Introduction: Overlord for PC
Overlord is a groundbreaking action adventure, set in a seriously warped fantasy world. Controlling a mysterious figure that has inherited the legacy of the evil, long-dead Overlord, the player emerges, near death, from the ruins of the old Overlord’s Dark Tower. Only the player’s actions will determine if they will rise to become the new all-powerful Overlord; it’s all down to how much of a bad ass they want to be in order to succeed...evil or really evil! Played out with plenty of black humour and dark irony, the game will immerse players in twisted parodies of classic fantasy scenarios and characters.
 
Overlord’s key innovation is the introduction of an array of impish creatures – the Minions. They believe you are the old Overlord reborn and will use their unique skills to fetch, fight and die for you. Throughout the game your character will actively control a horde of these gremlin-like critters and they’ll follow your every instruction no matter how despotic or, for the Minions, life threatening it is.
Published By: Codemasters
Developed By: Triumph Studios
Genre: Action Adventure
Release Date: June 26, 2007
Official Website: https://www.codemasters.com/overlord/
About Codemasters:
Codemasters: developer and publisher of world-class video games. On PlayStation2, Xbox 360TM, PC and NintendoTM, we are dedicated to bringing games of excellence to players across the globe. For 20 years, our mission has been to deliver excellent, innovative games and that's become our reputation.
Within an increasingly buoyant market, Codemasters is growing. For 2006/07 and beyond we're expanding our portfolio with great new and established titles including Colin McRae Rally: DIRT, Brian Lara International Cricket 2007, Clive Barker's Jericho, Maelstrom and many more. Codemasters Online Gaming will publish and operate The Lord of the Rings OnlineTM under license from Turbine, Inc in Europe. Codemasters Mobile will launch LMA Manager 2007 for mobile phones.
With more than 60 No.1 hits and distributing to over 70 countries globally, Codemasters enjoys an enviable position, earned through the production of such blockbusting brands as TOCA Race Driver, Colin McRae Rally, and Operation Flashpoint. The company is headquartered in the UK, maintains operations in the US, Germany, France, Spain, and Benelux.
We know that advances in technology can only enhance the gaming experience. We can be bigger, faster and more impressive than ever before.
Overlord System Specifications
Minimum:
- Windows XP
- DirectX 9.0c
- CPU: Pentium 2.4 GHz or Athlon XP 2400+
- 512 mb RAM
- Graphics Card: GeForce FX5900 / Radeon 9500 or above
- DirectX 9 Compatible Sound Card
- 1.2 Gb Hard Drive Space
Recommended:
- Windows XP / Vista
- DirectX 9.0c
- CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo or Athlon 64 X2
- 1Gb RAM
- Graphics Card: GeForce 7800 or Radeon X1800
- Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Sound Card
- 1.2 Gb Hard Drive Space
As Tested:
- CPU : Core 2 Duo E6600
- RAM: 2GB
- GPU: 8800GTS 640MB
- HDD: 2x160GB 8MB SATA2
- Windows XP
- DirectX 9.0c
Closer Look: Overlord for PC & XBox 360
After bringing us the wonderful Age of Wonders series, Triumph Studios attempts to win our hearts once again with a refreshing title that tries to break some rules and bring something new and innovative for us to experience.
That game goes by the name Overlord.
Overlord is a Hack & Slash RPG spiced up with some strategy elements. The developers made an interesting genre blending in order to paint the RPG genre with some new colors, and they did a pretty good job.
Nothing revolutionary here but it does not follow the exact same formula that most RPGs nowadays do and I loved the result. Add a lot of humor to that formula and you will get a fun and very unique game.
Ask yourself: are you evil?
I guess, deep down inside, we all are just a little evil. We sometimes feel the urge to do things our way, making decisions that are considered selfish and unthoughtful, yet profitable to us. I, for instance, find myself watching a movie and sometimes wanting, just for once, that the bad guy's wicked plan will finally succeed! Ever happened to you? There are plenty of other examples I can think of but I presume you got the idea.
The wonderful thing about video games is the true freedom of choice they supply to us, as gamers, without having to suffer the consequences of our immoral decisions. Overlord lets you do exactly that! For once, you won't save the world from a disaster or a dreadful threat. You, in fact, will be that awful threat, and along with your dark and vicious (and funny) army, you will embark on a journey to conquer the world.
