Overlord

[Morgoth]

I just played through the demo. The controls are very intuitive, the performance very decent, and overall it's very funny. I'll wait for some full version reviews, it really depends how well the campaign shapes up whether I'm buying it or not.

 

Edit: Oh you should have seen how I smashed the face of the jester to the floor while his bells ringed wildly and happily around. Whuahhh!!! Whua WHwhooo..

Edited June 11, 2007 by Morgoth

[Deraldin]

I just played through the demo. The controls are very intuitive, the performance very decent, and overall it's very funny. I'll wait for some full version reviews, it really depends how well the campaign shapes up whether I'm buying it or not.

 

Edit: Oh you should have seen how I smashed the face of the jester to the floor while his bells ringed wildly and happily around. Whuahhh!!! Whua WHwhooo..

 

It's a really short demo. The controls seemed to work well. It still has 360 controller prompts which can be a little confusing when not using a 360. I'd like to see those change depending on what you are using to control the game. "Press the blue button to do this" I don't have a blue button, they are all black! I'll likely pick this game up once it comes out. I had to run with everything on low which makes it look pretty bad, but otherwise it seems to scale quite nicely.

 

Smashing in the face of the jester was quite fun and the dialogue was entertaining.

[Musopticon?]

It's good that I got xbox just recently, I can justuse an adapter and plug in a proper pad.

[theslug]

Demo was pretty solid. Even though I already saw a video of the same gameplay it held my interest and was pretty smooth, not what I expected from codemasters to be honest. What I really liked was the video at the end, looked like some real fun stuff once you get past the begining.

[LadyCrimson]

I must've picked the wrong download server, because this is taking forever.

[Llyranor]

Also, bear in mind that the demo is basically just a freaking tutorial.

[LadyCrimson]

Not that I've downloaded many demos - but most of the ones that I have, that's what they usually are.

Even if they're not called tutorial levels, they're still just the first few levels or areas of the game or something.

 

But at least you get to see the interface and whether you'll like the graphic environment beyond screens and avi movies.

[Llyranor]

Well, yeah. It shows what the basic gameplay will be like, but it's hardly any indication of how that and the level design will evolve. The main thing the demo helps in showcasing is the style and humor of the game, and it does so quite well.

[Musopticon?]

I just got it. I waited for the odd 4 hours, it's 3:11 here, by god.

[metadigital]

Well, yeah. It shows what the basic gameplay will be like, but it's hardly any indication of how that and the level design will evolve. The main thing the demo helps in showcasing is the style and humor of the game, and it does so quite well.

Well, to be fair, that's pretty much all it should do.

 

*downloads*

[theslug]

It's like 1.6 gigs big so that may be your problem Lady.

[LadyCrimson]

It's actually closer to 1Gb, but yeah. Still, I was expecting a time of 1 to 1.5 hours, not 2.5 to 3 hours. 100kb/sec, bah.

 

Installed - first thing I had to do was turn down the mouse speed to almost zero, to prevent my viewpoint from spinning wildly every time I jiggled the mouse a millimeter. The way the movement keys/view works takes some getting used to, for me. I didn't play it much yet - had to run some errands - but I liked what I saw. Minions are so cute/funny! Runs fine on my P4-3.00 system, although I'd probably need to go down to 4xAA instead of 8 to get better FPS. :D

[Atom523]

I kind of enjoyed the demo. It seems to have a decent concept but i am not sure if i am crazy about the controls on the 360. I have always loved playing as the evil overlord type, Dungeon Keeper 1 and 2 are some of my favorite games. I was really disappointed when Bullfrog was bought out and the third game was shelved. So i will be optimistic about this game until i learn more. I hope there is a bit more strategy to playing it then the demo implied.

[Llyranor]

Impressions, you dastards.

[Spider]

I've played something like 5-10 hours and it's pretty fun. It's not a very complex game and it'll probably feel a tad repetetive towards the end. But so far it's great fun. The minions keep me giggling through most of the game so far.

 

Now, this is a console port and it shows. The interface isn't completely PC friendly, but it's better than any console port I've played in the past so it's not a huge deal. I don't think the game supports more than two mouse buttons which detracts some (although I'm not 100% on this will have to check later).

 

Level design is decent, but not spectacular. The game is basically a platformer, so the levels are fairly linear.

 

But as I said, the game masks it's flaws with a good deal of humor. The minions are fantastic. Voice acting and animation is great. And so is the atmosphere in the game. So if those are to your liking the game is definitely worth checking out.

 

Also, any game in which you get to slaughter halflings by the dozens is a good game in my eyes.

[Hurlshort]

I played the demo on my 360 and the camera controls were a headache. I'd assume that aspect alone would make the PC version a better experience.

