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Overlord - All News

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Thursday - August 14, 2008
Friday - February 15, 2008
Thursday - December 06, 2007
Thursday - November 01, 2007
Friday - October 12, 2007
Sunday - September 09, 2007
Thursday - August 02, 2007
Wednesday - August 01, 2007
Monday - July 30, 2007
Friday - July 27, 2007
Saturday - July 21, 2007
Wednesday - July 18, 2007
Sunday - July 15, 2007
Friday - July 13, 2007
Saturday - July 07, 2007
Thursday - July 05, 2007
Tuesday - July 03, 2007
Thursday - June 28, 2007
Wednesday - June 27, 2007
Saturday - June 23, 2007
Thursday - June 21, 2007
Sunday - June 17, 2007
Friday - June 15, 2007
Thursday - June 14, 2007
Monday - June 11, 2007
Thursday - June 07, 2007
Wednesday - June 06, 2007
Thursday - May 31, 2007
Tuesday - May 22, 2007
Friday - May 18, 2007
Wednesday - May 16, 2007
Tuesday - May 15, 2007
Tuesday - May 08, 2007
Friday - May 04, 2007
Thursday - May 03, 2007
Sunday - April 22, 2007
Box Art

Thursday - August 14, 2008

Overlord - Sequel Announced

by Dhruin, 22:28

Codesmasters has announced Overlord II, a followup to Triumph Studios' humorous adventure/strategy/RPG thingy.  I'm not sure if we'll be following it but for the moment, here's the announcement:

Thursday 14th August/... Marking the return of the bad ass game brand that champions a despotic tyrant and sets loose the most vicious, yet lovably insane critters in gaming, Codemasters® today announced that the Overlord and the Minions will headline a series of three new Overlord™ titles for multiple platforms in 2009.

Overlord™II is the sequel to the original twisted fantasy action adventure and is now in development at Triumph Studios for the PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system, Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft® and Games For Windows®. True to form, the Overlord and the Minion horde have their sights set on supremacy and 2009 will also see the series debuting on new formats. Exclusive extensions include the action title Overlord™Dark Legend for Wii™, featuring minion control through Wii Remote movement, and Overlord™Minions, a dedicated puzzle action title, for Nintendo DS™.

“As a million-plus seller Overlord is now a significant brand in the ever-growing Codemasters portfolio,” says Barry Jafrato, Senior Vice President of Brand, Codemasters. “With specific titles published across major formats and download content available, Overlord has established a huge cult following and won widespread critical acclaim. We’re delighted to have the despot back for this three-game, five-format product line. With Triumph’s hugely impressive vision for Overlord II and bespoke titles for Wii and Nintendo DS, Overlord is set to dominate in 2009.”

“Epic battles, all new Minion play mechanics, a stunningly detailed new visuals and a fresh theme – Overlord II’s really packing a punch,” says Lennart Sas, director and Overlord lead at Triumph Studios. “We’re really excited about shifting the world to a new era where a Roman-inspired Empire rises as the arch-enemy of the Overlord, which leads to an epic clash between the regimented forces of a sprawling state and the faster, harder, more manic minion horde. It’s also great to see the series reaching new formats. The creativity being packed into the design for Overlord Dark Legend on Wii and Overlord Minions on Nintendo DS make great use of the platforms’ unique features and are perfect extensions to the Overlord series.”

Source: Blues News

Friday - February 15, 2008

Overlord - Downloadable Content Released

by Magerette, 17:32

In a press release today, Codemasters has announced the release of new downloadable content for their action rpg for PC and X360, Overlord.

You can get the full story at the link above on the XBox Challenge Pack and the single player expansion called Raising Hell as well as a split-screen multiplayer pack, but here's just a brief snip concerning the PC content:

NOTE – PC CONTENT:
Overlord: Raising Hell expansion content is currently available for the PC edition of the game as one free and one combined premium pack from leading digital distributor Metaboli...with the premium PC pack costing £4.99. PC content availability applies to Europe, excluding Germany.

 

Source: GamersHell

Thursday - December 06, 2007

Overlord - v. 1.4 Patch @ Worthplaying

by Magerette, 18:59

Worthplaying has posted information and a link regarding a new patch  for Codemaster's action rpg, Overlord. Apparently the devs have gone straight from 1.2 to 1.4. Here are the features:

 Overlord v1.4 Game Features

* Split Screen

Select the Split Screen option on the Main Menu to start a Split Screen match. You can choose from any of the Slaughter, Pillage and Co-op Survival maps and change Time and Score limit for each. Maps include a new free Survival map called Rocky Race.
You must have a second input device to play a Split Screen match. Player 1 will use Keyboard and Mouse and Player 2 will use a Gamepad.
Use the “Config” tool to change key and button settings.

