Overlord

[Chaz]

Put in about two hours last night.  I quite like it.  It's definitely more of a strategy game than anything else, which is about what I expected.  After the sequence in the demo, there's a semi-dungeon crawl through the hobbit houses.  It feels like leading a raid on the Shire, it's great.  Winds up with a boss fight that involves a strategy that I wasn't expecting, and led to me losing all but three minions, but I still pulled it out.

The minions are still great.  I love getting them all outfitted with gear, and I have my own little warband bristling with sickles and pikes, wearing pumpkins, pots, and chef hats.  I also love having them run around and smash up everything is sight, like piles of dishes and food, just because they can and seem to enjoy it.  However, they do have a nasty habit to stop and drink all the leftover mugs of ale, and get a bit drunk, even when there's enemies around.  Priorities, I guess.

So after one night, I recommend it, and can't wait to get back to it tonight.

[CeeKay]

Nice review Ron!   

After reading that and glancing at my backlog it dropped down to a 'day one' purchase to 'sometime next year' playthrough.

[Gratch]

Nice review Ron!   

After reading that and glancing at my backlog it dropped down to a 'day one' purchase to 'sometime next year' playthrough.

It normally would be for me as well, but I'm having such buyer's remorse on my 360 (it's basically a $400 Guitar Hero box right now) that I had to get something to play. 

Was only able to put in about an hour last night, so no real impressions yet.  Should finally get some gaming time tomorrow, so I'll put up some thoughts then.

[Caine]

played through about 3 hours last night, just beyond getting the red minion hive.  loving what i've seen so far.  the strategic options are just becoming available with the two types and 15 strong band i can muster.  once i get the other types and increase that total quantity, i can see this getting interesting. 

the first boss fight was kind of cool, once i got over getting wiped the first time.  those minions are much more effective than you are at this stage. 

the little touches they added really give this game character.  the way the annoying jester greets you with the various titles you earn is cool.  after i left the tower, the local peasants had tied up a wench for my pleasure, whom i added to the growing group of servants around my throne.  nice.  another one ran from me screaming something about what i had done previously. 

the little noises the minions make when they find loot is great.  whether it's for me or weapons/armor to use, they always sound ecstatic about it. 

i can't wait until i open up the crafting options. 

btw, i have a big  to one of the gamestops in the area.  the were charging $65 for the pc version, because "you can't find this anywhere else today".  MF-ers.  they shouldn't be allowed to raise the prices just because they happen to get their order in sooner. 

[Bullwinkle]

btw, i have a big  to one of the gamestops in the area.  the were charging $65 for the pc version, because "you can't find this anywhere else today".  MF-ers.  they shouldn't be allowed to raise the prices just because they happen to get their order in sooner. 

That's ridiculous, and I think bordering on illegal.

[The Grue]

btw, i have a big  to one of the gamestops in the area.  the were charging $65 for the pc version, because "you can't find this anywhere else today".  MF-ers.  they shouldn't be allowed to raise the prices just because they happen to get their order in sooner. 

That's ridiculous, and I think bordering on illegal.

I wouldn't think it is illegal.  The price of games is merely the MRSP.  They can charge what they want.

[Sarkus]

btw, i have a big  to one of the gamestops in the area.  the were charging $65 for the pc version, because "you can't find this anywhere else today".  MF-ers.  they shouldn't be allowed to raise the prices just because they happen to get their order in sooner. 

Very weird.  I walked into an EB Games (same company of course) and bought it off the shelf for $39.99.  Also, when I was with GameStop it was absolutely forbidden to charge more than what the company said, and while there was some price variation depending on what your competition was, it was never that much of a difference.

[Caine]

btw, i have a big  to one of the gamestops in the area.  the were charging $65 for the pc version, because "you can't find this anywhere else today".  MF-ers.  they shouldn't be allowed to raise the prices just because they happen to get their order in sooner. 

