Bound By Flame
Bound By Flame
Game
Game2012
Of Orcs And Men
Developer Cyanide Studio, Spiders
Of Orcs and Men is a fantasy action role-playing game developed by Cyanide and Spiders for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC. The Empire of Men's oppressive threat looms over the territories of the Orcs and the Goblins. Goblins are systematically persecuted and slaughtered, while Orcs not killed in battle are captured and enslaved. Three prequels, titled Styx: Master of Shadows (2014), Styx: Shards of Darkness (2017),… From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
224 reactions from 3 sources (Steam reviews, Bluesky, Lemmy) · newest Nov 4, 2026 · last updated Nov 5, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
72
Fresh
136 positive · 52 negative
95% range 66–78%
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam reviews | 136 | 52 | 0 |
| Bluesky * | 10 | 3 | 22 |
| Lemmy * | 0 | 0 | 1 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
Steam's own rating
Mostly Positive
786 of 1,107 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What players are saying
72% recommend · 134 yes, 51 no
Counted from the reviewers’ own thumbs up/down on the 185 English Steam reviews we collected, not by the AI. Valve’s all-language rating: Mostly Positive (1,646 of 2,214 positive).
Players praise the story and the duo of Arkail and Styx, calling it a hidden gem. [1][2][3] Many reviewers criticize the combat as janky, repetitive, or outright bad. [4][5][6] Some players note the game is rough around the edges but has charm and a unique perspective. [7][8][9]
Liked
Representative posts
- [4]
Good story but the combat system is horrendous.
- [1]
Of Orcs and Men is a hidden yet rough and unpolished gem. It's a junk made with love. I bought this game since it was the last piece from Spiders I haven't played yet and was pleasantly surprised, even more than that, enhusiastic and wishing for continuation of the tale of the main heroes, Styx and Arkail. At least at the beginning, the game presents itself with terribly written dialogue, plentiful for one to hold …
- [3]
Of Orcs and Men is a rough-around-the-edges AA RPG that has way more charm than polish. The biggest thing it has going for it is its unique perspective: instead of playing the typical human hero saving the world, you play as an orc warrior and a sarcastic goblin trying to survive in a world where humans are basically the oppressors. That alone makes the game stand out way more than a lot of other, by-the-numbers …
- [2]
Came for Styx, stayed for the incredible story
- [7]
Well, I paid $1.09 for a game that I enjoyed more than 70% of games I've played in the last decade. Definitely an underrated gem. Story is fantastic, combat is that healthy level of jank, and it's just a well done game. Props
Summarised from 34 of the 221 public posts collected about this game; every point cites the posts behind it ([n] opens the post) and the split is counted from the posts’ own ratings. Updated Oct 12, 2026. How summaries are made
RottenBot@rottenbot · automated account
72% of the 185 Steam reviewers we collected recommend Of Orcs And Men. The complaint that keeps coming up: combat is janky and repetitive. Deal-breaker or nitpick?
