FutureFive New Zealand - Consumer technology news & reviews from the future
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Wed, 1st Aug 2007
FYI, this story is more than a year old

Crushing everything and everyone in your path with minions that you summon to become Overlord of all you survey is one tempting way to spend some quality gaming time. And the game is pretty simplistic in its approach. You play the game as the Overlord who has risen from a deep slumber. Evil it seems has been taking a nap right along with you and the world seems to be rife with goodness complete with flowers blooming and bouncy sheep. It’s your mission as the Overlord to rectify this situation as quickly as possible and bring mayhem and evil back to the world.The fact that this game is played using the thumb sticks for two entirely different things is probably the first quirk in the game that you’ll need to get used to. The left thumb stick controls your Overlord and the right thumb stick controls the minions that you summon. The main object of the game is to try and destroy as much as possible with your minions whilst following the in-game missions to completion. Whilst you are recognised as evil incarnate, there are certain ‘rules’ that you need to follow to ensure that you don’t go destroying the very subjects you aim to control. That means sometimes overlooking the death and slaughter. And the game doesn’t make it easy on you either. The temptation to kill all that cross your path is always there and you can actually gain corruption points for doing so.As the Overlord you have the ability to use magic and there are health and ‘power’ indicators in the game telling you when you’re about to die or run out of the magic juice that gives you the ability to use various magical spells. Dying happens quite easily, even though you are the big, bad Overlord. That’s why there is a strong emphasis on using your minions to get everything done. Don’t go rushing into battle thinking you’re likely to kick butt. Chances are, during battle you’re merely the one calling the shots or adding the odd fire bolt etc whenever the fancy takes you. Your minions are there to ensure you stay alive and to do all the hard work. It doesn’t get much better than that!One of the most pleasing aspects of this game has to be the minions and their unruly way about things. They are as funny as they are cute – even though they all seem to look like smaller clones of Gollum, just with bigger ears.  The humorous dialogue is extremely amusing and well written. The characters are entertaining without being over done and extremely interactive (even if some of the voice acting is a little on the annoying side).There’s also the interesting business of summoning your minions when they die and also using your minions as a way to heal yourself should you find you’re getting a little low on health. There are summoning pits all over the place and they can be found in the most convenient of places. As you progress in the game, the amount of minions you can summon will increase as will the strength and usefulness of your minions. You will eventually collect several different types of minions to help you tackle all that goodness in the world and ultimately, destroy it and become the Overlord.Aesthetically, Overlord passes the grade. No bugs or jerky game play present and graphically, the game looks really good on 720p. If you enjoy your RPG games, you’ll absolutely love Overlord. Who wouldn’t want to have a blast playing as the master of all things evil?