Overlord previews hit the net
Overlord previews hit the net
Preview - posted by Vault Dweller on Sun 22 April 2007, 17:33:47
Tags: OverlordWe introduced Overlord about a year ago. A few days ago the unholy trinity - GameSpot, GameSpy, and IGN - posted previews of this game with a Dungeon Keeper flavor. Enjoy:
GameSpot preview
The home base where you'll be crafting new items and practicing your skills is a dark tower that's in ruins at the start of the game. The tower will be rebuilt as you progress through the game, and its appearance will reflect your reputation and your alignment in the game world. As the overlord your being evil is a given, but there will be plenty of opportunities in the game for you to do things that are really evil. Giving in to any of these temptations--killing harmless peasants, betraying your mistress, or exterminating an entire race, for example--will result in your character becoming increasingly "corrupted," which, if you're a particularly evil sort, you might think of as a measure of how much fun you're having. However, one of the game's achievements will task you with completing the game while remaining 100 percent uncorrupted, so those of you with a penchant for points will want to play as a (relatively) nice guy at least once.
IGN preview:
In Overlord, you play as a mysterious character who inherits the evil powers of a long-dead overlord. Unfortunately, the previous overlord's Dark Tower - the source of your evil power - is a crumbling ruin and you've got to rebuild it. Thankfully, you don't need to get your hands dirty yourself; instead you've a horde of wicked-looking Minions at your command, all quite happy to collect items needed to construct a new and more powerful Dark Tower.
There are four different types of Minion at your disposal. Browns are the basic ones you encounter at the beginning, acting as your average run-of-the-mill plebs - quite happy to carry things around and tackle easier foes. As you progress and build up your Dark Tower though, more Minions become available. Blues are waterproof and can swim across otherwise inaccessible ponds and streams, as well as healing your troops. Reds are fireproof - ideal against fire-wielding enemies - and Greens are the most dangerous of the bunch. Acting like assassins, these are a mighty force if they can sneak up behind enemies to dish out some pain, but are weak if they're attacked from the front.
GameSpy preview:
You use your minions mostly in the overworld, which is divided up into regions ruled by different hero archetypes. Since all the heroes have also become corrupt like you, you won't be fighting the cheery Hobbit who loves pipeweed, you'll be fighting the greedy fat Halfling who has his underlings gather food for him. The developers showed us the mines within the Dwarven "hero's" domain, filled with gold and lots of weird steamwork machinery that blows up quite nicely under red minion fire. Also, how you treat the region reflects on your corruption meter; kill everyone you see and, well, duh, you're very corrupted. Kill only when necessary and you're more like a "lawful evil" Overlord. The developers ran us through a scenario where we can either save the last pair of elves (hence preventing their extinction) or forego them to grab a big pile of money; of course we had the developers choose the money.
Besides zipping around and regulating the rest of the realm, you'll focus on rebuilding your tower. As expected, after conquering different regions, the land is then looted and all the items are used to help rebuild your tower. Your throne room has both the door to the world and your Jester; the Jester is your scoreboard of sorts, as he proudly proclaims your achievements in the game, such as calling you "the exterminator of the elven race" (self-explanatory) or "the appreciator of assets" (when you decide to reside with the more voluptuous mistress). The forge is where you create weapons and armor upgrades for yourself; your minions dump in whatever goods they've gathered to provide raw materials, and they can even sacrifice themselves to imbue your items with power (such as a red minions giving your weapons a fire-based buff). The dungeon lets you study enemies for weak spots and practice combat as well. Finally, the private quarters is where you spend, er, private time with your mistress as well as decide what tower upgrades will be used. The aforementioned mistress run the tower in your absence, and you have a choice between two of them: Rose, a more conservative, "lawful evil" sister with good management skills and modest tower upgrade options, and Velvet, a shapelier, yet greedier mistress who offers less, but much more expensive, tower upgrade options.Still sounds pretty cool.
GameSpot preview
The home base where you'll be crafting new items and practicing your skills is a dark tower that's in ruins at the start of the game. The tower will be rebuilt as you progress through the game, and its appearance will reflect your reputation and your alignment in the game world. As the overlord your being evil is a given, but there will be plenty of opportunities in the game for you to do things that are really evil. Giving in to any of these temptations--killing harmless peasants, betraying your mistress, or exterminating an entire race, for example--will result in your character becoming increasingly "corrupted," which, if you're a particularly evil sort, you might think of as a measure of how much fun you're having. However, one of the game's achievements will task you with completing the game while remaining 100 percent uncorrupted, so those of you with a penchant for points will want to play as a (relatively) nice guy at least once.
IGN preview:
In Overlord, you play as a mysterious character who inherits the evil powers of a long-dead overlord. Unfortunately, the previous overlord's Dark Tower - the source of your evil power - is a crumbling ruin and you've got to rebuild it. Thankfully, you don't need to get your hands dirty yourself; instead you've a horde of wicked-looking Minions at your command, all quite happy to collect items needed to construct a new and more powerful Dark Tower.
There are four different types of Minion at your disposal. Browns are the basic ones you encounter at the beginning, acting as your average run-of-the-mill plebs - quite happy to carry things around and tackle easier foes. As you progress and build up your Dark Tower though, more Minions become available. Blues are waterproof and can swim across otherwise inaccessible ponds and streams, as well as healing your troops. Reds are fireproof - ideal against fire-wielding enemies - and Greens are the most dangerous of the bunch. Acting like assassins, these are a mighty force if they can sneak up behind enemies to dish out some pain, but are weak if they're attacked from the front.
GameSpy preview:
You use your minions mostly in the overworld, which is divided up into regions ruled by different hero archetypes. Since all the heroes have also become corrupt like you, you won't be fighting the cheery Hobbit who loves pipeweed, you'll be fighting the greedy fat Halfling who has his underlings gather food for him. The developers showed us the mines within the Dwarven "hero's" domain, filled with gold and lots of weird steamwork machinery that blows up quite nicely under red minion fire. Also, how you treat the region reflects on your corruption meter; kill everyone you see and, well, duh, you're very corrupted. Kill only when necessary and you're more like a "lawful evil" Overlord. The developers ran us through a scenario where we can either save the last pair of elves (hence preventing their extinction) or forego them to grab a big pile of money; of course we had the developers choose the money.
Besides zipping around and regulating the rest of the realm, you'll focus on rebuilding your tower. As expected, after conquering different regions, the land is then looted and all the items are used to help rebuild your tower. Your throne room has both the door to the world and your Jester; the Jester is your scoreboard of sorts, as he proudly proclaims your achievements in the game, such as calling you "the exterminator of the elven race" (self-explanatory) or "the appreciator of assets" (when you decide to reside with the more voluptuous mistress). The forge is where you create weapons and armor upgrades for yourself; your minions dump in whatever goods they've gathered to provide raw materials, and they can even sacrifice themselves to imbue your items with power (such as a red minions giving your weapons a fire-based buff). The dungeon lets you study enemies for weak spots and practice combat as well. Finally, the private quarters is where you spend, er, private time with your mistress as well as decide what tower upgrades will be used. The aforementioned mistress run the tower in your absence, and you have a choice between two of them: Rose, a more conservative, "lawful evil" sister with good management skills and modest tower upgrade options, and Velvet, a shapelier, yet greedier mistress who offers less, but much more expensive, tower upgrade options.
