Overlord: Minions review

Controlling evil goblins, one stylus swipe at a time

GamesRadar+ Verdict

Pros

  • +

    Mostly well-executed stylus controls

  • +

    Unique version of Overlord

  • +

    Good for not-easily offended kids

Cons

  • -

    Simplistic puzzles

  • -

    Brown and murky visuals

  • -

    Woeful glitches

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Overlord on DS is quite a different proposition from theWii game. Here, you have just four goblin thingies to control, each with its own unique talent (water-resistance, inflammability and so on). These skills have to be applied to a range of simplistic puzzles in order to progress, so expect minion-swapping, block-pushing and switch-pressing aplenty.

Don’t even think about playing this on an old DS – everything’s so brown and murky you need the power of DS Lite to see what’s happening. There’s some woeful glitching and crudely drawn static cutscenes too. The game’s entirely stylus controlled, which generally works well, but it can descend into incoherent screen-swiping during combat. The whole thing just feels insubstantial, and while we’d say it’s passable for younger gamers, there’s a teen rating on the box for some reason.

Jun 23, 2009

More info

GenreStrategy
DescriptionCodemasters moves the Overlord series onto handhelds, as you ably direct your minions with the stylus while the Master is off screen. However, this has too many bugs to make your enjoyment that worth it.
Franchise nameOverlord
UK franchise nameOverlord
Platform"DS"
US censor rating"Everyone 10+"
UK censor rating"12+"
Release date1 January 1970 (US), 1 January 1970 (UK)
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