| Publisher: | Thorn EMI Creative Sparks Top Ten |
| Designer: | Dean Lock[1] |
| Programmer: | Atari 8-bit Dean Lock ZX Spectrum Phil Snell Commodore 64 Chris James |
| Released: | 1983: Atari 1984: C64, Spectrum |
| Genre: | Fixed shooter |
| Modes: | Single-player, two-player |
| Platforms: | Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum |
Orc Attack is a fixed shooter video game written by Dean Lock for Atari 8-bit computers and published in 1983 by Thorn EMI.[1] The game was re-released, along with Commodore 64 and ZX Spectrum ports, when Thorn rebranded as Creative Sparks, and later at budget price by Sparklers and Top Ten. In Orc Attack, the player protects a castle wall by dropping boulders on ladder climbing orcs. Though the visuals are low resolution, Orc Attack has a high level of violence.
The player moves back and forth along the top of a castle wall, defending it from an orc horde by dropping rocks and pouring boiling oil. Attackers use ladders to scale the wall. Should one of them climb all the way to the ramparts, the player can kill it with a sword, but this diverts attention from the climbing orcs. An evil sorcerer also sends evil spirits against players.
Atari 8-bit magazine ANALOG Computing called Orc Attack "easily the most violent and gratuitously satisfying shoot-'em-up on the market today (although "drop-'em-down" might be a more accurate label)."[2] Arcade Express concluded, "Orc Attack combines fast-paced action with lots of strategy to produce a strong overall program" - 8/10.[3]
ZX Spectrum magazine CRASH gave Orc Attack a 91% rating.[4]