At Codemasters’ Gamers Day 2009, we were given a chance at a sneak peek on three new titles in the works based on 2007’s twisted fantasy action adventure, Overlord. The grotesquely charming Minion horde is back as these games begin and continue the story of the original Overlord, written by its award-winning games author Rhianna Pratchett. All games are scheduled for release in June 2009.

Overlord II - Xbox 360, PS3, PC

Overlord II’s story picks up right after the Raising Hell expansion, which picks up right after the original Overlord story. This time, however, a new and improved Overlord tries to take over the world. This time he’s not so robotic, has more spells, most definitely looks better and has a more powerful Minion army to help him take on the Roman-inspired Glorious Empire.

The game introduces a new corruption system where you can choose to be evil or eviler. Choosing Domination will make villagers fall under your every command while choosing Destruction turns you into a malevolent lord, destroying anything and everything. But while you want everything to be about you, as any tyrannical evil-doer would, the game is really all about the Minions, as they pack all the action in this fantasy adventure.

Like the first game, you have your Brown Minions who are the strongest and act as your own personal tank in general combat. Your Red Minions have long-range fireball attacks, Green Minions use stealth attacks, and the Blue Minions can resurrect fallen minions. But this time your minion horde is smarter and stronger, able to mount up and ride various magical creatures you encounter and take them into battle.

Overlord II runs on an enhanced version of the engine used with the previous Overlord game with added physics technology.

Overlord: Dark Legend – Wii

The developers at Codemasters’ Gamers Day could not stress enough that Overlord: Dark Legend is NOT a port. In fact, it is the prequel to the original Overlord story coming out exclusively for the Wii. Built from the ground up, developer Triumph Studios created this game with Wii controls in mind.

With a flick of the Wii Remote, you can send your Minions into battle. You can also use the remote to point where you want to cast magic spells or blast fireballs at enemies. Overlord: Dark Legend also introduces Minions with now-explosive bodies where you can grab individual Minions and shake them with the Wii Remote. This throttles them and causes them to explode when guided to the enemy.

Overlord: Minions – Nintendo DS

Now you can take your Minions with you on the go, or at least a very select few of them in this puzzle action game exclusively for DS. Instead of having a Minion horde like the original Overlord, you control a Minion squad composed of one of each type of minion. The game stars Giblet the fighting brown minion, Blaze the fireball-busting red minion, Stench the smelly green minion (whose attacks include a “fart dart”), and Zap the healing blue minion. You also have a Minion master who guides you through the game with tactical advice named Gnarl.

Overlord: Minions is entirely stylus-and-touchscreen gameplay where the stylus is used to conduct precise touchscreen commands, including slashing the screen to attack.

Feb 20, 2009