* amBX

OVERLORD PC Patch 1.4 is designed to support the amBX™ PC gaming peripheral. To ensure it is set up correctly:
- Run Start Menu -> Programs -> Codemasters -> Overlord -> Config
- Select the Video tab
- Select “amBX”
- Click “Save & Play”

VERSION 1.4

    * Quitting and saving at the start of the Jewel Tower cutscene no longer results in the “Speak to Jewel” Quest remaining incomplete. Existing Save Games affected by this issue will also be fixed, if the following steps are taken:
         1. Leave the Tower using the Tower Heart Portal.
         2. Visit any domain.
         3. Return to the Tower using any Waypoint Gate /Save Stone.
         4. The Jewel cutscene will play on returning to the Tower. Jewel will be present in the Tower and the “Speak to Jewel” quest completes.
    * Patch enables players with the Overlord Raising Hell boxset to play Online/LAN matches with Overlord players (who have also patched to 1.4).
    * A number of additional minor / rare issues resolved
    * All 1.2 fixes

Thursday - November 01, 2007

Overlord - New Content for XBox360 & PC

by Magerette, 18:33

Eurogamer has this information up about new content coming to Xbox & PC for Codemaster's action rpg Overlord :

Codemasters is lining up three slugs of downloadable content for Overlord on Xbox 360, and all three are due out this month...

...Codies goes on to add that PC downloadable content can be expected in the New Year. A special edition PC version of Overlord, featuring all the stuff detailed below, is on its way but only for the German market. So hang on for further details.

The new content for XBox which will hopefully all find it's way to PC will feature :

...Overlord: Raising Hell, an expansion that introduces hell to each of the game's five kingdoms. As Overlord, you will have to conquer each world properly first before descending through a portal into the new hells, each of which houses the banished former ruler of the overworld who needs duffing up a bit more to fully impede a grisly comeback...Overlord: Challenge Pack, meanwhile, introduces seven new maps and Capture the Maiden and Protect Your Power modes to multiplayer. The former is fairly self-explanatory; the latter sees you defending the Overlord's tower against waves of attack. The Challenge Pack also adds a Legendary difficulty mode for those of you who found the rise to power a bit simple

There's also some further info available at Voodoo Extreme
which headlines their article with the promising line:

PC users will get the bonus content for free in the New Year

However, the article offers no further details.

Friday - October 12, 2007

Overlord - Review @ Xbox Exclusive

by Dhruin, 13:02

Steve sent in this Overlord review at Xbox Exclusive, with a score of 7.5/10:

Overlord is about being as bad as you want to be, so you have to crush your enemies and take whatever they have with no mercy in order to reign supreme. The game is played in the third-person perspective, and in many ways looks like Fable, in terms of setting and character design. The world is very colorful and cartoon-ish, and anyone who has played enough RPG/adventure games will quickly notice how the developers are making fun of the genre, such as when part of your quest requires that you attack an evil pumpkin patch.

Sunday - September 09, 2007

Overlord - Review @ Gamespot

by Magerette, 20:03

A little late to the party posting this one, but it's a pretty inclusive look at the RTS/RPG title Overlord from Codemasters at Gamespot, giving us the bitter with the sweet:

The game takes its time introducing the different types of minions, and you'll be several hours into the game before the strategy elements of the game start getting complicated. The tightly designed environments of Overlord are very deliberate in their layout, often requiring you to direct a single type of minion. It's not difficult to alternate between controlling one type of minion and another when you're not under the gun, but there are certainly moments where it'll feel like you're struggling against the controls as you're juggling multiple groups of minions and trying to issue a series of specific commands. Luckily it's not hard to toggle the camera from a behind-the-back third-person perspective to a pulled-back overhead perspective, both of which prove useful in different situations. It's certainly satisfying when you're able to get past one of the game's involved boss fights, even if it's partially out of relief that you won't have to deal with that again....

...Overlord is an enjoyably mischievous experience that blends real-time strategy and RPG elements to unique ends. The satisfaction of running amok with your legion of wickedly enthusiastic minions is what makes Overlord worth playing, and it's plenty compensation for controls that you'll occasionally struggle against and the limitations on just how evil you can really be.

Thursday - August 02, 2007

Overlord - Review @ Worthplaying

by Dhruin, 23:50

The latest Overlord review comes from Worthplaying and carries a score of 8/10:

The problem with this somewhat-simple gameplay dynamic is that it can get repetitive. The only real sense of motivation is to build up your tower and keep your evil missus at home happy with your nefarious accomplishments. In the process, you upgrade your anti-hero with new armor and weapons and minion types. Forging new weapons and armor between missions requires the willing sacrifice of your minions, and watching your boys leap into molten metal never gets old. Using various combinations of your brown, blue and green minions return different effects and advantages in your gear, allowing you to tailor new items.

Wednesday - August 01, 2007

Overlord - v1.2 Patch

by Dhruin, 10:05

A new patch is available for Overlord, taking the game to v1.2 and  , according to Worthplaying, "removing the 30FPS cap, fixing multiplayer desynch, exploits, save game issues, and a few bugs".

