled with bugs that can ruin playthroughs.

8 SpellForce 3

Wage War As Orcs, Humans, Elves, And More In A Real-Time Strategy Game

In many ways, the SpellForce games are the spiritual successor to classic WarCraft games ever since Blizzard seemed to stick to World Of WarCraft as an MMO. In SpellForce 3, players can partake in real-time strategy as they build bases and form armies to conquer enemies and other objectives, but with a grittier visual style to the game.

Of the four factions in SpellForce 3, Orcs are centered more around mowing through their enemies with brute force. They are also one of the fastest factions to expand, making them a common favorite in the community. Combined with a well-crafted prequel story to the first game, SpellForce 3 became the best RTS for Orc gameplay in the modern age.

7 Of Orcs And Men

Orcs Are The Heroes In This Third-Person Action RPG

• Developer: Cyanide, Spiders
• Release Date: October 11, 2012
• Genre: Action RPG
• System: Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC

Mixing action, comedy, and fantasy, Of Orcs And Men is a spin-off of the Styx games and even features the goblin as a character, with simple yet fun action RPG gameplay. Where Orcs are typically treated as monstrous villains or savages, Of Orcs And Men treats them as the heroes leading a revolution against the Empire Of Men.

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The main character, Arkail, is tasked with a mission that could free all Orcs from the tyranny of humans: assassinate the Emperor. He teams up with Styx to travel through the land, slaying monsters and humans alike to show a vastly different side to a fantasy world in Of Orcs And Men. The action gameplay is fun, and story and dialogue options can affect future items and ability unlocks.

6 Blood Bowl 3

A Fantastical Sports Game That Brings Laughs And Thrills

For those wanting a fantasy game that doesn’t take itself too seriously, Blood Bowl 3 is the right game for such a thing. It takes the team-building and game-planning of most college football games out there like with orcs, goblins, halflings, and more, as the football players, who fight in the stadiums in comedically gory fashions to win the match.

Blood Bowl 3 is an ideal game for those who might also think sports games are not interesting thanks to its fantasy setting. In a way, building up the stats and reputation of a player is not that different from an RPG, so Blood Bowl 3 can be a gateway sports game, while still providing blood and carnage with Orcs for fun.

5 Shadowrun: Dragonfall

The Turn-Based RPG Mixes Fantasy Tropes In A Cyberpunk Universe

Rather than the typical fantasy world, Shadowrun: Dragonfall takes familiar fantasy concepts such as Elves and Orcs and puts them into a cyberpunk setting with familiar places such as Berlin. The Shadowrun universe has had several entries over the years, but Shadowrun: Dragonfall provides a challenge while welcoming beginners to the series.

The gameplay is praised for its turn-based strategy, akin to games such as XCOM, but with more of an RPG angle where the player must use covers and tactics to protect the characters while also getting the upper hand on enemies. There is a character creator, with multiple races and classes to choose from, including the orc race, which is renamed to Ork in the Shadowrun universe.

4 WarCraft 3: Reign Of Chaos

Real-Time Strategy Helped Blizzard Rise To Fame

Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos

Systems

Platform(s)

Microsoft Windows , macOS

Released

July 3, 2002

Alongside the StarCraft games, WarCraft helped redefine the RTS genre by mixing addictive gameplay and storytelling. WarCraft 3: Reign Of Chaos, as well as the WarCraft 3: Reforged remaster, took it even further with a massive story spanning across multiple episodes focusing on different factions, including the Alliance, Undead, Night Elves, and the Orc Horde.

Thrall, the son of Durotan became an iconic Orc character in the franchise. His story in WarCraft 3 helped turn the Horde into an iconic faction that fans often show their love and appreciation for at cons and other events, one of the first times showing Orcs as the heroes alongside other famous characters that would go on to be in World Of WarCraft.

3 World Of WarCraft

Blizzard Created The Godfather Of The MMO Genre

Systems

Released

November 23, 2004

Since RTS games are not for everybody, World Of WarCraft provides a more beginner-friendly experience in the world of Azeroth as an MMORPG. It first launched in 2004 and remains one of the most influential MMOs, still thriving two decades later with 690,000 players on the servers daily.

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Rather than a set one, World Of WarCraft allows players to create their characters from scratch with a plethora of races to choose from. Also, Orcs are not just stuck with being brutish warriors, as the player can make their Orc a mage, a rogue, a warlock, or even a Death Knight, as a few of many available classes for the character.

Revolutionary Bethesda RPG With So Many Possibilities

Orcs have been a playable race in The Elder Scrolls games since the third game, but The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim is considered the most famous game in the series. It not only presents a vast open world with hundreds of instances, opportunities, and side missions, but it is also the most easily accessible for longtime RPG fans as well as newcomers.

With the well-detailed character creator, The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim allows players to take control of multiple species of Elves, humans, Argonians, and Orc. Orcs are predisposed to strength-based builds in Skyrim, with higher stats on heavy weapons and armor. However, Skyrim allows players to essentially craft the class of their dreams, using any weapons, efficiencies, and spells they want.

1 Baldur’s Gate 3

The Limit Of Characters Is The Imagination Of Players

With Baldur’s Gate 3, gamers can get what is arguably the most authentic Dungeons & Dragons experience in video game form. From rolling dice for actions to creating a character from scratch, Baldur’s Gate 3 is the ideal game for someone to create their dream fantasy character, as there are so many options to choose from for customization and where to take their story.

As an RPG, Baldur’s Gate 3 became a pinnacle of the genre, winning multiple Game Of The Year awards for its storytelling, gameplay, and voice acting, creating an immersive experience. Depending on how one plays and what choices they make, players can truly feel like an Orc within the Dungeons & Dragons universe.

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