Introduction

Overlord is a series of action-adventure games that allow control over an army of "minions" who smash and kill everything that gets in the Overlord's way (they're also prone to killing things that didn't actually get in the way). The Overlord himself isn't unstoppable, but he achieves victory by having his endless horde do all the dirty work. The minions can be swept over complicated terrain, forage for equipment, guard specific locations or move in tactical formations to take down anything they encounter. We'll be playing Overlord I & the Raising Hell expansion followed by Overlord II. The sequel is my personal favorite because it is just bursting at the seams with charm. In addition, two other Overlord games were released for the Wii and DS. FutureFriend will be playing the Wii title, and we'll take a quick look at the DS release (it's bad).

I've always been fond of playing as the bad guy; games like Blood Omen, Saints Row, Fable and Kirby's Adventure. This game is all about that premise, allowing us to destroy or enslave just about everything we meet while growing in power. There are a few different morality choices that pop up which will affect our upgrades and the ending. I'll be going for the 100% corruption in Overlord I, but we'll also show off what 0% corruption looks like on the side. We'll be doing the equivalent of this in the Overlord 2, which has a similar system. A vote has been conducted to determine which route we should take in the sequel; an overwhelming majority voted for 100% Domination with a side of 100% Destruction.

Minions are the primary force in the game. The race is divided into 4 tribes (colors), each with their own strengths and abilities. Every minion tribe has a hive which the Overlord can (somehow) use to assert dominance over them. Only the browns are available to us at the start of our journey because we lost the other three hives. On top of that, we also have a size limitation of only 5 minions because our ransacked tower has lost the totems we need to control a larger horde. Each minion totem we find will increase our horde size until we are commanding a powerful force of little jerks.

Browns are toughest of all the Minions. They're never ones to shy away from a fight. In fact it's quite difficult to get them to stop! — Gnarl

Browns are the only tribe available at the beginning of the game, and not in great number either. They serve as front-line warriors meant to take and deal damage without any concern for their safety. They can loot a variety of gear ranging from rats and pumpkins to halberds and chain mail that will boost their effectiveness dramatically.

Reds aren't particularly hardy, so you mustn't let enemies get too close to them, Sire. But use them in a horde, and that's a different story — a story full of flames and burning and screaming! — Gnarl

Ranged combat! These minions are the archers of the group, lobbing fireballs from a safe distance. They are fragile as hell; being attacked by just about anything is certain doom for them. Reds are happiest when they are set on top of a cliff to rain fire down below while browns keep them safe. They are completely immune to fire.

Greens...They aren't terribly hygienic I'm afraid. But they are good at sneaking up on things. Use them to guard an area, and they're practically invisible. As long as the enemies don't notice the smell! — Gnarl

The rogue class of minion, they backstab enemies for high damage when given the opportunity. Their cloaking ability allows them to get the jump on approaching hostiles, and they are especially skilled at eliminating larger threats. With a natural immunity to poison, greens can safely clear those types of obstacles for us.

Blue Minions' minds appear to be on a different plane of existence half the time. When they do decide to join us on this one, their healing and magical-damage skills can be most useful. — Gnarl

Minions even have a priest class! You'll always want to have a few of these guys around. They don't heal at all, but they can resurrect any fallen minion buddy almost instantly so long as they get to the corpse in time. On guard duty, they'll auto-res our units! Blues are capable of fighting magic-based enemies that other minions can't harm, but otherwise are not built for combat. They are the only minion that can swim, and may act as lifeguards when minions of other tribes go a little too deep.

The Let's Play Archive

Overlord 1 & 2

by Smite

Introduction