[Tale]

I very much enjoy the game. Some parts of it seem poorly designed. I can't count the number of times my entire horde gets slaughtered for reasons beyond my ability to understand or compensate for. However, other than that it's very fun. I hear complaints about controls, but they are typical for many games as far as I remember. Just hit the targetting button and voila, camera is back behind the overlord. The humor in it is very well done, it won't have you rolling on the floor, writhing in side splitting agony, but it will keep a good smile on your face throughout.

[Spider]

Now, I didn't say the controls were bad. Just that they weren't optimized for the PC. But the controls are very good for a console port, and to be honest I have played plenty of PC only games that have had far worse controls.

 

(spellcasting is a particular pain for instance, so much so that I hardly ever do it)

 

In the end though, the quality of the game hangs completely on the players ability to appreciate the humor and atmosphere.

[Tale]

I honestly don't see how the controls really could be "optimized for the PC." The game was designed around two analog sticks and there's no way to port that over to keyboard and mouse. But, thankfully all PC gamers can use gamepads and it's configureable for those.

Edited July 2, 2007 by Tale

[Spider]

I honestly don't see how the controls really could be "optimized for the PC." The game was designed around two analog sticks and there's no way to port that over

 

Which is my point exactly. The game was created for console and ported to PC. But even if it is to be expected, it is a drawback of the game (for the PC user).

 

It's also a good thing that they allow for key customization (although to what degree I can't say since I haven't played with those options. Playing on a friends computer). And as I said, it is the best keyboard/mouse adaption I've seen.

[Tale]

I honestly don't see how the controls really could be "optimized for the PC." The game was designed around two analog sticks and there's no way to port that over

 

Which is my point exactly. The game was created for console and ported to PC. But even if it is to be expected, it is a drawback of the game (for the PC user).

 

It's also a good thing that they allow for key customization (although to what degree I can't say since I haven't played with those options. Playing on a friends computer). And as I said, it is the best keyboard/mouse adaption I've seen.

I wouldn't say it's a drawback for PC users. SOME PC users, maybe. There's not a lot of reason to not have a gamepad. I only recently got mine, but I've got friends who've been using gamepads for years. That's a benefit of the PC in that we can do both. I can understand not having one. They're not free and not every game uses them. Heck, three of the primary PC genres are undeniably better off with the keyboard and mouse (MMO, RTS, FPS).

[Blarghagh]

I very much enjoy the game. Some parts of it seem poorly designed. I can't count the number of times my entire horde gets slaughtered for reasons beyond my ability to understand or compensate for. However, other than that it's very fun.

 

Sometimes, I'm walking through water and I give my minions an order to get something on land. However, they attempt to take the same route I did and try to walk through the water. This generally results in a large part of my horde drowning.

[Tale]

I very much enjoy the game. Some parts of it seem poorly designed. I can't count the number of times my entire horde gets slaughtered for reasons beyond my ability to understand or compensate for. However, other than that it's very fun.

 

Sometimes, I'm walking through water and I give my minions an order to get something on land. However, they attempt to take the same route I did and try to walk through the water. This generally results in a large part of my horde drowning.

I've never had them do that. Unless I try to sweep them, they won't go into water.

 

I'm mainly talking about giant slugs and flamethrowers. Flamethrowers can kill your entire horde while being attacked. Though I might have an idea on how to properly deal with them.

[LostStraw]

I don't think the game supports more than two mouse buttons which detracts some (although I'm not 100% on this will have to check later).

 

It does support more than two button mice. It supports up to 5 additional buttons beyond the normal right / left and mouse wheel. Which is very nice considering how many games seem to forget that there's anything more than the basics, forcing more reliance on odd keyboard configurations.

[Deraldin]

I very much enjoy the game. Some parts of it seem poorly designed. I can't count the number of times my entire horde gets slaughtered for reasons beyond my ability to understand or compensate for. However, other than that it's very fun.

 

Sometimes, I'm walking through water and I give my minions an order to get something on land. However, they attempt to take the same route I did and try to walk through the water. This generally results in a large part of my horde drowning.

I've never had them do that. Unless I try to sweep them, they won't go into water.

 

I'm mainly talking about giant slugs and flamethrowers. Flamethrowers can kill your entire horde while being attacked. Though I might have an idea on how to properly deal with them.

 

Giant slugs and flamethrowers need to be attacked from the rear. The flamethrowers can even kill your overlord relatively quickly if you aren't careful. They are a lot easier once you upgrade your weapon with +damage bonuses. With +150 fire damage if I see a giant slug or flamethrower I keep my horde back and kill them myself. Just keep trying to get around behind them and you should be fine.

 

I've had minions occasionally run into the water and drown. Whether or not they drown for me seems to depend on how many get sent in at a time. If it's just one or two, they will more often than not drag themselves back up onto land. If the whole horde goes in a good 3/4 of them will drown on me. Never leave home without at least a couple blues.

 

I've been harvesting souls from the dungeon to get more minions to sacrifice for my equipment upgrades. My weapon is fully upgraded, but I need another 800 browns to finish upgrading my armour with +100 damage resistance.