Ork

rhorschack 2017-09-13
Probably WJS greatest achievement on the Amiga. Unlike Baal or Spellbound, Ork is well designed and its gameplay is far more appealling. Still not an amazing game but can be fun for a while nonetheless.
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mike_tyson 2013-03-24
Ork is a Metroidvania-ish puzzle/platform game. The graphics are outstanding from a technical as well as as from an artistic viewpoint, although I think Psygnosis overdid the Roger Dean - thing a bit. It would have been fine for one or two games, but basically it was their core product. Would have loved to see more variety.

The gameplay requires pixel-perfect jumps. Shooting is very satisfying, this is not one of these stupid games where you see bullets flying arround. There is some form of automapping (check the computer terminals). It's possible to save a game state on disk (couldn’t get it to work in the emulator though).

Not much music but what there is, is good. Sadly, no in-game music.

Overall, I consider Ork an underrated gem and it's actually one of Psygnosis best titles from that era! Graphics and story are far out, but (?) in any case this is so much better than other jump'n runs where you are a blue hedgehog or an italian plumber.
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tertronostalgic 2012-01-27
(8/10)
Good game overall. Perplexing puzzles and intersting level design with good sound and smooth 3 layer parallax scrolling. Very slick and professional. Control was awkard at first but you soon got the hang of it. 8/10
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Chuckles 2009-10-01
(10/10)
I'm aware that some folk's trash is another's treasure; for me, this one falls into the latter category of all-time Amiga-Favs. I concede the controls are awkward, but the parallex-playfield is a sight to see. I just wish there were more games like 'ORK'.
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Dan Locke 2009-09-12
(7/10)
Ork does its best to be awkward to play, with a limited firing area (forcing the player to hop constantly in order to hit anything), and wonky jumping controls, but its core mechanics are sound and well-implemented, and it's fun to cart items around the levels. The graphics are beautiful, with three (!) layers of parallax - sure, they sacrifice color for the effect, but they're pleasant in a Roger Dean-like way, and the dull, muted palette works well with the otherworldly atmosphere. What little music there is is nice.

Ork may be flawed, but it's still fun, and it's certainly pretty to look at. Check it out.
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radioman970 2008-04-02
(8/10)
The movement never seemed right to me. It wasn't my joystick since it worked fine with so many other games. But this title was so good looking and seemed like it should have been much more fun than I was having, I tried several new sticks just for it. I finally settled on one (seems like it was that old Epyx fist-shaped model with the short red stick that did the job) and had a lot of fun reguardless. They just made those damn jumps very tricky, trying to time a jump as you're being attached could be maddening. Even so, this is definitely a title worthy of revisiting. I still have my Amiga version, but I'd be interested in seeing if the emulated version works with my gamepad. The diagonal is pretty tricky on that pad...

8/10 overall
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Kai 2007-02-18
(7/10)
Yeah, the guys from Psygnosis really seemed to have used the SHADOW OF THE BEAST graphics and colour palette. Nevertheless, this is an excellent platformer!
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Haplo 2006-12-17
This is Shadow Of The Beast with an ugly main sprite.
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Predseda 2006-02-20
Strange game with the classic Psygnosis "Beast" graphics. Reminds a little the Killing Game Show too, mainly due the main character. Something like a jumping cybernetic chicken... :
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Tapewormz 2006-02-14
I think this one was one of the budget titles from Psygnosis. It was ok.
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Guybrush Threepwood 2006-01-10
(7/10)
Well another game from Psygnosis & you can tell from its rather nice GFX & decent sound not to mention the intro. But again I was short lived with this run of the mill shoot em up game. Loved the music however...
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