Written by: Mark

 

 

 

Let’s start the review by firstly stating that Overlord: Dark Legend is not the same game as Overlord 2 (review) released on Xbox 360 and PS3 despite being released at the same time.

 

"Overlord: Dark Legend" offers a totally different story which acts more as a prequel to previous games in the series. This is not really a surprise as it is the first of the series to receive a release on the Nintendo Wii so it has proven a clever move to re-invent the franchise to a new audience.

 

 

In Overlord: Dark Legend the story starts with a flashback to the overlord’s teenage years and this sets the scene for the story well and players have to progress in order to become the evil ruler of the kingdom in decline. Whilst some gamers may wish to dive straight into the actions of commanding armies and committing evil deeds personally I found that this introduction fit in well and added more depth to the game and gave it that little more substance to it’s overall story.

 

Once the story progresses the player gains more power and control over minion armies and has various quests to complete to gain power over the kingdom, and this is where the action really starts.

 

 

 

Although the overlord is the main character in the game the main actions involve controlling an army of minions who do the dirty work for you. Each class of minion has their own abilities and assist the player in solving relatively simple puzzles and destroying buildings and enemies.

 

The Wii version of the game seems to be more of a point and click kind of game than other formats thanks to the Wii’s control system and does work better in many respects than the use of a 360/PS3 joypad particularly when controlling a minion army which seems so much easier with a Wiimote.

 

Unlike other versions less strategy is needed as minions now re-spawn into any of the four colours which does make the game far easier and more accessible for the younger player as you never feel the frustration at seeing a particular class all dying and having to restart certain quests.

 

On the flipside the game never really offers that much of a challenge and whilst this can lead to much less of a stop start affair it also becomes far too simple once you grasp the concept of the controls and recognise the strengths of each class of minion.

 

 

Combat remains pretty simple with the overlord character having powers of attack and magic at his disposal and this is simply done by pressing of buttons rather than fully utilising the motion sensing controls. The key difference between the Wii version and other formats is having the ability to grab a minion by the neck using the a and b buttons and shaking the Wiimote. This builds up explosive power and sends the minion off to a selected target on a kind of suicide mission in which he blows himself and the target up. Whilst this may sound cruel what you have to remember is that the game is about being as evil as possible and if taking into context adds to the games humour.