Very weird.  I walked into an EB Games (same company of course) and bought it off the shelf for $39.99.  Also, when I was with GameStop it was absolutely forbidden to charge more than what the company said, and while there was some price variation depending on what your competition was, it was never that much of a difference.

the guy who saw this thinks that this store may have mis-labeled the pc version the 360 game price and that the clerks he talked with seemed to be dicking him over for fun.  oh well, he ended up buying it from target later on for it's regular price, so no harm done.  i know where he went, so i might try catching this store in the act.

[Dante Rising]

Can you save anywhere on the xbox 360 version? I'm still trying to decide if I should go PC or 360...

[CeeKay]

btw, i have a big  to one of the gamestops in the area.  the were charging $65 for the pc version, because "you can't find this anywhere else today".  MF-ers.  they shouldn't be allowed to raise the prices just because they happen to get their order in sooner. 

That's ridiculous, and I think bordering on illegal.

hardly.  video games are not a necessity.

[Azhag]

No, but I thought it was part of the deal from publishers that retailers weren't allowed to sell over MSRP.

[Gratch]

Was able to put in a couple more hours tonight.  Rampaging and pillaging my way through the Shire was an absolute blast.  Sweeping my minions around the room in a path of destruction whilst chucking fireballs brings an evil smile to my face.  I'm not sure how long the novelty will last, but it's great fun so far.

A couple minor gripes:

1.  The lack of any sort of map certainly makes things confusing at times.  Many of the rooms look the same, and you are forced to pay very close attention to where you're going.

2.  Checkpoint save system.  Blech.   

3.  Seems like the minions are sometimes unresponsive.  I'll tell them to sweep around a room, and only half of them will go, or they'll take a completely different route, or they'll just stand and look at me.  Will probably get better as I become more familiar with the controls.

A question as well.  I just got my first batch of Reds, and there's a Red "hive" it says I'm required to move before proceeding.  It requires 10 Reds to move, but there are only enough red orbs to summon 8.  I can't continue until I move the hive, but I can't move the hive until I can find more red orbs.  Am I missing something?

[Chaz]

Gratch, I seem to remember there being more of the little fire bugs somewhere around that area.  If you lost some reds, you might be able to leave the area and come back to have them respawn, but I think there's another batch around.

I got through the second boss fight, and I'm at a point where you basically have to start creating groups of minion types and ordering them around separately.  Reds have to be kept in the rear, and sometimes have to be split into two fire teams.  I need to get better at assigning less than all of one type to a rally point. 

I also got the ability to craft items.  When you craft, you can sacrifice (at this point) up to 650 minions into a crafted item to increase its stats.  The trick is that it doesn't tell you what effect the minions have until after you've dumped them in.  I crafted a piece of steel armor with 50 browns in it, and found out after that I was already wearing steel, and could have just done an upgrade, but they don't show you your inventory until after you've seen the crafting station.  A bit more detail available in game would be nice.

So I'm still enjoying it quite a bit in spite of the niggles.

[Bullwinkle]

Was able to put in a couple more hours tonight.  Rampaging and pillaging my way through the Shire was an absolute blast.  Sweeping my minions around the room in a path of destruction whilst chucking fireballs brings an evil smile to my face.  I'm not sure how long the novelty will last, but it's great fun so far.

A couple minor gripes:

1.  The lack of any sort of map certainly makes things confusing at times.  Many of the rooms look the same, and you are forced to pay very close attention to where you're going.

2.  Checkpoint save system.  Blech.   

3.  Seems like the minions are sometimes unresponsive.  I'll tell them to sweep around a room, and only half of them will go, or they'll take a completely different route, or they'll just stand and look at me.  Will probably get better as I become more familiar with the controls.

A question as well.  I just got my first batch of Reds, and there's a Red "hive" it says I'm required to move before proceeding.  It requires 10 Reds to move, but there are only enough red orbs to summon 8.  I can't continue until I move the hive, but I can't move the hive until I can find more red orbs.  Am I missing something?

