Gaming Signal: REVIEW: Overlord (PC)

REVIEW: Overlord (PC)

MY RATING:

Scott gave us a preview recently, and since then I have managed to finish the game. While the plot is somewhat cliche, it is really a fantastic take on the strategy game genre. Many players compare this game to Pikman but with a much more adult theme. There is some questionable language and some innuendo which is not appropriate for the younger set. It has an ESRB rating of T and I really suggest parents follow those guidelines.

With the introductions out of the way, the premise is pretty simple. You are an Overlord and your wonderful tower of evil has been mangled by some goody-goody heroes. Worse yet - they have made off with some of your stuff. This is something that any evil overlord will not stand for. Therefore, you grab your axe and menacing armor and head off to take care of these heroes but you do not go into battle alone. Nope, you have your hordes of faithful minions to assist you. These loveable little creatures will fight for you, sacrifice themselves to heal and refill your mana stores, and can be used to imbue your weapons and armor. It is so hard to not become attached to the little buggers as they grab weapons (which include severed zombie arms) and armor (which start out as pumpkins and dead rats). These goblins and their personality is such a big part of this title. As the game progresses, they collect much more capable weapons and armor and their power is communicated back to you as the controller as a percentage and in their appearance. Unarmored and weaponless minions look small and naked but do okay in groups. Fully loaded minions look menacing as they stand there bristling with weapons and armor and really make short work of just about any normal opponent. As their power increases, the percentage number on the user interface will grow. There is something to be said about having a horde of 40 minions with an effective damage power of 300% - especially when you descend upon a group of drunken dwarves!!!

This interactivity with the world is fantastic and I know I spent a fair amount of time sending my goblins of doom off to crush crates (a staple of every game) and jugs to obtain both gear and money and potions. The fact that these items would repopulate the world when you change levels is somewhat strange, but even the game explains that the people and creatures are quite prolific and will multiply again quickly. This fact becomes very important as your minions get crushed, clubbed, eaten, and maimed during your endeavors to reclaim your throne of evil.

In the world of Overlord, minions are only available with two factors in place: the availability of the hives (which are collected through the game) and collection of life essence. This second component is why having areas that repopulate becomes so important. There is some amount of time that must be spent replenishing your minion resources since there are puzzles that require certain minion types. This may at first be seen as a negative, but it is also during this replenishment that the minions will re-equip and perform some of their fantastic little activities.

The puzzles in the game are not overly complex, but at times demonstrate one of the difficulties in the title. Basically the control scheme is designed for the Xbox360, and is somewhat sub-par when converted to the mouse and keyboard of the PC. The problem is basically the sweep move requires the clicking of both the right and left mouse buttons and that is not something many gamers are used to doing. This task combined with some confusion regarding the command point feature which is intended to lock your minions in a single location and you get some strange control behaviors. I still could not get some of the behaviors I wanted to work (blues resurrecting while the browns and greens engage in melee), but it was a minor gripe for me.

Another downside is that the game is relatively short. I know that I got about 20 hours of play out of the title, but when I look at the world I realize that it is pretty small in reality. I guess I was just enjoying watching my minions go forth and crush things that I wanted it to be a larger world. This is not to say that there is not a lot to see and experience. The positive news is that the game ends as many do - with the possibility of a sequel.

The final gripe (which has been stated elsewhere) is that evil in Overlord is not all that evil. Furthermore, it could almost be said that you are more good than the heroes you are off crushing. Don't get me wrong, you can go off and kill towns folk and perform evil deeds, but there seems to be somewhat of an undercurrent that not doing this would be better for you as an overlord. This complaint much like the game duration one above is minor. I appreciate the fact that plot required this type of activity, and it really does not detract from the implementation of the game. The hope is that a sequel (if it does happen) will really give some opportunities to be more evil, but time will tell.

In the final analysis, these few downsides can do little to detract from what is a fantastic gaming experience. There is something to be said about having a horde of little goblins working at your beck and call, and I sometimes wish I had that level of control in the real world. Those PC gamers who wish to see a unique take on the strategy theme should go out and try this game, and if you have an Xbox360 - then this game should pretty much an auto-buy once it drops in price (sorry I just cannot condone a $60 price tag for a game that is much less expensive on the PC). I do suggest investing in a different controller though since some of the control elements can get frustrating, but it is not something that prevents gamers from completing the experience.