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Child-friendly cruelty

This is the game review. Here you can find the music review of
Overlord.

I remember writing this review back then and starting it with the sentence: “2007 was a good year: Michael Schumacher returned to Ferrari.” A bit cynical from today's perspective - and I'm not even interested in Formula 1, but it was all a few years ago. And that brings us back to the subject matter: 2007 really was a good year. In addition to Mass Effect 1, Overlord was also released by Codemasters, who were responsible for games such as Colin McRae Rally, The Lord of the Rings Online or Worms 4 at the time. So it was a logical step to make an action adventure about a cruel ruler in a fantasy world who becomes a racing pro with the help of his little henchmen. Or was it ruler of the races? The lines fade.

In fact, I still have fond memories of Overlord because it was unique for me at the time: you could be evil. Not I-burn-your-house-down-and-steal-your-daughter-evil, but USK-16-evil. While in other role-playing games the evil ending is basically just an alternative scenario, this is the main component of the Codemaster game, which joins the ranks of games like Fable, Black & White or Dungeon Keeper . And we know that doing evil can be fun, not least because of multiplayer titles and the internet in general.

Evil suits you, Master! Let us be on our way! There's evil to be done!

Gnarl, Head Minion

Being the ruler

But back to Overlord: We are the eponymous Overlord and basically the little brother of Sauron from The Lord of the Rings. We wear dark armor, live in a creepy tower and torture our subordinates. Similar to his big role model, the Overlord also inherits a few of his big idol's weaknesses: he is extremely silent (you could also call him mute) and would be quite lost without his helpers. But wait: helpers? A powerful overlord doesn't need henchmen to hunt down his enemies! The sad truth is that he does. Because as strong as Mister Silence may look, he is weak when it comes to battle. But a dark master rarely gets his own hands dirty. After all, as long as you have competent subordinates in the ranks, you don't have to. And building an evil empire should then be a piece of cake.

Commanding henchmen

But as we all know, finding competent staff is both difficult and expensive. Which is why our head servant Gnarl, who is also our mentor, has more brainpower than the rest of the minion horde put together. But our servants are not supposed to explain the theorem of the a-square to each other, but rather indulge in menial tasks, such as sweeping out our grand tower, offering themselves as raw material for special weapons, sticking their necks out for us in battle and generally plundering, pillaging, robbing and murdering. In other words, everything our dark heart desires.

From our fortress of evil, we take to the field against humans and fantasy creatures to expand our army of loyal, dopey minions, upgrade our tower and subjugate the world. In the process, we can enjoy the quirky and amusing monologues and dialogs between our henchmen and with the characters of the over-the-top fantasy world. For as dark as the premise of the game actually is, it is just as entertaining.

Unictors - soppy, overrated pit ponies

Gnarl, always has something to complain about

Overlord is not a game brimming with cruelty or violence, but rather a parody of the fantasy genre, similar to the works of fantasy author Terry Pratchett. This is particularly evident in the stereotypical portrayal of the various races, such as the gay elves who have dedicated their lives to preserving all things cuddly and soft, or the constantly drunk dwarves who love anything that can be made to explode in any way. Not forgetting our own dumbed-down followers who run screaming for joy into the nearest lava pool for us.

In the game

Overlord Overlord relies more on its funny moments than real gameplay variety. The expansion of your tower is motivating at the beginning, but there are no real innovations or advantages. The choice of your mistress also plays a rather minor role; there is no real bond with the lady of your choice. The game mechanics can also wear out over time, such as looting, since everything just magically reconstructs itself after the initial orgy of destruction when you return to the area. Although the tactics with the four different types of minion are fun at the beginning, they can also lose their fascination over time.

My biggest criticism, however, is that you are never really evil. Of course, this is not the intention of the game, because the senseless slaughter of innocent people is only fun to a limited extent and then only in small doses - if at all. Morally, you can't sugarcoat the whole thing anyway, even if we are of course in a fantasy world with overweight halflings and talking trees. However, the cartoon-like black-and-white drawing bothered me even then.

Here is a small example: At the beginning, we leave our tower to conquer the surrounding countryside. In the process, we come across a settlement of farmers who are being terrorized by halflings. After we have defeated the halflings and their leader, the villagers open the door to us - the tall man in the black armor and red eyes, mind you, who has previously instructed his henchmen to burn down the surrounding fields. Sure, we can massacre the villagers now, but we can also just be “nice”, as the village pays obeisance to us anyway. The shades of gray and the particularly dark shades of black are missing. But Overlord is too light-hearted for us to expect a deeper examination of the subject matter. However, it doesn't need to be.

Evil always finds a way!

Gnarl, is usually right too

Because like evil, Overlord has also found its way into my heart. In fact, I only feel 50% like a dark ruler who wants to subjugate the world. The other 50% of the game I'm more like a mother of a horde of idiot minion children, who I have to look after, care for and educate - when I'm not sending them to their deaths. Even if they're not the brightest, they're likeable wretches in their limited minds and the only ones I'd want on my side in my role as tyrant.

Overall, the game just has a great atmosphere and a fantastic sense of humor that often consists of situational comedy. When I send my minions out to loot and some get drunk in the corner with bottles of wine they've looted and others come back with pumpkins for helmets, it makes even a cruel ruler like me smile. I really do highly recommend it, as well as its sequel, Overlord 2.