The Case

Technically, there should be no such thing as a character who would call himself evil, because “everyone is the hero of his own tale”. Screw that, we want to be evil for evil’s sake – and not like some girly anime villain who want to destroy the world because he got dementia from hiding in the closet for so long. We want to have a character who is evil because he’s evil and all of his deeds only serve to further the goals of evil. This is where “Overlord” comes in!

The Trial

Well, eventually. In the game, the heroes of Good banded together and killed the previous Evil Overlord. This left his hordes of dark minions without a leader and, thus, without employment. So they searched and searched and eventually dug up (literally) a new Overlord, to lead them in battle for – hopefully – a long time. You control the said Overlord who must sally forth and conquer the land, defeating the heroes, who, in the absence of an opponent, themselves grew bloated and corrupt.

And while you move the dark lord’s legs and arms, the game is not about bashing the heads of peasants – it’s about delegating such tasks to your minions! A mob of them will follow you whenever you go and complete various tasks – and partake in combat. You see, you’re not the most sturdy of the overlords, so charging in yourself will only get you killed. And who will then uphold the low standards of eeevil?

Even then, your minions require some careful management. The brown variety is the most numerous combat capable of the bunch, yet they are hampered (read: outright killed) by such obstacles as water, poison clouds, fire and have no special abilities. The rarer varieties are the blues (cross water, revive minions, useless in battle), the reds (ranged fire attack, consumes fire obstacles, fireproof) and the greens (stealth when ordered to guard an area, can backstab critters, immune to poison). You’ll control a mob of these guys, around 20 or so, changing the make up of the group depending on the situation.

While just sending browns into combat or looting is easy (and fun), a lot of areas, especially later on, will require micromanagement. Water is the most insidious foe, since you can cross without trouble while minions will follow you in it and drown. Some enemies – bosses, for one - use attacks that will devastate your troops without proper management. And the imps’ controls are pretty rudimentary – go/kill/loot here, come back, hold that area, follow the cursor (also known as “cat’s favorite pastime”).

Never the less, the game is a lot fun and minions are a hoot to behold, especially when they’re wrecking everything around. They bring you gold and souls (used to spawn more minions) and potions while they arm themselves with some new loot. The browns shine in this area since they have the most variations of gear modeled for them and it reflects your recent adventures. Like, smashed pumpkin helmets after a raid on some Halflings. It is sad, then, when you see your long time veterans get killed without an option to bring them back (or to competently lead them in battle in the first place).

The only constant in the Overlord’s life are the character minions, like the jester and the advisor. Sure, you’ll collect a larger retinue while time goes by, but those are ones you’ll interact with the most. Lacking real characters, “Overlord” is more about the world or the sum of its parts. The peasants are dimwitted, the regions of the world – bright and roomy, the nobles – up to no good and conspiracies – conspiring. And while the game has a certain on-rails feeling, it masks it with revisited areas that unlock new locations according to you progress (like, a wall of fire is consumed by the reds). This is all aided by the graphics engine (who’s aging is masked by the task at hand and marvelous design) and spot-on sound engineering.

The Verdict

In the end, Overlord is a unique, quirky game that has withstood the test of time and still has fans among my peers. While certainly not a huge hit nor a major popcultural influence, it will be near and dear to the people who love such fun, yet challenging games like Evil Genius or Dungeon Keeper.

Case Review