MRG
Newbie
- Joined
- Mar 24, 2007
- Messages
- 1,174
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Greetings all,
I hate Sheep. I'm not sure why exactly, but I really don't care much for them. It started when I lived in New Zealand years ago. IMHO, they are a smelly & dirty animal, with severely limited intelligence. The old joke that one will follow another over a cliff, isn't all that far from being true. It could also be the fact that I had to reach up inside one to help it give birth while working on my grandma's farm, that gave me a distaste for the species. The animals are so dumb that they can't even give birth by themselves & it's all too common for ewe's to die in birth, so farmers tend to be on hand when their flock are expecting, to assist when needed. The last straw was the first time I tried eating one & found out that they tasted horrible. No amount of Mint sauce would help either. Shy of raw, I have eaten lamb meat in just about every way possible. Each & every way I tried was gross & since it's more popular than Beef was, I was forced to eat it often.
All started out well. You were the Overlord. You held the land in an iron fist, instilling fear into the hearts of everyone before you. Then without warning, some upstart heroes attacked your strong hold and sent you screaming back to hell. Some years later, your minions manage to bring you back from the dead, only to find that all you once had, was gone. Your keep was in ruins & the locals had forgotten who you were.
Its time to change all that.
Overlord, the new game by Codemasters, is an interesting game, in that it allows you to control a small army of creatures to do your bidding rather than yourself being the main damage dealer. Thats not to say that you can't wade into the thick of it yourself and hack & slash at anything in your path or fling spells if thats your thing. However, doing so will put you right back into that shadowy hell that you were just rescued from. It was soon after I started playing Overlord, that my first victims were sheep prancing around. The first time I sent a few of my minions after the sheep, only for them to jump onto the sheep's backs and then proceed to club them as the sheep ran around bleeting, that I was laughing out loud with glee and only too happy that I was alone in the house so that I could spend some serious time Sheep clubbing. As the dumb animals fell dead to the ground, their souls formed small glowing orbs that I sent my minions after. Once picked up, they would return the orbs to the main main character which could then be used to summon more minions.
The audio of Overlord is top notch. The banter from your minions is often amusing. Have them drink ale & watch what happens. You can even hear them doing it! The general ambiance of the game world is also very well done. Everything from the crackle of fires to the normal sounds one would hear in a busy town. As you travel through the countryside, you'll hear streams as well as the other wildlife you'll come across. (Sheep) Birds out in the meadows & rats squeeking. As your minions go forth and wreck havoc, the sounds of then breaking stuff, such as dishes, furniture of all types, boxes, wagons & so much more, really adds a debth to the audio.I can only imagine how the game sound on a higher end card like an X-fi. If it sounds as good as it does on my older Audigy 2 ZS, I'm sure it sounds great on a better setup.
Visually speaking, the game is impressive. Instead of trying to go for the cutting edge look with it's graphics, like so many new games are doing, those found in Overlord, lean towards a more.. animated & jovial type. Almost to the point of being anime. Between the Big fluffy sheep prancing around, & male NPC's all having big noses with dopey expressions & the women folk all being thin. I love a game where you get to break stuff & in Overlord, there is a massive amount of stuff to destroy. From setting fire to fields to chopping up pumpkins & large flowers & other fauna to the wholesale destruction of both inside & outside personal belongings. Send your minions in to break down the door to a house & then send them inside to destroy everything in site & to raid the place for goods & treasure. Do enough damage and the place will begin to pour smoke out the door.