So, I invite you all, if you feel you're evil enough, to put on your cursed black and distorted armor, insert the blood stained long sword into its sheath and join me in my wicked quest as the new dreadful and fearsome overlord.
Overlord: The Storyline
The game does not take itself too seriously and the storyline is a great example of that. Overlord takes place in a warped, twisted and corrupted world that contradicts everything we ever thought we knew about a typical fantasy world. This world serves as a parody about all Tolkien like fantasy worlds, which adds a lot of sense of humor to the game, a humor that every RPG fan will surely relate to quite easily.
The game will start with you awakening from death (or who knows what) by some little funny impish creatures. Once you're up on you're feet, they'll immediately crown you as the successor of their former overlord and pledge their lives to you. To make you feel at home, they will equip you with a heavy armor and put a nice battle-axe in your hands. Since you are the heir, your minions expect you to rebuild the previous overlord's tower of evilness, which is currently shattered to pieces and all the magical and special items it contained are scattered around the game world.
The previous overlord that you are replacing was brutally killed by seven powerful heroes. There were times where those heroes, called "The Seven", used to help poor peasants feed their families, rescued young women from the hands of evil guys (such as yourself) and helped old ladies cross the street.
But alas, they have turned against their nature and their souls have become dark and corrupted. Now, "The Seven" are terrorizing the poor inhabitants of this tainted fantasy world. Each dark hero has his own group of followers, which are, of course, corrupted as well. This means that when you'll start exploring the colorful world of Overlord, you'll encounter corrupted hobbits, vicious unicorns, evil dwarves and other abominations such as these. Your main goal in Overlord is to defeat those seven foul heroes and by that, avenge the death of the previous overlord as well as rule the world with no resistance whatsoever.
Each of the seven heroes represents one of the seven deadly sins, which lead them to the dark side in the first place. Goldo, for instance, is the ruler of the Golden Hills and represents the sin of greed. He was lead to believe (trying not to spoil it too much) that he should have all the gold available in the world in his possession. That unconditional desire for gold and fortune went up to his head, corrupting his beliefs and his ways.
There's also Melvin (the first of the seven heroes you'll meet). He rules the Mellow Hills and represents the sin of gluttony. Melvin uses his Halfling army to overcome and force helpless peasants to supply him with all the food and drinks they can get. He'll even use a fork as a weapon when you'll get into battle against him.
Another interesting (and hilarious) character I feel I should mention here is Gnarl. Gnarl is an elder goblin that has a lot of knowledge and will instruct you on your first steps in the game's world and throughout the whole game. The tutorial that introduces you to the game is funny and thanks to Gnarl, you immediately get the hang of what Overlord is all about.
Overlord: Gameplay
Once the opening movie ends, you will step into the resurrected overlord's body and start rebuilding your dark empire. From the first moment you put your hands on the mouse, you will feel something different about the gameplay in Overlord. The gameplay is pretty familiar when it comes to controlling the main character.
Your Overlord himself can attack his enemies using various weapons such as swords, axes and maces. You can also utilize magic and cast spells, which will be available during the course of the game. You are probably wondering what's new about all this... The beautiful thing here is that your character is not really the center of the gameplay. you can't really make any progress or complete any of the game's challenges without the help of your minions, the Goblins. Your minions, Sire.
It certainly feels good to be a bad Overlord, but what's an evil and vicious overlord to do without his minions? The goblin minions are just awesome, hilarious and it is pure fun to watch them. They will do anything in their power to satisfy your needs and accomplish the tasks you assign to them.
There are different types of minions at your disposal and each type has it's own unique abilities.
Brown minions
The brown minions are basically the warriors. They can be equipped with all types of armor and attack their enemies with any weapon they can find during the journey. They are the strongest and most durable type as well, which means they will be able to absorb a lot of damage before they perish.
Red minions
The red minions excel in ranged attacks and can really aid you in battle, if used wisely. They cast fireballs at your enemies and are also immune to fire. This means that they can go through fire to reach places, which are not accessible to any of the other minions, including the overlord himself. Needless to say they are weak and will die pretty fast when faced with a melee opponent. They are best stationed in a strategic point, such as high ground, while the browns attack the enemy face to face.
Green minions
The Green minions are the silent killers. They have the ability to sneak behind enemies without being noticed and backstab them, hurting them badly. Greens are also immune to poison. They can walk through poisonous areas and neutralize it, making the path clear for you to continue.