Reactions
60 of 224 · most liked firstDon't buy it! Boycott Nacon! Justice for Spiders! https://www.stjv.fr/en/2026/04/spiders-liquidation-a-tale-of-social-destruction/ https://www.thegamer.com/greedfall-studio-spiders-boycott-against-closure-nacon/
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Of Orcs and Men is a hidden yet rough and unpolished gem. It's a junk made with love. I bought this game since it was the last piece from Spiders I haven't played yet and was pleasantly surprised, even more than that, enhusiastic and wishing for continuation of the tale of the main heroes, Styx and Arkail. At least at the beginning, the game presents itself with terribly written dialogue, plentiful for one to hold attention to what is going on. But it's a slow burner. As you keep playing, the…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Came for Styx, stayed for the incredible story
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Well, I paid $1.09 for a game that I enjoyed more than 70% of games I've played in the last decade. Definitely an underrated gem. Story is fantastic, combat is that healthy level of jank, and it's just a well done game. Props
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A Great Game that paved the way for Styx!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game reminds me of Witcher 1, the many flaws combat/gameplay has but all the love and soul the devs have poured into it. I'd love for the developers to continue with the cliffhanger and make a sequel with all the improvements they had.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Of Orcs and Men is a rough-around-the-edges AA RPG that has way more charm than polish. The biggest thing it has going for it is its unique perspective: instead of playing the typical human hero saving the world, you play as an orc warrior and a sarcastic goblin trying to survive in a world where humans are basically the oppressors. That alone makes the game stand out way more than a lot of other, by-the-numbers fantasy RPGs from the same era. The real highlight is the duo of Arkail and Styx.…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →5/5 Story - A criminally underrated RPG with heart, personality, and a unique duo dynamic you won’t find elsewhere. Worth playing for the story alone. (I finished Styx Games saga before it) 2/5 Combat, Repetitive - you can still get shot by an arrow behind a wall, stealth detection area is funny you can get away with take-downs 5/5 OST 4/5 Maps - Despite being closed area Short, focused, and to the point. No pointless padding. Each zone pushes the story forward, and the world feels unique even…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Plays fine on Steam Deck if you change mouse and keyboard to gamepad in the in-game settings. ..... About the game: It's in real-time with pause. The levels are almost entirely linear, there is some stealth which helps you a lot before battles and is an obvious inspiration for the more recent games in this universe (Styx: Master of Shadows, Shards of Darkness, and soon Blades of Greed). If you've beaten Styx 1 and 2 and are itching for more Styx story and gameplay, this can scratch the itch…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Good story but the combat system is horrendous.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Played through the entire game 2 times and through act 3 on a third pass. 100% Achievement. Summary: On the PC Game Controllers DO NOT WORK. Relatively linear game play, not open world Rich story line - told well, though a bit obvious Unique (at least to me) combat system Stealth system is way over powered, but is fun To get the Bloodjaw achievement you must play the full game through on extreme Some other achievements can be achieved by restoring to a saved game and making a different choice…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Of Orcs and Men, developed by Cyanide Studio and Spiders and published by Cyanide Studio and Nacon, is a dark fantasy action RPG that stands out by giving players the perspective of traditionally marginalized races in the genre: orcs and goblins. Set in a world dominated by humans who oppress other races, the game follows the journey of Arkail, a powerful orc warrior, and Styx, a cunning goblin assassin, as they embark on a mission to eliminate the human emperor. The premise flips conventional…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game has the worst combat system I've ever seen.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's a Spiders game so you kinda know what your getting into when you start this one. Really dated gameplay and environments, but it tells a really cool narrative that doesn't take itself too seriously. Short but sweet 6/10.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Goblins, Grunts, and Grudges (100% Completion and Achievements) Heya, Styx here. Normally, I wouldn't waste my precious time reviewing human-made games, but this one's worth a bit of my sharp wit and sarcasm. First off, they did a decent job capturing my roguish charm and my not-so-humble self. I mean, it's not every day you see a game where you play as a goblin genius paired with an orcish brute who has more muscles than brains. And by brute, I mean Arkail. Yes, he's a bit of a grumpy…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Interesting mix of action and tactical game, bit outdated in terms of both gameplay and visuals but the music and especially the story stand strong. Items and skills variety is low, so is the balance, I went with 'mage' specialization for Styx and meh it seemed really weak for some reason, to the point I stopped using it at all. Combat becomes repetitive quite fast. Maps are rather straight forward, don't expect much freedom here, thanks to that game isn't too long, which is something I…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I don't review a lot of Steam games but felt the need to review this one as mainstream critic scores likely hurt this one despite them being generous to higher budget games that don't deserve the praise they get. Of Orcs and Men is essentially a very basic combat focused RPG with a linear story. It doesn't try and do too much, it doesn't overstay it's welcome but if you engage with the combat system, the game is a lot of fun and is rarely frustrating. It felt like a very scaled down…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →There's something special about this game, sure the graphics could be considered probably outdated at this point, but the characters, the story, the plot, the choices that you make, they matter and they all lead up to a big finale that you genuinely feel like you are a part of, you affect the lives of the people in this game and you can feel the impact as you play it. It's certainly not like Styx: MoS or Styx: SoD where you only take control of the goblin, Styx himself, but a control between…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Overall, it is not a masterpiece, but still a solid game. Combat reminds of Dragon Age, you assign a queue of actions and can use active pause. I don't hate this system, but never really liked it. It is just okay. The story is okay too. You even have some choices, but can't really change anything in the story. There will be some spoilers ahead, you can stop reading if you want. The last couple of chapters felt too rushed. In the first three chapters you have your camp from which you can…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Styx was the only good thing from this game.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Story is Great, Combat is Not!.. But i had a blast.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →As much as I liked the edgy cussing dialogue and the relationship between Styx and Arkail, unfortunately I cannot recommend this game. The thing I just said were the only positive things from this game, oh and the music too, it's pretty good, not impressive but very nice violin/bass music. The combat is pretty bad, as in the game took the combat from KOTOR, except KOTOR had a fluid combat and had a variety of ways you can defeat the enemies. Here it's just sticking to 2 strategies for the…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Finished Of Orcs and Men. Pretty cool game, despite not being the biggest fan of the combat. Loved Arkail and Styx though.
