to defend the human world, he defends the fortresses from the Mob one by one (much to the bewilderment of his teacher, who narrates the storyline). The Hero eventually learns that the Mob has been empowered by the Sorceress (voiced by Colleen Clinkenbeard), a past student of the Order who, despite showing overwhelming potential to help defend humanity, instead chose to seek power for herself and used magic to seize control of the Mob. As the Mob's attacks become more and more aggressive, the Hero eventually chooses to ensure the safety of the human world by stepping back through a Rift and closing them all forever by means of a simple spell. Although this means that the Mob can never reach the human world, it also means that humanity is no longer able to use magic to sustain itself, and the whole world, which has become dependent on magic, begins to deteriorate. In the Dead World, the Sorceress is rendered powerless as the Rifts can no longer provide her with magic, and she is left at the mercy of the Mob, who have been reduced to their original, savage state. Development and release Reception The game received "favorable" reviews on both platforms according to the review aggregation website Metacritic. Joystiq called the Xbox 360 version a "finely-tuned whirling chamber of death". IGN praised the length of the campaign as well as the combat system. It sold over 50,000 units on Xbox and substantially more on PC. Sequels Orcs Must Die! 2 was announced by Robot Entertainment on April 2, 2012 and released on July 30, 2012. The sequel includes two-player co-op with the introduction of the Sorceress in a playable role. Orcs Must Die! Unchained, the third game in the series, initially released as a beta version in 2014, was released on April 18, 2017 for the Windows platform, while the PlayStation 4 version was released on July 18, 2017. It was released under a free-to-play model. Orcs Must Die! 3 was announced during a Stadia connect on August 19, 2019. It released on Stadia with single-player and two-player co-op on July 14, 2020 as a timed exclusive. Robot Entertainment has not yet announced when it will launch on other platforms. Unlike previous games, which generally had a dungeon and Tower Defense design with limited pathways for enemies to attack from, Orcs Must Die! 3 features larger, open battlefields in