I've been playing the new Overlord game for the XBox 360. It's a basic third person action-type game. I'm about half through. It's tons of fun - although I do agree with some of the criticisms leveled at it.
Basically, you're an evil guy come back from the dead, trying to rebuild your evil empire. You control a gang of imp-like minions. Sending them out to solve puzzles, attack, break open things and bring back what's inside (after which they say, among other things, "For da Overlord..."), etc.. There's an over-arching story which takes you from place to place. Along the way, you can increase your own personal abilities and add such niceties as red carpets to your stronghold.
The tone of the game is very tongue-in-cheek. The minions relieve themselves with a loud "ahhhh" if you send them out to drink ale and there's a narrator who yawns after the elves make flowery, woeful statements, for example. The "evil" that you do is generally very comic book (although you can burn people alive and listen to them scream).
I'm not sure how exciting it will be near the end of the game, one of the most interesting elements of game play is that of the minions. You can control a whole gang - right now, I have 25 - and their controls are pretty simple. You can direct them en masse with the right control stick or you can send them to do something specific (such as pick up a boulder and move it out of the way) by pulling the right trigger. It's fun to walk into an area with a lot of breakables - which is, of course, just about every area - and send the little beggars out to destroy everything and bring back any treasure they find. (When they bring back treasure, they say in a child-like way, "For you," "For da Overlord," "Treasssure!," et al.)
On the down side, it is a pretty simple game. The puzzles are pretty basic and you can find what you need if you just look.
The quests are pretty short. I hear the game is about 25 hours long.
Occasionally, there are some camera control issues.
But the big disappointment is that you can't sit on your throne (surrounded by your "servants"). You can rebuild your stronghold around it, repairing it in the process, but you don't actually get to sit in it.
On the whole, however, I'm having a blast. It's a perfect game for me. There are demos available if you're interested...
Seanchai
sweet! i played the demo on the XBOX 360 and enjoyed it, but worried about the length and the possibility of repetition. is there a multi-player component?
it made me think of Dungeon Keeper, which reminded me that i'd love for someone to do a coop remake or homage game where one person builds/stocks the dungeon and controls the inhabitants, while the other plays the good guys who'll go in to clean it out. you could make dungeons in advance for internet download, or have adventuring companies available to download and send through your lairs! swoon.
Quote from: kregmosiersweet! i played the demo on the XBOX 360 and enjoyed it, but worried about the length and the possibility of repetition. is there a multi-player component?
There is, but I haven't tried it out yet.
Quote from: kregmosierit made me think of Dungeon Keeper[/I]
Dungeon Keeper was a blast!
Seanchai