Game play wise, Overlord is a total blast to play. Your main character not only looks cool, but he can dish out a fair amount of damage if needs be. Either with his melee attacks or with his magic, though thats not where the fun is with this game. The real fun lies in controlling your minions. As you stand tall, with your hand out raised commanding your minions on whatever task you sent them, you get the feeling that you hold true power over the surrounding area. A simple flick of the wrist & your minions will flock back to you, all the while grunting, groaning or talking in their squeeky voices. Praising you. The further you progress, the different types of minions you get to control. There are 4 types of minions. As you progress you get to make decisions on how best to mold the world to your liking. Will you be a cruel master, killing all in site? Doing this can net you more powerful spells, but then you'll be hated & at some point, the pressure of your heel on the neck of the peasant is never a good idea if you want to live a long time. Deny food shipments & your total max health will increase. Walk a fine line. Since your keep is in shambles, you'll need to find items to help get it back into tip top shape once again. So as you progress, you'll find such items. One feature I found to be very nicely implemented in Overlord, was the ability for your minions to pick up & equip better weapons and to a degree armor. Sure, a stout club is nice, but an axe or a sword is even better, plus your minion will do more damage. The first time I saw one of my minions pick up a pumpkin and then proceed to wear it as a helmet, with his floppy ears sticking out the side, I almost fell out of my chair laughing. As your minions kill animals & enemies, not to mention destroying a staggering amount of stuff in the game world, your little gremlin looking minions will find treasure & the odd potions that they will bring to you, all trying to get your attention. Quite cute you think, as you lash out with a savage kick, sending those minions closest to you to the ground.
All was not tea & cakes though. I was more than a little surprised & rather bummed to see how poorly the game ran, stuttering along at times. However, I believe this to be due to my limited 1GB of DDR2-667 RAM, rather than my older 6800 Ultra video card. Inside buildings I get smooth FPS, around 45+. It's when I get outside & inside my keep, that the game slows down, dipping down into the low 20's. Oddly enough it didn't slow down all that much when the screen was full of enemies or when it was just me & my minions running around. Also in some areas the game would run much smoother than at other times, even though the area was the same. Perhaps patches will resolve these performance issues a little. Time will tell.
Bottom line, the game is fun, if linear. It's a little on the expensive side, i'd wait a little for the price to come down, before going to buy the game.
Official Website:
http://www.codemasters.com/overlord/index.php
Final Score: 4/5 Stars
-MRG
I hate Sheep. I'm not sure why exactly, but I really don't care much for them. It started when I lived in New Zealand years ago. IMHO, they are a smelly & dirty animal, with severely limited intelligence. The old joke that one will follow another over a cliff, isn't all that far from being true. It could also be the fact that I had to reach up inside one to help it give birth while working on my grandma's farm, that gave me a distaste for the species. The animals are so dumb that they can't even give birth by themselves & it's all too common for ewe's to die in birth, so farmers tend to be on hand when their flock are expecting, to assist when needed. The last straw was the first time I tried eating one & found out that they tasted horrible. No amount of Mint sauce would help either. Shy of raw, I have eaten lamb meat in just about every way possible. Each & every way I tried was gross & since it's more popular than Beef was, I was forced to eat it often.
All started out well. You were the Overlord. You held the land in an iron fist, instilling fear into the hearts of everyone before you. Then without warning, some upstart heroes attacked your strong hold and sent you screaming back to hell. Some years later, your minions manage to bring you back from the dead, only to find that all you once had, was gone. Your keep was in ruins & the locals had forgotten who you were.
Its time to change all that.
Overlord, the new game by Codemasters, is an interesting game, in that it allows you to control a small army of creatures to do your bidding rather than yourself being the main damage dealer. Thats not to say that you can't wade into the thick of it yourself and hack & slash at anything in your path or fling spells if thats your thing. However, doing so will put you right back into that shadowy hell that you were just rescued from. It was soon after I started playing Overlord, that my first victims were sheep prancing around. The first time I sent a few of my minions after the sheep, only for them to jump onto the sheep's backs and then proceed to club them as the sheep ran around bleeting, that I was laughing out loud with glee and only too happy that I was alone in the house so that I could spend some serious time Sheep clubbing. As the dumb animals fell dead to the ground, their souls formed small glowing orbs that I sent my minions after. Once picked up, they would return the orbs to the main main character which could then be used to summon more minions.