Those are my three gripes, as well.  The lack of a map seems like a ridiculous oversight to me.

[Gratch]

Quick question.  When you teleport from your tower using the Tower Heart, there's always a number to the left of the location.  I thought it might be how many quests are in that area, but that hasn't seemed to match up.  Anyone know what that number means?  Stupid manual doesn't mention it anywhere.

[Thry]

Quick question.  When you teleport from your tower using the Tower Heart, there's always a number to the left of the location.  I thought it might be how many quests are in that area, but that hasn't seemed to match up.  Anyone know what that number means?  Stupid manual doesn't mention it anywhere.

Hmph, I thought it was active quests as well...

Anyways, I am really enjoying this game.  The camera took some getting used to and I'm usually not a fan of checkpoint style save systems but it works well enough. 

Has anyone tried MP?

[Knightshade Dragon]

Has anyone tried MP?

  I did.  I found it to be pretty shallow.  Felt like an afterthought....

[Harkonis]

Was able to put in a couple more hours tonight.  Rampaging and pillaging my way through the Shire was an absolute blast.  Sweeping my minions around the room in a path of destruction whilst chucking fireballs brings an evil smile to my face.  I'm not sure how long the novelty will last, but it's great fun so far.

A couple minor gripes:

1.  The lack of any sort of map certainly makes things confusing at times.  Many of the rooms look the same, and you are forced to pay very close attention to where you're going.

2.  Checkpoint save system.  Blech.   

3.  Seems like the minions are sometimes unresponsive.  I'll tell them to sweep around a room, and only half of them will go, or they'll take a completely different route, or they'll just stand and look at me.  Will probably get better as I become more familiar with the controls.

A question as well.  I just got my first batch of Reds, and there's a Red "hive" it says I'm required to move before proceeding.  It requires 10 Reds to move, but there are only enough red orbs to summon 8.  I can't continue until I move the hive, but I can't move the hive until I can find more red orbs.  Am I missing something?

Those are my three gripes, as well.  The lack of a map seems like a ridiculous oversight to me.

Anytime they seem unresponsive I find that one tap on B and they sweep as normal again.  It seems to be that once a minion returns to you after grabbing something they are sometimes removed from the sweeping pool until you call back and sweep again.

[Harkonis]

Has anyone tried MP?

  I did.  I found it to be pretty shallow.  Felt like an afterthought....

MP I tried was too laggy to really give it a good try.  I can see where the coop modes might be fun, but not sure vs has much going for it.  I really do hate when achievements are mostly mp though. 

BTW, most boss battles are pretty easy if you just put a bunch of reds greens and blues on a flag and drag the flag keeping it just outside of the range of the boss.  Greens will jump to bosses, blues will rez and reds fire while you stay mostly out of damage.  Trolls are very easy this way.

[Gratch]

This game really suffers from not having any sort of map or objective markers.  I just spent the better part of an hour wandering around the goddamn Elven forest trying to figure out where the hell I'm supposed to go next.  There's one spot where my advisor guy says something about "Boy, it would be nice to have some blues.", but I have no frakkiing idea where the hell I'm supposed to find the blue hive.  My guess is that I need to find it before I can proceed (there's a gate switch just across some water from where the advisor is taunting me), but I honestly have no idea where it is.  I finally just turned the game off in frustration.   

[Bullwinkle]

This game really suffers from not having any sort of map or objective markers.  I just spent the better part of an hour wandering around the goddamn Elven forest trying to figure out where the hell I'm supposed to go next.  There's one spot where my advisor guy says something about "Boy, it would be nice to have some blues.", but I have no frakkiing idea where the hell I'm supposed to find the blue hive.  My guess is that I need to find it before I can proceed (there's a gate switch just across some water from where the advisor is taunting me), but I honestly have no idea where it is.  I finally just turned the game off in frustration.   

