Carrying it all off

To return to my initial statement, Overlord is fundamentally simple. You control an evil Overlord bent on the domination of the peaceful settlements near his evil tower. While the minions add some complexity to the mix, it’s never difficult to control or understand.

The minions can be seen as independent entities under your control, or as extensions of the Overlord himself. In either case, Overlord isn’t ever too complex a game. For all that though, its sense of humour makes it devilishly good fun. It brings back the joy of being evil in a way that Dungeon Keeper fans will fondly remember.

Your minions drag treasure and items back to you, happily handing them over while cheering, “For the Overlord.” For those with any qualms killing innocent animals, the game opens with the task of killing sheep, which we’re assured just eat grass until someone kills them anyway. Thankfully, the voice acting is good enough to instil genuine warmth for the minions, rather than annoyance (for the most part).

Overlord’s problems are small enough and surmountable enough not to get in the way of play, and while it’s universally annoying to be obstructed by fences literally ankle-high, these kinds of barriers don’t crop up too often. For the most part, Overlord is a light-hearted romp through the villages of the innocent. It might not be Dungeon Keeper 3, but it’s as close as we’re likely to get for the next while.