Video Game: Overlord

Realizing this is about as timely and relevant as a rotten pork roast at a PETA rally, I just bought Overlord and thought I would throw some impressions out there for anyone who cares (and anyone who doesn't too... I don't want to leave you out).

In a single academically themed sentence: A for premise, D for implementation.

Now, that's not strictly speaking fair. The game is fun, but it's premise fair outshines the finished product. In fact, after about an hour with the game I had the overwhelming urge to go out and buy Fable and play through it again.

Your minions are cute, fun, but not too bright and, at times, difficult to control. The lack of better camera control is a problem, which although not terrible, was frustrating. It's just hard to get a good view of what's going on. The lack of an in-game map is incredibly annoying, leading to far too much wasted time wandering around wondering where the hell you are, and how to get back to that place you saw 30 minutes ago and need to be now. And when your avatar finishes off a boss with a personal flourish, it never feels satisfying, especially after you've had 30 minions wailing on the guy.

And you can't be evil enough. It's a game about being evil, yet the vast majority of it I seem to be killing people more evil than I am, which apparently makes me evil. Except in every other game it makes you good. So really, I'm just a good guy with Gremlins and spiky armour. Most of the ways you become more evil in the game involve killing innocent bystanders and stealing food. If you ask me, these are petty crimes. I was expecting to be conquering cities, laying waste to nations and corrupting the innocent. But it seems someone else already beat me to it, so I just have to settle for killing the old tyrant and replacing him/her with a new tyrant (namely, me). We're talking evil at a 3rd grade level. This shit is amateur hour.

So when I want to up the evil, I get a desire to play Dungeon Keeper, where you actually killed just upholders of the peace with a wider variety of minions. And it had better strategy elements to boot. And when I want to boil the game down to straight up RPG, instead of RPG/strategy hybrid, I get the desire to play Fable.

So is the game good? Sort of. It's fun, but every time it's fun, I just start to think about how much more fun I could be having playing a game from yesteryear which did everything Overlord does better. Except, maybe, for the humour. Because Overlord does have a twisted sense of humour which, for the most part, works remarkably well.

But is that enough to save it? I don't think so.

3/3 for the premise.

1/3 for the game.