Blue minions
These minions are actually healers. They have the ability to resurrect other minions during battle. They are not afraid of water and can pass water obstacles to reach places others can't. Blues are immune to magic and on top of that, can kill magical beings and ghosts.
Controlling your Minions
You start the game with the ability to control a maximum of 5 brown (warrior) minions. You will not be able to summon other types just yet. As the game progresses, you will increase your powers and will be able to summon all four types of minions and control a swarm of not less than 50 minions. The fact that you choose how many minions you'd like from each type adds a lot to the gameplay. You will have to choose wisely in order to overcome the various obstacles and puzzles that game will place in your way.
Having said that, I still feel the puzzles could be a little more challenging, given the resources the developers had in their hands. The game tries to prevent the player from thinking too much, I guess for the sake of the action. Not a bad decision, but puzzles could be a little tougher in my opinion.
You can summon your minions using spawning pits, which can be found in every level. The price you need to pay for this action is what the game calls life force. Every living thing leaves behind life force once you killed it. That includes sheep, beetles, hobbits, peasants and so on. You need to gather this force, which looks like a shining colorful ball, in order to spawn more minions. Minions are so loyal to you that they'll sacrifice their own lives in order to help you regenerate your health or mana. There are special altars scattered around the levels in which you can sacrifice them.
Using the left click, you can send your minions to complete a task. Right click to call them back and follow you. For instance, send them towards a group of enemies and they'll attack, send them towards a table full of food and ale, and they'll tear the place up while eating and drinking in between, getting drunk and confused for a few moments. Watching them smashing through pumpkin patches, storming towards your enemies and destroying everything that stands in their way while shouting and giggling, is just pure joy. Too bad not everything in the environment is destructible.
They will also arm themselves with whatever they can find laying around, so seeing a goblin wearing a pumpkin as a helmet and using a frying pan as a weapon is not something rare here. Your minions will pick up anything valuable and bring it to you, so you don't need to worry about forgetting gold coins, life force, equipment or anything else in the battlefield.
You can also choose certain types of goblins within your group in order to use them for a specific task. For instance, you encounter a group of enemies, what do you do? Select reds and send them to high ground to use their ranged attack. Send your browns towards the enemy while directing the greens to attack from the back. While all are in the heat of the battle, prepare your blues and send them to drag bodies outside of your enemy's reach in order to resurrect them.
To achieve such actions as I described above, you must use both left and right buttons while escorting your minions' movement with the mouse to direct them to the desired destination. This is too complicated and not exactly the best way to control the minions, a weird choice by the developers. Add in the fact that you need to control both yourself and your minions at the same time, and you get a pretty hard control scheme, which will take some time getting used to. Not impossible, but it could be implemented in a more convenient way.
Why not, for instance, let us select minions by clicking them and then point them where we want them to go on the battlefield, just like in RTS games. I guess the main reason for this control scheme is the fact that Overlord was ported from the Xbox360...
The Path to the Dark Side
While roaming the world of Overlord, you'll receive different quests from various sources. All quests are gathered in your quest log and it is pretty easy to keep track of them. Many quests are not accessible to you until you complete certain other quests, so this is not exactly a sand box game. Overlord is quite linear most of the time. While I am there, I have to mention that Overlord does not feature an in game map. Too bad, as a map is a basic element in any RPG and would have surely made life much easier...
When going out and accomplishing quests, you will find many sorts of objects. Red objects will increase your life bar while blue ones will boost the mana bar. There are also spell objects to develop your casting ability and magical powers and so forth. Another problem in the game is the fact that only your minions are able to carry objects and teleport them from the outside world to your tower. Problem is you can't control them while they carry the object. They often get stuck, unable to move anywhere with the object. I had to recall them back and send them again to lift the object 3 times so they'd succeed. Sometimes I even had to reload a previous saved game. In other cases, they just closed me in a corner and I couldn't get out nor give them an order to go back with the object.
As you progress, you will have more destructive power to abuse the beings in the world around you. Question is, how you will use it. Overlord keeps track on how corrupt you are in your dark path. If you will slaughter or loot neutral, inoffensive peasants instead of helping them (which is what you should do...), your corruption level will increase. The more corrupted you are, the more powerful you will get.
