Tuesday 15 August 2006
If you're going to be evil, do it with style. Overlord sees you enter stage left as an evil sorcerer who's just got himself a big castle in a Tolkienesque fantasy land. What's even better news is that your new acquisition has an added perk: an indigenous species of goblin who decide that you're their Overlord.

You're not, of course; you're an evil idiot. The actual Overlord is long-dead, probably by your own hand. You're a false messiah, like a TV evangelist, or Kevin Keegan. But you won't care, because, as stated, you're incredibly evil, and these minions are all the better for evil pursuits such as house-lootery and face-stab-a-rama.

Above: The colour of the minions reflects their abilities - honing their skills is the key to maximising carnage

And so begins your quest. The aim is to use your minions to wreak havoc and overthrow the land's dysfunctional government, consisting of a coalition of seven heroes who have fallen for the temptations of corruption and greed. This you'll achieve by running around pillaging and plundering like a good 'un.

The control set-up is similar in execution to GameCube's excellent Pikmin series. You control the as-yet unnamed sorcerer with the left analogue stick, and the minions are mapped to the right, with a command list available to maximise your minions' efficiency in terrorising the slaw-jawed locals.