Monday - July 30, 2007

Overlord - Review @ Gameguru Mania

by Dhruin, 23:46

A new Overlord review today courtesy of Gameguru Mania.  The score is 80% and here's a grab:

While roaming the world of Overlord, you'll receive different quests from various sources. All quests are gathered in your quest log and it is pretty easy to keep track of them. The game uses a rather linear approach and, although there are some choices available in terms of the order in which to execute quests, it's mostly based on scripted events that require you to follow a certain route the developers envisioned. Some quests in the game will make you choose between two possible paths. One path will increase your corruption level while the other will reduce it. If you will slaughter or loot neutral, inoffensive peasants instead of helping them (which is what you should do...), your corruption level will increase. The more corrupted you are, the more powerful you will get. I sure hope you will make the right choice :-D Corruption level affects the way people will treat you and your looks will change accordingly as well. You will also get a different ending according to how corrupted you were in your journey. Sadly, the game's awkward controls and camera (won't stay where you want) will occasionally force your hand, as sweeping minions just before one of these decision points will occasionally slaughter villagers instantly, rather than allowing you to choose ;)

Friday - July 27, 2007

Overlord - Review @ GameZone

by Dhruin, 00:58

GameZone has a review of Overlord, with a score of 8.5/10:

Overlord is truly a fun experience. The game looks great and plays great. There are clever pieces of humor thrown in, with some tongue-in-cheek moments. The NPCs are varied and have some interesting personalities. While the game itself can be completed in a weekend, there is an insidious element (charming? No, no, no, this is an ‘evil’ game; charming can’t be used to describe it under any circumstance) that will lure you back into its colorful and imaginative world. Overlord should appeal to not only adventure/RPG fans, but those who are looking for a different take in the persistent video-game battle between good and evil.

Saturday - July 21, 2007

Overlord - Interview @ RPG Vault

by Dhruin, 01:12

Also at RPG Vault is an interview with Triumph's Lennart Sas on Overlord:

Jonric: In light of your statement about the non-traditional nature of the game, what elements are likely to appeal to RPG fans?

 Lennart Sas: Overlord should be very interesting to RPG fans because you step into the metal boots the Dark Lord and guide that character to world domination. You actually get to role-play this character, and determine how evil you become.

Your choices are tracked using a corruption rating, ranging form 0% to 100% corrupt. Save a village from starvation or keep the food for yourself. Gather a harem of servant girls or let them be. Decide if you steal the souls of peasants so you can spawn more minions. Overlord offers a role-playing experience not seen before in the genre.

Wednesday - July 18, 2007

Overlord - Review @ Boomtown

by Dhruin, 01:58

7/10 is the score for Overlord in Boomtown's review:

So your main purpose here is to trek through the lands, removing the halflings and working your way up the chain until you find the person in charge of their little invasion, simple enough, but that's not all there is to being an evil overlord you know. I mean what is the point pillaging the land and collecting all the gold you can get your hands on if there isn't anything to spend it on, well luckily there is. Back at your tower, you base of evil operations, things are in a pretty sorry state. Various objects which should reside within your towers walls have been scattered throughout the lands, locating them and instructing your minions to carry them back to your tower (they really do come in useful for all sorts) will see you rewarded in a variety of ways, increased health, extra Mana (used for casting spells) extra spells to add to your repertoire as well as a number of useful little tools which can be used to create new weapons and armour, which of course will cost you gold to actually produce.

Sunday - July 15, 2007

Overlord - Review @ Hooked Gamers

by Dhruin, 00:25

Overlord reviews continue to steadily roll out, with this latest coming from Hooked Gamers.  The score is 8/10 and here's a snip:

Throughout your journey to reclaim your lost power, you will be faced with many questions and choices. You are, in fact, an evil overlord, so why would you want to help the distressed farmer who has had his farm overrun with drunken Halflings? Well, most evil Overlords wouldn’t bother, but, who says you can’t completely destroy the farm during the attempt to clear out the drunken squatters? Your actions do have minor consequences, though. You can be evil and then you can be really evil. Sometimes, it just doesn’t feel evil enough, though. Sure you can lay siege to the Halfling homestead, but why the heck would you want to return goods that were stolen from a human village not far away. "More for me and less for you I say." Decisions like this will make you more popular with your minions but considerably less popular among the villagers which you are spreading your influence over. You could just take the truly diabolical route and simply mow down every living being you come across, but if you did that, who would be left to be oppressed with your evil greatness?

Source: Bluesnews

Friday - July 13, 2007

Overlord - Review @ ComputerGames.ro

by Dhruin, 23:00

85% is the score awared to Overlord in ComputerGames.ro's review:

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 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 the gamers’ nostalgia or love for a certain character or story. Codemasters and Triumph Studios however decided it’s time to break that mold and head on to rather 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!

Source: Bluesnews

Saturday - July 07, 2007

Overlord - Interview @ GCM

by Dhruin, 01:12

Triumph Studios' Lennart Sas has been interviewed at Game Chronicles about Overlord:

GCM: The game seems to be story driven and possibly even a bit linear. What level of replayability will there be once gamers have finished the game the first time?

LS: The game starts out linear, but when it gets underway you can visit multiple domains from your tower and have multiple quests and story branches going on at once.