Some quests in the game will make you choose between two possible paths. One path will increase your corruption level while the other will reduce it. I sure hope you will make the right choice ;) Corruption level effects the way people will treat you and your looks will change accordingly as well. You will also get a different ending according to how corrupted you were in your journey.
The tower is your home and the place where you'll plan and execute your evil plan, with the help of your finest servant - Gnarl. This is your gateway into all the domains that are out there for you to conquer. As mentioned, it is now looted and broken by the seven heroes, and you will slowly rebuild it and customize it as you see fit to restore its glory. You will also get a mistress (or two) to help out with decorating the tower and some other stuff.
In the tower, you will find a few rooms such as: The Throne Room, where you'll find your throne as well as a teleporter, which supplies access to the outside world. By the way, each time you use the teleport, your game will be saved. There are a few slots for auto-saving your game and unless you'll change them frequently, you'll take the risk of somehow corrupting your only saved game. This will force you to go back to square one, which could be quite frustrating so, keep that in mind.
Your Private Quarters, which consist of your bedroom and a treasure room. The Forge, which enables you to upgrade or create new weapons and armor.
You do that using sacrificing minions. Each type of the minion affects the resulting weaponry or armor in a different way. Browns will make the weapon more powerful while reds will add fire damage to it. Greens can help regenerate health and blues will contribute to the total health of the overlord. The number of minions you invest in the piece will determine how powerful it will be.
The Dungeon is a nice room where all the enemies you already killed are gathered. Whenever you feel like it, you can go there for a rematch. This way, you can polish your maneuvers and combat skills to the maximum.
Online Multiplayer Experience
Defeated the seven heroes, rebuilt your tower and took over the world? Don't sit back yet, as the game offers you an online experience as well. Multiplayer mode in Overlord brings nothing new actually, but it is still quite nice and contributes to the replayability of the game. It offers two modes of Multiplayer: Versus and Co-op.
Versus mode lets you fight against another overlord and see who gathers more gold. Gold is acquired by retrieving items to your tower, looting and killing creatures.
Co-op is quite self-explanatory. You play together with a friendly overlord and try to survive as long as you can against your enemies.
Graphics
The graphics in Overlord will not sweep you off your feet. With that said, there is something truly charming about the colorful, soothing environments you will roam and the creatures you will meet.
The hobbits' homes for instance are just beautiful to watch and explore. One of them looks just like Bilbo's home from Lord of the Rings.
Desert and Forest levels are great as well. Enemies were not forgotten and are varied and highly detailed. Your minions' animations are quite impressive and smooth. However, the overlord moves as if he is made of rocks - pretty heavy and frozen. Maybe it's because he just came back from the dead.
Audio
Sound department was not neglected and is just amazing. The soundtrack and sound effects relate perfectly to the environment the overlord is currently exploring. Voice acting is superb, especially when is comes to Gnarl and main NPCs.
NPCs you'll meet along the way will throw lines at you according to your deeds, which made me actually laugh loudly at certain points of the game. Sure, they will repeat themselves sometimes, but I guess that is inevitable. Just kill them if they get on your nerves.
Final Conclusion: Overlord
To sum it up, Overlord is a great, innovative and fun game. It gives you the opportunity to play a video game from a different angle and for once, do evil and selfish things in order to make progress (although it is still on the good side of evil). It pretty successfully mixes role-playing elements with real-time strategy ones, which is a great combination.
Overlord features magical visuals that make you feel you're in a fantasy book as well as great voice acting and a soundtrack that fits the well designed environments like a glove.
I do feel Overlord could score much higher if it was tested properly before being released. The game has lots of really irritating problems that, I guess, are not too fundamental. Just a bit more time for testing was required to create a much better impression. These problems prevent it from fulfilling its full potential, which is a shame.
In spite of these problems, Overlord is just a great and fun game. If you enjoy RPG/RTS games and love to laugh, don't wait another second. Go to the nearest store and spoil yourself with a copy of Overlord, you won't be disappointed. Just keep in mind: Evil is only a point of view.
Rating
Pros:
Minions are pure fun
Great environments design
Original world and genre mixture
Superb voice acting
Cons:
Lots of Bugs
Problematic Controls
In-Game map is missing
Shallow Multiplayer
Score:
Graphics: 8
Audio: 8.5
Gameplay: 8
Fun Factor: 8
Total Score: 8
Related Articles:
|
