Looking at some games sales charts, a pattern seems to come up: most titles are movie/book tie-ins, part of a famous series or remakes of old classics. It seems that it has become more and more difficult to create an original game without an expensive movie tie-in or without putting new graphics around old games in an attempt to cash in on gamers’ nostalgia or love for a certain character or story. Codemasters and Triumph Studios decided that it’s time to break that mold and push into uncharted territory with “Overlord”. But what genre is Overlord, anyway? One wouldn’t be too far off to place it in the 3rd-Person-RPG-Strategic-Action-Humorous-Horror-God-Game category. Well, that sounds like a mouthful and that’s also very accurate because this game offers a lot to chew on. The main difference is that this game strays from the well known recipe of killing monsters and doing good deeds and lets you get in touch with your slightly darker side. Let’s make Evil happen!
        The game starts with you being awakened from a tomb and then some acid rubbed into your eyes to get you going. Some odd-looking creatures are helping you get on your feet and who promptly deem you their master and commander. These are the minions; your followers who will unquestionably obey your orders from now on. It would take a twisted mind to call them „cute” since they resemble gremlins, but they are freaking hilarious, as you will discover for yourself throughout the game.
        After your invigorating awakening, you find out that your Evil tower is in ruin because of all of the Prince Charming-esque characters that came by and defeated your predecessor. Therefore, you must reclaim the ancient glory of doing despicable deeds and rebuilding your fortress. Like in many good stories, you get an aide and a buffoon to help you or, well, piss you off with repeated flattery during your quest. Fortunately, the older and wiser counselor guides you through a quick tutorial which will familiarize the Overlord with the way the minions are created and with the control system. Killing enemies (or innocent sheep for that matter) will provide energy that can be transformed into new minions, with hives in pre-selected locations where the little gremlins can be brought to life.


        The minions, although rather small and thin, aren’t defenseless as they can gather objects from fallen enemies and use them as equipment. The game automatically computes a percentage of the number of the minions that use new gear and provides bonuses for their attack and defense. Some of the stuff they gather would be quite useless in the real world but you cannot help but chuckle when you see an army behind you with clubs and maces, wearing chef’s hats or carved pumpkins on their heads as helmets.
        There are four types of these minions, disguised behind the name of the color of their skin: Browns, Reds, Greens and Blues (which is so Reservoir Dogs). But it’s not just their skin color that’s different; their abilities are special as well. While Browns are your usual brawlers, Reds can extinguish fires and have a ranged attack, Greens are immune to poison and have a deadly stabbing strike while Blues are great for dealing with the parts of the world filled with the greatest danger for the minions: water. Yes, water can kill an army in an instant. Unlike the Overlord, minions cannot pass through water and using what seems to be a good shortcut will immediately result in your minion army being halved, with the poor little creatures suffering a horrible death. This is also where the difficult control system comes along to stain the gaming experience.