Corruption has an effect on how the game plays. More experienced players will find a challenge in playing the game 0% corrupted – imagine trying to contain the enthusiasm of 50 maniacal minions! Or you might try and a accomplish 100% corruption and find every corrupt act to do in the game

Next to Single Player there is also head to head multi-player using three game modes.

Source: GameBanshee

Thursday - July 05, 2007

Overlord - Review @ TechConnect

by Dhruin, 00:46

8/10 is the score for Overlord in a review at TechConnect:

The simple Lemmings gameplay dynamic is exploited very well by the designers in just about every aspect of gameplay, from the simplest, such as having to use certain minions to pass terrain that would kill the others (water, fire, fields of poisonous plants), to combat, where using the correct combination of minions will despatch the toughest foes in seconds, or waste hundreds of the wrong type, to some of the game’s more interesting puzzles, which require well thought-out combinations of minion control and Overlord intervention to be passed through unscathed, or as good as.

Overlord - v1.1 Patch & Updated Demo

by Dhruin, 00:35

Overlord has been patched to v1.1 and a corresponding new demo has been released.  The patch fixes "an error in the uninstaller, and also a situation that could make the game unfinishable".

All the files can be grabbed from Codemasters or Blue's has a list.

Source: Bluesnews

Tuesday - July 03, 2007

Overlord - Review @ ActionTrip

by Dhruin, 23:17

86% is the score for Triumph's Overlord at ActionTrip:

Now, bear in mind here that, to many, Overlord's art style and overall atmosphere may feel like they've been ripped straight out of a Peter Molyneux game (Dungeon Keeper and Fable especially), but if you want to be lenient about this, you can assume that, say, Triumph was paying homage to Peter's opus. Personally, I embraced the fact that Overlord reminds me so much of Fable and Dungeon Keeper, as we're talking about quality work whichever way you spin it. This becomes quite apparent after fighting a few grotesque yet absolutely hilarious bosses, flesh-eating unicorns and more. The borderline crass dark humor is done with style and class (if what I just said made any sense to you).

Thursday - June 28, 2007

Overlord - Reviews & Interview

by Dhruin, 23:39

GameSpot appears to have their Overlord review ready because they have a banner on the front page but it won't come up for me. So, moving on, CVG has kicked up their critique with the modest score of 7.5/10:

Instead, the fires of evil burn lukewarm. In your mission to turn the world towards darkness you'll travel through a Tolkienesque fantasy world filled with halfling encampments, human cities and elven forests. The remit is destruction and parody: turning the fantasy tropes on their head by making you a villain rather than a hero. But there's no wit here that reaches beyond farts and vomit. The setting is never anything but convenient imitation, and you'll commit more heinous acts letting the trucks crush your amphibian friend in Frogger than you'll manage here.

In related news, Ars Technica has interviewed Rhianna Pratchett, who wrote and co-designed the story.  Many will know Rhianna wrote for Beyond Divinity an even did an E3 piece or two for us back at RPGDot.  Here's a snip:

You're writing for evil characters, but the game has a strong comedic streak through it. How did you balance making the character a "bad guy" while still making people want to play as him? Was there ever a moment where you had an idea and worried that the player would recoil from their own actions?

Let's face it, everyone loves the bad guy. So I'd say that's a pretty easy sell! We've deliberately made it humorous, almost Peter Pan-evil, in nature partly to keep our ratings reasonable (we're not trying to be Manhunt with goblins) and because it was actually a lot more fun to design and write for that kind of story. You're "evil" in an amusing, rub-your-hands-together-and-go "Mwah-ha-ha" kind of way, rather than a pickling-babies-and-eating-human-livers way.

We didn't want to force players into doing really evil acts (ratings alert again!) but we wanted to give them the choice. So you start off as being default evil—you've got the dark tower, the spiky armor, the army of loyal minions at your command—and where you take your innate evilness from thereon in is totally up to you.

Source: Bluesnews

Wednesday - June 27, 2007

Overlord - Reviews @ 1Up, TrustedReviews

by Dhruin, 23:18

A pair of new Overlord reviews can be found today at 1Up and TrustedReviews.  Let's head to 1Up first, with a score of 8/10:

Still, Overlord isn't really about the overlord. Yes, you can buy weaponry or kit the castle with everything from torture gear to coffee tables, but your gang of adorably sadistic minions steal the show. Point in a direction and let 'em go; they know to attack targets, loot the area, or move objects∧ if you're running low on health, your subjects willingly jump into a nearby shrine and die to restore you. At first, they're cannon fodder to fling into fights, consequences be damned. If they die, just call up more. Something happens along the way, though: You start getting attached to the little guys.