The audio of Overlord is top notch. The banter from your minions is often amusing. Have them drink ale & watch what happens. You can even hear them doing it! The general ambiance of the game world is also very well done. Everything from the crackle of fires to the normal sounds one would hear in a busy town. As you travel through the countryside, you'll hear streams as well as the other wildlife you'll come across. (Sheep) Birds out in the meadows & rats squeeking. As your minions go forth and wreck havoc, the sounds of then breaking stuff, such as dishes, furniture of all types, boxes, wagons & so much more, really adds a debth to the audio.I can only imagine how the game sound on a higher end card like an X-fi. If it sounds as good as it does on my older Audigy 2 ZS, I'm sure it sounds great on a better setup.
Visually speaking, the game is impressive. Instead of trying to go for the cutting edge look with it's graphics, like so many new games are doing, those found in Overlord, lean towards a more.. animated & jovial type. Almost to the point of being anime. Between the Big fluffy sheep prancing around, & male NPC's all having big noses with dopey expressions & the women folk all being thin. I love a game where you get to break stuff & in Overlord, there is a massive amount of stuff to destroy. From setting fire to fields to chopping up pumpkins & large flowers & other fauna to the wholesale destruction of both inside & outside personal belongings. Send your minions in to break down the door to a house & then send them inside to destroy everything in site & to raid the place for goods & treasure. Do enough damage and the place will begin to pour smoke out the door.
Game play wise, Overlord is a total blast to play. Your main character not only looks cool, but he can dish out a fair amount of damage if needs be. Either with his melee attacks or with his magic, though thats not where the fun is with this game. The real fun lies in controlling your minions. As you stand tall, with your hand out raised commanding your minions on whatever task you sent them, you get the feeling that you hold true power over the surrounding area. A simple flick of the wrist & your minions will flock back to you, all the while grunting, groaning or talking in their squeeky voices. Praising you. The further you progress, the different types of minions you get to control. There are 4 types of minions. As you progress you get to make decisions on how best to mold the world to your liking. Will you be a cruel master, killing all in site? Doing this can net you more powerful spells, but then you'll be hated & at some point, the pressure of your heel on the neck of the peasant is never a good idea if you want to live a long time. Deny food shipments & your total max health will increase. Walk a fine line. Since your keep is in shambles, you'll need to find items to help get it back into tip top shape once again. So as you progress, you'll find such items. One feature I found to be very nicely implemented in Overlord, was the ability for your minions to pick up & equip better weapons and to a degree armor. Sure, a stout club is nice, but an axe or a sword is even better, plus your minion will do more damage. The first time I saw one of my minions pick up a pumpkin and then proceed to wear it as a helmet, with his floppy ears sticking out the side, I almost fell out of my chair laughing. As your minions kill animals & enemies, not to mention destroying a staggering amount of stuff in the game world, your little gremlin looking minions will find treasure & the odd potions that they will bring to you, all trying to get your attention. Quite cute you think, as you lash out with a savage kick, sending those minions closest to you to the ground.
All was not tea & cakes though. I was more than a little surprised & rather bummed to see how poorly the game ran, stuttering along at times. However, I believe this to be due to my limited 1GB of DDR2-667 RAM, rather than my older 6800 Ultra video card. Inside buildings I get smooth FPS, around 45+. It's when I get outside & inside my keep, that the game slows down, dipping down into the low 20's. Oddly enough it didn't slow down all that much when the screen was full of enemies or when it was just me & my minions running around. Also in some areas the game would run much smoother than at other times, even though the area was the same. Perhaps patches will resolve these performance issues a little. Time will tell.
Bottom line, the game is fun, if linear. It's a little on the expensive side, i'd wait a little for the price to come down, before going to buy the game.
Official Website:
http://www.codemasters.com/overlord/index.php
Final Score: 4/5 Stars
-MRG