positive · AI labelView post →Genuine, unplayable garbage. I love the Styx games, and I really, really tried so, so hard to like this game, but it's so janky that it's unplayable. I cannot even make it past the beginning of the game because the combat refuses to play properly. This game wants to be turn based, without being turn based, which really ♥♥♥♥♥ with the entire combat system. I can see what they were going for, but it's really bad when you can only do one attack at a time, it's very delayed, and 6 enemies have…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is my impression on the game if, anybody possibly finds it inappropriate just ignore it. I'm not a good gamer just a casual player but still love the Styx games that were free on epic games (and buying the Styx: Blades of Greed on day after some review comes out) so, I decided to play this game which is a prequel to styx series but have to refund it maybe because I'm not good or just because the gameplay is so bad so, it's just a genuine opinion (there is no use of AI in this review) for…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I like this better than Baldur's Gate 3 I picked this game on sale, thinking it would be a classic or oldschool rpg. But the graphics surprisingly held up, I would've guessed this game was great even in 2017, but it was released on 2012!!!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The game gives some eurojunk vibes, has its issues, but was an enjoyable experience overall. - Story and Lore There's very little lore or worldbuilding, but within that there's a little, but enjoyable, twist on the typical fantasy races, especially goblins. The story is also pretty simple, not bad nor good nor too cinematic for the most part, and writing isn't very deep, but works as an overall goal to reach and adds flavor, especially Styx writing. - Combat Combat is pretty simple: you…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Took me a while to get used to the combat, solid game though.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The In-game dialogues are very good, and the characters are awesome
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I kinda liked this game due to its setup and vibes but the solo fights before and after the emperor kill in chapter 4 are literally so bad and annoying, that I must leave a negative review after several attempts resulting in a ragequit. The whole game is encouraging the player to build a party of two supporting each other, then the whole concept is turned upside down and the party members are expected to excel individually against enemies with 80% parry/dodge chc and/or stun-locking abilities.…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →𝕐𝕠𝕦'𝕧𝕖 𝕙𝕖𝕒𝕣𝕕 𝕒𝕓𝕠𝕦𝕥 𝕊𝕥𝕪𝕩 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕘𝕠𝕓𝕝𝕚𝕟, 𝕓𝕦𝕥 𝕙𝕒𝕧𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕙𝕖𝕒𝕣𝕕 𝕒𝕓𝕠𝕦𝕥 𝕙𝕠𝕨 𝕙𝕖 𝕨𝕒𝕤 𝕒𝕓𝕠𝕦𝕥 𝕥𝕠 𝕘𝕖𝕥 𝕤𝕞𝕒𝕤𝕙𝕖𝕕 𝕓𝕪 𝕒 𝕘𝕚𝕒𝕟𝕥 𝕠𝕣𝕔 𝕔𝕒𝕝𝕝𝕖𝕕 𝔸𝕣𝕜𝕒𝕚𝕝? ℕ𝕠? "Of Orcs and Men" is an RPG Third-Person Adventure game that takes place in the universe of "Styx: Master of Shadows" (think of it as a prequel). The only downside to that whole shebang is that you actually do not control your characters lol! Let me go deeper into it:…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Absolute Cinema. No sequel is a crime
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is the first game I had in my library. Bought it as CD with a Steam Key. Never played it however. I played the first Styx game which I loved and started the second before life came inbetween. Saw the third installment of Styx coming out in a few days and remembered that I never finished it. Played the first Styx game and then finally finished the second, also with a fresh start. And then I thought why not play the real OG as well, while my memory is still fresh? And boy am I glad I did.…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Short and sweet, a little rough around the edges, but all around a very enjoyable and unique experience :>
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Only recommending the game if you play it on anything under Extreme difficulty, but would rather give it a Neutral instead - or a not-recommended if going by achievements. First off, this game freakin' sucks if you are a completionist as you have to beat the game on Extreme difficulty: it's not so bad, but when some of the fights literally come down to RNG then it becomes retarded - a disclaimer to those expecting to get it done, and I pray that you have a lot of patience. On the topic of…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Story's pretty good. Gameplay is not. It's old and usually heavily discounted though so it's worth the pickup I'd say.