...and TrustedReviews, also with 8/10:

Like the best bits of Little Britain, Overlord shows how a mean sense of humour can work wonders for some otherwise tired subject matter. The traditional peace-loving, soil-tilling Halflings have become a crowd of obese neo-Nazi thugs who have kidnapped the local humans and set them to work in woodland work-camps. The elves who once ruled the sacred forests have become a gang of moaning spirits who bleat on and on about their doom. Putting these gits out of their misery isn’t a crime – it’s practically a public service! In fact, even when you’ve ransacked the innocent village and swiped its stolen food off to feed your own wretched rabble, you still feel a little like (gulp) a hero in disguise.

Source: GameBanshee

Overlord - Now Shipping

by Dhruin, 23:10

Overlord has shipped to NA retail according to this press release:

Over 750,000 gamers have already turned evil, and that's just from the demos. Now, unleash a full, uninhibited reign of terror as Codemasters today announced that Overlord, the highly anticipated, twisted, fantasy Action/Adventure game has shipped to retail outlets nationwide. Overlord is available for the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and the PC, and is rated "T" (Teen - Blood and Gore, Crude Humor, Suggestive Themes, Use of Alcohol, Violence - content suitable for persons ages 13 and older) by the ESRB. The creation of Dutch developer Triumph Studios, Overlord is all about being ruthless, determined, and even a little despotic, as players pillage lands, conquer kingdoms and rise to be proclaimed the new, all-powerful Overlord. At the heart of the game lies an array of impish, gremlin-like creatures known as the Minions, and their presence provides Overlord with its deliciously dark comedic touches.

In Overlord, players will amass armies of up to 50 Minions from all four Minion types as they explore and conquer the rest of the fantasy world's twisted domains, with seven corrupt heroes to defeat, a Dark Tower to rebuild, and the Legion of Terror and other destructive spells to unleash. Whether Brown fighter Minions, Red fire throwing Minions, Green assassin Minions or Blue healer Minions, these little buggers will always be there for their master, ready to sacrifice themselves and their lives in servitude of the Overlord.

With the ability to be directly controlled by players, the Overlord's Minion horde will obey every command, no matter how devastating or depraved it may be. Indeed, Minion loyalty knows no limits and their bravery borders on stupidity, but they are the perfect slavish little demons to send on sheep killing, farm razing, village pillaging, house burning, beer guzzling, axe-wielding missions.

For more information on Overlord, be sure to visit the official game website at: http://www.codemasters.com/overlord. There gamers can sample Minion mayhem by downloading the Overlord playable demo for the PC, also available from Xbox LIVE Marketplace for the Xbox 360 videogame and entertainment system. Additionally, be sure to check out the Desktop Minion e-toy and the "Rate My Evil" interactive leader board.

Source: Bluesnews

Overlord - Review @ GamingTrend

by Dhruin, 01:08

GamingTrend has kicked up their review of Triumph's Overlord, scoring it at 83% and finding the gameplay a little simple but the humour making up for that:

In the first few hours of the game your missions will be very straightforward and linear.  As you progress, you’ll be given more options and choices.  Will you save the Elves or destroy them?  Do you crush the human village, or keep them as worshipers?  Few choices will have a lasting impact on your gameplay, but you are free to chose which mission to tackle and in which order.  It does mask the linearity of the game to a degree.  Much of the later gameplay involves using the special abilities of your minions to navigate through the linear areas.  The green minions can breathe deadly gas and destroy the source of the toxins, as well as turning invisible for stealth attacks when they sit still for a short while; reds can throw fireballs and walk through fire to take out anything that might burn the rest of your minions.  The browns are your combat mainstays, utilizing any weapons they come across.  The weakest of your minions are your blues – while they are the only minions that can resist magic or raise other minions from the dead, their attack powers are almost nil.  To their credit, they are the only minions that can traverse water – all others drown almost immediately and in the most entertaining fashion.  Your command influence grows throughout the game, but in the beginning you’ll have to juggle and balance having enough combat minions to outweigh your weaker ones.  The puzzles are pretty simple, so the bulk of any difficulty is usually fighting through the enemies in the way to finding the appropriate colored minion dispenser to clear the obstacle before you.

Saturday - June 23, 2007

Overlord - New Trailer

by Dhruin, 01:14

Codemasters has kicked out a new trailer showing harvesting in their evil minions action/RPG Overlord.  You can grab it direct from their downloads page.

Thursday - June 21, 2007

Overlord - Review @ Eurogamer

by Dhruin, 22:35

Eurogamer has kicked up one of the earlier reviews of Overlord, awarding 8/10 to Triumph's efforts:

I had to genocide the elves. I had no choice, you understand. Well, I had a choice, but that'd involve not killing the elves, so it wasn't really a choice at all. So, as the remaining elf-maids cried to the heavens, my giggling serfs dragged off an enormous pile of gold which I'd spend on an old fridge which leaks CFCs constantly or something.

Cheerio, eldest of the races. I hardly knew ya.

