Overlord is a unique and often forgotten franchise from Triumph Studios, one that combines an action RPG with a dose of strategic command. You'll take control of the villainous Dark Lord who commands his minions; browns (melee), reds (archers), greens (rogues) and blues (mages). For its 2007 debut, the core gameplay is very basic at first glance. The Overlord on his own can smite his enemies and cast spells, but when you combine this with the different attacks of his followers, there are many micro-systems and tactics that reveal a deeper formula.

The game also boasts a wacky and often vulgar fantasy setting that makes the most of a AA budget. It's very goofy stuff with the story and writing being penned by Rhianna Pratchett; think Shrek crossed with Monty Python with some humorous and corny voice acting to boot. On the way through, the game gives you the choice of domination (evil) or corruption (very evil) which does offer some slight variation in the story.

While your minions are more than willing to fetch items, slaughter fluffy animals, execute your enemies and carry upgrades on your behalf, Overlord often requires some serious multi-tasking to come out on top. This reveals some of the game's major flaws. The biggest of all is the fiddly targeting system; you will often target a guard marker or spawning pit instead of an enemy and this will often get your little helpers killed. A targeting reticule or tactical pause feature would have helped here. Equally conspicuous is the lack of any map screen, which can lead to some slow travels back and forth as you search for items you missed.

Ultimately if you're looking for something different from an action RPG then Overlord will oblige. You'll just have to be patient with some inaccurate controls and missing features that keep the game from reaching its full potential.

My retrospective on the two main Overlord games can be viewed here:

https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3346181822

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We(I) need "Overlord: Definitive Edition" or something like that, such a masterpiece.