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I simply cannot communicate how weird and counter-intuitive every single game design/control choice is. Nothing about combat or just simply moving through the game world is like how you would expect it to work. This is up there with Deathtrap Dungeon for just having the wildest user interface ever.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is actually a pretty good fantasy action game, you'll play as an orc and goblin team on a mission to take on many different enemies, trying to find a balance between using Styx the goblin to assassinate and provide support while Arkhail the orc tanks and deals out damage. The combat is pretty challenging and tactical requiring you to think in depth about how to synergize your characters abilities and overcome different waves of obstacles that come at you. If you're easily frustrated you…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →God, I had so much fun with this game. It's definitely Eurojank. There's a bunch of flaws that holds it back from being completely perfect but the things that shine really do shine. I'm going to attempt to filter down my first impressions after finishing the main campaign. Pros: - Worldbuilding! The lore is amazing and super unique for its dark fantasy setting. It's brutal, aggressive, violent, and features orcs and a goblin as the main protagonists. Humans are the tyrannical,…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Not a bad game, although there are some downsides. The downsides are the very specific combat, no loot and no jumping. The game has a great plot and it is what carries the whole game. It's a shame they didn't make this game as a co-op, it would have been cool then. My rating: ✭✭✭✰✰
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →You can throw a goblin at enemies like a javelin.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →If you played Styx and really miss your favorite goblin this game is for you. Its not a stealth game but its good enough for 1 playthrough
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A great rendition and addition to the Styx saga Highly enjoyable, a few bugs here and there but it is more than tolerable. Bit too much talkie, talkie for me, as I am not interested the story that much. That is personal preference though.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I played this in 2024 for the first time. The story and the game play are both great. The game is excellently written and the story will keep you interested with a couple of twists and creative ideas. For me it was the best part. The game play feels is a small mix of tactical and turn based but the game trows some stealth in the mix, which keeps things fresh an interesting the whole campaign. All the good things you've heard about this game are true.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The story telling and dialog is fantastic, but the combat is suicidal. If you enjoy the Styx series, this is the start of it all and worth the play. I just wish they would remaster it with modern combat. It would be a masterpiece.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →https://cinematicdiversions.com/of-orcs-and-men-2012-review/ There are games that fail because they lack ambition, and then there is Of Orcs and Men, which fails because it bites off far more than it can chew. If you appreciate strong storytelling and world-building, there is a lot to love here. The narrative cleverly flips traditional fantasy tropes, casting humans as an expansionist, oppressive empire and the orcs and goblins as desperate survivors fighting for their existence. The…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I really like the idea behind this game, it's very unique, it has Styx in it! It's armor is historical (For the humans of course), the plot puts you in the boots of an orc, and it's combat system is ambitious and very unique. Sadly that last part is the issue, this game is very hard on hard, this is good, it's also VERY unfun, this is not good. For the 100 minutes I played this game, I was doing everything I could to be at top dps, Styx high damage, the orc guy tank, surely that's what I'm…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The combat is certainly dated and odd but the story is fantastic and worth your time.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Story rich, exciting menu theme music, well made personalities except for that mf whose face is scanned for every ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ NPC in the game, great storytelling, the only downside about it is the awful poor combat system, but I'd still give it 9/10.