Sunday - June 17, 2007

Overlord - Updated Hands-On @ GameSpot

by Dhruin, 00:14

Previews are still coming in for Overlord despite IGN having a review out and this one comes from GameSpot.  It's essentially a recap of the demo with a few comments at the end:

Playing on, we eventually managed to take on the first of the seven knights, a grotesque halfling named Melvin Underbelly. While most of the halflings stood at about half the height of our overlord, Melvin had apparently taken on the habits of a glutton and ballooned to many times his original size. He attacked us by doing massive belly flops, rolling around and attempting to smash us. He quickly dispatched our minions, forcing us to take our overlord in for some rare combat. After analyzing the pattern, we were able to avoid Melvin's attacks and wear him down. Thus, we eventually destroyed him, which led to freeing our second type of minion, the reds. Red minions are capable of absorbing fire into their bodies, allowing us to uncover many new paths in the world.

While it's apparent that Overlord was developed for the Xbox 360 first and foremost, it seems like it should wind up being a perfectly fun game on the PC, assuming you have a compatible gamepad to use instead of the cumbersome default controls. The game is scheduled to ship later in June, so stay tuned to GameSpot for a full review.

Friday - June 15, 2007

Overlord - Review @ IGN

by Dhruin, 00:12

IGN UK is the first site we are aware of to get a full review of Overlord out.  The score is 8.1/10 and here's an excerpt:

Learning how to best use your army is the key to success in the game, especially as you discover new types of Minion. Initially you only have access to the browns, who are great brawlers but not much else. However, later in the game you unlock reds (shoot fireballs; absorb flames), blues (water resistant; can revive minions) and greens (withstand poison; turn invisible for stealth attacks). Knowing how to make the most of the Minions at your disposal is paramount to your survival, because while the greens can easily knock off an enemy in seconds if they manage to sneak up from behind, if they're ambushed head-on they won't last a second.

Thanks, Avantenor.

Thursday - June 14, 2007

Overlord - Preview @ games xtreme

by Dhruin, 23:29

The latest Overlord preview is up at games xtreme:

The Tower of Evil has been ransacked and the heroes have carried off all of the possessions of the previous master, including something known as the Tower Heart (the source of the Tower's power) - after a short introductory scene you are free to take a wander around. You are presented with two choices, get right into the smiting or learn about the fine points of combat and minion control.

This is what makes Overlord fun, you're able to raise an army of minions, brown only in the demo (warriors) who will follow your commands and attack, ransack and cause chaos where you left click. You can target with left shift and send them out with a left click or just left click to send them in that direction. Holding down the left mouse button will send all of them out.

Monday - June 11, 2007

Overlord - PC Demo Released

by Dhruin, 23:24

After giving the X360 version a head start, the PC demo for Triumph's Overlord has been released.  Here's a list of mirrors courtesy of Blue's:

The PC demo for Overlord is now available, offering the promised sample of Triumph Studios’ upcoming action/adventure that bestows you with your own army of minions. The demo is a 1.06 GB download, which is available on the Overlord Website, and mirrored on ActionTrip, FanGaming, FileFront, FileShack, Gamer's Hell, Gameguru Mania, GamesFire, and Internode Games Network.

Source: Bluesnews

Thursday - June 07, 2007

Overlord - Demo Confusion

by Dhruin, 23:49

After a press release from Codemasters announcing a demo for Overlord, Eurogamer has news that the demo isn't actually available yet (but presumably will be soon).  Word from them also is that the Xbox 360 version will launch on June 26th, a few days before the PC version.

Overlord - First Impressions at EuroGamer

by Txa1265, 13:59

EuroGamer has some first impressions of the upcoming Dungeon Keeper inspired game:

With my all-conquering horde of faithful goblin servants at my heels, carrying with them the spoils of their recent pillaging rampage through a nearby halfling village, I have returned to the idyllic hamlet of Spree. Despite my terrifying visage, replete with spiky helmet, giant axe, flowing blood-red cloak and aforementioned horde of goblin minions, the villagers appear to have seen fit to lock me - me, the very embodiment of evil in the land! - out of the town.

 

Source: EuroGamer

Wednesday - June 06, 2007

Overlord - Interview @ GameAlmighty

by Dhruin, 23:58

Two Triumph Studios staff have been interviewed at GameAlmighty in an article that aims more for humour than actual Overlord information, although a few bits still get through:

Chris Jensen: I believe there’s a game design rule that requires any videogame with an evil character to include copious amounts of molten lava. So tell me, how much lava will I see in Overlord?

Kevin Mullard: Remarkably little. But we do have sunflowers, scarecrows (admittedly a Halfling-abused human tied to a stick), sheep and lambs bouncing around idyllic landscapes. We’ve also got rabid unicorns, and genocidal dwarves. Oh, and there probably is a little bit of lava scattered around - there’s some rules you simply can’t break!

Source: Bluesnews

Overlord - Preview @ CVG

by Dhruin, 00:59

CVG has a preview of Triumph's Overlord:

You won't get through any articles about Overlord without reading the words Fable and Pikmin at least eight times, but Triumph Studios' action-RPG really is, very simply, Fable mixed with Pikmin. Not since The Matrix: Path Of Neo has a game been so describable. Sometimes, writing about games is easy.