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I’ve owned Of Orcs and Men for years but never actually sat down to play it. With a new Styx game on the horizon, I decided to revisit this older title—and that’s exactly what it feels like: old. Visually, the game shows its age. There’s a heavy use of browns and muddled greens, with bland environments and textures that were very much of their time. It’s not outright ugly, but it lacks visual variety and personality by modern standards. Mechanically, the systems are fairly shallow.…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Kind of clunky, but a great overall unique experience. First, we really don't have enough Orc/Goblin led protagonists. This game will scratch the itch for anyone who feels the same. Gameplay is solid, plays like a poor man's KOTOR, but it still has enough depth to make it worth paying attention to your stats. Even if I spammed most of my battles. Storyline is the real draw here. It's about Orcs on the brink of extinction who decide to kill the human emperor to hopefully cause enough chaos and…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It might be a good game otherwise but it has some frustrating gameplay so I can't really recommend this because of that.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The main character has to, and I am not ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ kidding, rape a woman to make her come to terms with her trauma from being raped and tortured by the inquisition. And his response is, "No time to lose." Do not play this game.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Played this game because I loved the worldbuilding from STYX: Master of Shadows This game has a unique combat system with a great skills/stats layout. The item and weapons pool is small, but very fun to combine items strategically. Graphics are dated, but the art direction is fantastic. Game goes hard with a good imagination. my only minor gripes is the dialogue being kindof edgy (styx cussing every sentence lol), and the game UI/HUD was unreadable due to glitches. Fortunately, there's a fix…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Im still in the shanty town. So far I generally like the game but it has some problems. 1. When you need to learn how to do something, the guide shows a finger pushing what looks like a controller button...which I dont have on my PC. So basically there is no way to learn something unless some video happens to show what you need to know. 2. I'm on the 2nd group of guards in the town but every time I restart the game Styx takes off running toward a group of 4-5 guards and they always kill me...…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I really enjoyed Greedfall and am a big fan of the Styx games as well so discovering this existed was pretty cool for me. You should certainly know what you're getting into with this one beforehand but as someone who knew it was a low budget game and wasn't perfect I kept my expectations in check and kinda love it. There is plenty of room for improvement but I had a good time and though it probably won't happen it would be so cool to get a sequel that was just bigger and badder.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Stil quite a nice game
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Went straight into it on extreme difficulty, maybe i was a little to ambitious, but since it's an older game i wasn't expecting much of a challenge. I was surprised because it had a fair amount of fights that were quite hard, specially the final boss 3 fights in a row with no saves in between possible. It's a great game, a fair amount of replay ability, you can try different roles/builds for each, at least in normal difficulty, if you go to hardest please go Ark tank with Styx dps, only way i…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A fantastic game in every sense of the word. I loved every part of it especially Styx. I absolutely love him!!!! He made me laugh the whole time. I’m so glad he has his own games where he’s the main character and I can’t wait to play them! The game sadly is a bit too linear, unfortunately. It’s mostly a cycle of moving forward, fighting a bunch of enemies and reaching your destination. Rinse and repeat 🥲 Still, it’s an excellent game overall, and the soundtrack is amazing. Of course it…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A genuinely fun and lovable albeit messed up cast of characters in an oppressive, engaging dark fantasy world marred by mind boggling game design and occasionally spotty writing and voice acting. I want to get the positives out of the way first because I think Of Orcs and Men does some really good stuff worthy of high praise. It's writing, overall is relatively great, particularly in it's worldbuilding. I love the parallels to the real world that they are alluding to and they feel more…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →
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