From Fable it takes its art style, the wonderful colourful world, the exaggerated characters and ear-stabbingly enthusiastic voice-acting. You play an evil lord, resurrected to reclaim the world after being vanquished by seven valiant heroes. These heroes have become grotesque representations of the equally numerous deadly sins, such as a fat-bastard gluttonous halfling and a gold-obsessed dwarf. As an evil lord, you must destroy the seven heroes, rebuild your tower and establish yourself as the almighty leader of all you observe.

And I thought Dungeon Keeper was the obvious comparison.

Thursday - May 31, 2007

Overlord - Preview @ ActionTrip

by Dhruin, 23:56

Another preview for Triumph's Overlord as the expected release date approaches.  This time its ActionTrip and here's a snip:

Throwing you deep into a more or less typical fantasy setting, Overlord places you under the skin of a powerful Overlord. Resurrected by minions, you take on the challenge of bringing balance to the world. The Overlord who reigned before you was destroyed by seven beings. Having defeated the Overlord, they all returned to their homelands as heroes. Despite their heroic efforts, these heroes eventually succumbed to corruption. The holy paladin, for example, got consumed by lust, while the gluttonous halfling hero transformed into a huge monster.

The game begins when you awaken in a ruined tower, resurrected by an old minion named Narl, who acts as your advisor in the game. Luckily for you, most powers and abilities of the ancient Overlord have been passed on to you. That's where Narl comes in. His initial counsels come as a few basic instructions on how to use these powers and make use of your minions.

What does your average Overlord do, anyway? Well, once he establishes his dark tower, he can head out to wreak havoc and spread terror across the land. What else?

Tuesday - May 22, 2007

Overlord - Trailer @ VoodooExtreme [Updated]

by Dhruin, 23:53

VoodooExtreme has a streaming trailer of Triumph's Overlord on offer.

Avantenor wrote in to point out a 70Mb HD version at Codemasters and new screens at Codemasters' Flickr account.

Friday - May 18, 2007

Overlord - Preview @ Hooked Gamers

by Dhruin, 14:49

Hooked Gamers is the latest site with an Overlord preview:

Your minions are small ‘gremlin-like’ creatures that are extremely loyal to you. They will attack a chosen enemy, collect items of value on your behalf and are even willing to die for you. The amount of minions you control increases as the game continues. You will begin with just a handful of minions, but more and more minions are at your disposal to do what you please. At times your own Overlord powers will not be needed, as you will be able to do all the dirty work for you, but in a good way. By using the minions to do the grunt work, this leaves your strength at full power.

Source: Bluesnews

Wednesday - May 16, 2007

Overlord - Previews @ 1Up, GameSpy

by Dhruin, 10:36

Triumph is obviously on the marketing trail for Overlord with fresh previews at 1Up and GameSpy.  Here's a bit from the first, with a bonus Peter Molyneux insult just for good measure:

And if that's all that there was to it, I'd be happy enough. But it's not. You see, there's a whole spectrum of good and evil at play here. You want to play nice-nice with the peasants and make their life suck less? Totally an option. Better yet, you can make their life suck less for a while and then violently betray them when it serves you best. Or just raise pure unmitigated hell with them from day one. Do it well enough and they'll start staking out virgins on your doorstep in the hopes of being left alone for a few minutes. The fact that you're not completely railroaded into being an evil dick just lends more weight to your actions when you decide to be. It's like something Peter Molyneux might have done if he simultaneously grew a sense of humor and the ability to finish a game.

...and then on to GameSpy who call say the minions are "awesome" but find the concept sometimes stretched and disagree with 1Up on the interface, calling it "needlessly difficult":

Setting your minions on foes or tasks is just intrinsically funny. The developers have done a great job of giving them a set of stupidly funny animations and sounds and then outdone themselves executing them. When a brown finds a new weapon or piece of armor on the ground, since you're not one to wear such detritus, the minion will proclaim "For me!" and put the item on cheerfully. Sure, it raises its combat effectiveness, but mostly it's hilarious to watch and hear. And the quests, such as defending a farmer (who's been hung out as a scarecrow) from the vengeance of his pumpkins, or freeing the human villagers who the hobbits have taken and forced to work at making hobbit food, are all sharply scripted and voiced.

Overlord - Screens @ Strategy Informer

by Dhruin, 00:41

Strategy Informer has a batch of Overlord screens on offer.

Tuesday - May 15, 2007

Overlord - Interview @ FiringSquad

by Dhruin, 13:40

A new interview for Triumph's Overlord is up at FiringSquad:

FiringSquad: How did the idea of Overlord come about?

Lennart Sas: We are fantasy fans but got a bit tired of being the valiant Heroes defeating Evil and all those other clichés. We wanted to make a fresh fantasy game and one of the things that immediately popped into our minds was that it would be great to focus on an Action/RPG where you rise to become Overlord with no diluted good or evil. Just evil or really evil.

Of course an Evil Overlord is nothing without a horde of minions who would do anything at his command. We set out to make an Action/RPG, so we had to develop a control scheme and level structure that would focus on this minion horde control. We aimed to closely match it to controls seen in existing Action/RPGs so people would feel right at home.

Tuesday - May 08, 2007

Overlord - Interview @ HEXUS

by Dhruin, 22:54

HEXUS has spoken with Codemasters' Andrew Kinzett about Overlord, the Dungeon Master-y action/RPG from Triumph Studios:

HEXUS: Can you explain the concept of being evil and being really evil and how this affects you?
Andrew:As you move throughout the game world your actions determine how the environment changes around you and how your own character develops. The corruption choices that you encounter determine the way that in-game characters react to your presence, for example: cause havoc in a local village and the inhabitants will cower when you walk past or get down on their knees begging for forgiveness. The environment reacts to your evilness and you'll see the sky getting redder and your home base, the dark tower, become darker and more twisted. The Overlord himself also visually changes depending on your which choices you make.

Source: Bluesnews

Friday - May 04, 2007

Overlord - Interview @ Armchair Empire

by Dhruin, 23:09

The Armchair Empire has an interview with Rhianna Pratchett, who is apparently writing for Triumph Studios' Overlord. Apart from her famous lineage, Rhianna worked on Beyond Divinity and wrote a couple of E3 pieces with us back at RPGDot many moons ago. Here's the opening question:

Armchair Empire (AE): To what extent will Overlord be embracing humor? Are we talking Leisure Suit Larry-esque levels of wall-to-wall laughs, or something a little subtler?

Rhianna Pratchett (RP) - Overlord hasn’t been design specifically as a comedy title in the same way as Leisure Suit Larry, but there’s a lot of contextual humour in the game. This is down to many different aspects, including the actions and reactions of your Minions, the various characters you meet, the performances of the voice actors (particularly Gnarl the Minion Master who is your continual companion in Evil throughout the game) and, of course, a few good old-fashioned jokes!

Source: Bluesnews

Thursday - May 03, 2007

Overlord - Preview @ Games Radar

by Dhruin, 22:14

Triumph Studios' Dungeon Master-ish action/RPG Overlord has been previewed at Games Radar:

"This is not proper behavior for a lord of darkness." At least, that's what we thought as we lumbered into a wall while blindly flailing at some off-screen hobbit-like "halflings" in an early build of Overlord. The game starts you off with God-like powers, a crazy looking axe, a suit of armor that oozes pure badassedness, and a free ticket to take over the world. Only, your God-like powers aren't all that God-like. Your undoubtedly cool looking - yet wimpy - weapon strikes fear into the heart of no one. And your armor cracks from the damaging blows of rocks hurled by midgets. Stubborn camera control and lots of backtracking in the levels don't bode well for this upcoming semi-strategic beat 'em up brawler.

However, Overlord has a charming funny factor that shines through. There is no good or evil path in the game. Your choices in how you achieve world domination are evil, or really evil. And we're not talking about Stalin evil or Lord Voldemort evil. We're talking Dr. Evil "Evil" - that's Evil with a capital "E." As the dark Overlord proper, your character will gain more wicked powers to wield, but it's the hordes of minions at the Overlord's command that are the real stars of the show and they do their job well.

Sunday - April 22, 2007

Overlord - Previews @ GameSpy & IGN

by Dhruin, 00:24

Triumph Studios' (Age of Wonders) Overlord has maintained a low profile since we moved to the Watch, so this turns out to be our first coverage.  GameSpy and IGN have released new previews of this action/RPG with a twist of Dungeon Keeper.  Here's GameSpy:

For this action-RPG, it seems as if the folks at Triumph decided to combine Fable with Pikmin, add a dash of Dungeon Keeper, and finally top it off with Sauron's wardrobe. The game's story has you inheriting the legacy of the evil Overlord. Long ago, seven heroes took the Overlord down and divided the land amongst themselves, becoming the very same fatcat rulers that they once fought. You mysteriously wake up in the wreckage of the Overlord's tower, and his minions consider you his reincarnation -- convenient. It's time to get to work rebuilding your tower and retaking the lands.

...and IGN:

There are four different types of Minion at your disposal. Browns are the basic ones you encounter at the beginning, acting as your average run-of-the-mill plebs - quite happy to carry things around and tackle easier foes. As you progress and build up your Dark Tower though, more Minions become available. Blues are waterproof and can swim across otherwise inaccessible ponds and streams, as well as healing your troops. Reds are fireproof - ideal against fire-wielding enemies - and Greens are the most dangerous of the bunch. Acting like assassins, these are a mighty force if they can sneak up behind enemies to dish out some pain, but are weak if they're attacked from the front.

Finally, Worthplaying has some new screens and a trailer.

Information about

Overlord

Developer: Triumph Studios

SP/MP: Single + MP
Setting: Fantasy
Genre: Hack & Slash
Combat: Real-time
Play-time: Unknown
Voice-acting: Unknown

Regions & platforms
World
· Homepage
· Platform: PC
· Released: 2007-07-30
· Publisher: Codemasters

World
· Platform: Xbox 360
· Released: 2007-07-30
· Publisher: Codemasters