I had the exact same problem today.  Same spot and everything.  I think you're supposed to try to tackle some other missions and come back, though, 'cause I swear I covered every inch possible in the forest.  Not clear at all.

Other than that, I'm loving the game.

[Chaz]

You need to go to the Heaven's Gate area.  I got to the same part, and realized that I probably wasn't in the right spot.  Then I wandered around Spree for a bit, because I knew one of my quests was "Find an entrance to Heaven's Gate", and figured that the Heaven's Gate area on my teleport list was a glitch.  Head in there, and all will become clear.

However, I ran into an annoying glitch getting the greens.  I got them to pick up the green nest, which they started to carry back to my teleport area.  Meanwhile, I had the rest of my guys running around smashing stuff for loot.  After that, I head back to chase the nest.  I find the guys with the nest stopped nearby.  The narrator tells me I need to clear the path ahead, which I do, but the guys with the nest don't move.  I keep going, and clear all the way back, and still they don't move.  Eventually, I left the area and came back, and this time followed the nest.  Turns out it was a glitch because they had no problems this time.

[Gratch]

You need to go to the Heaven's Gate area.  I got to the same part, and realized that I probably wasn't in the right spot.  Then I wandered around Spree for a bit, because I knew one of my quests was "Find an entrance to Heaven's Gate", and figured that the Heaven's Gate area on my teleport list was a glitch.  Head in there, and all will become clear.

Yep, that did it.  Went to Heaven's Gate, and just got the blue hive out of the cave (which is a seriously annoying level, btw). 

I still somewhat enjoying the game, but I have to admit it's charm is wearing a bit thin.  Smashing up the halfling stuff was a blast, but the last two areas have been much more puzzle intensive, and not nearly as much fun.  Getting back to causing more mayhem would certainly be a good thing.

[Chaz]

I wasn't a fan of the blues area either.  I think it was being forced to use the blues, who are completely unable to defend themselves.  I suspect that once you're past the area built exclusively for the blues, and are able to use them in support of the browns/greens, life will be much happier.

[phormio]

I don't seem to be as far in as many of you, but I like this game.

But I don't love it because...

I've already encountered a bug (the Minstrel), and according to some posts over at the Ars Technica forum I'm not alone. It seems to be a situation that's not universal and may be solved by merely trying again, but after 4 attempts a little frustration has set in.

This game is badly hurt by not having a mini-map feature. As some of you have already mentioned, this omission seems almost unbelievable. It's caused me no end of backtracking (too).

When it's being good, though, Overlord really can be a lot of fun. 

[Scoop20906]

Just played the demo and it left me wanting to play this game MORE.

BUT!!

For those of you playing it, is it worth the $59.99 price tag or should a wait for the price to drop or get it through a trade?

All opinions welcome 

[Soulchilde]

Just played the demo and it left me wanting to play this game MORE.

BUT!!

For those of you playing it, is it worth the $59.99 price tag or should a wait for the price to drop or get it through a trade?

All opinions welcome 

I'm liking it, but I would wait for a price drop.  The game's charm can wear off after the initial village of Spree.  I 'm sure Overlord will refine some of the gameplay mechanics

[Gratch]

Just played the demo and it left me wanting to play this game MORE.

BUT!!

For those of you playing it, is it worth the $59.99 price tag or should a wait for the price to drop or get it through a trade?

All opinions welcome 

I'm liking it, but I would wait for a price drop.  The game's charm can wear off after the initial village of Spree.  I 'm sure Overlord will refine some of the gameplay mechanics

My thoughts as well.  For me, the moments of sheer fun and utter controller-throwing frustration have been pretty evenly balanced so far.  While the concept is great, it's hamstrung by some major (imo) issues, lack of an in-game map being the biggest one. 

As excited as I was for it, I'm now really on the fence as to whether or not I want to continue playing. 

[phormio]

If I had known then what I know now..., I would've waited.

Wonderful concept (that's what sold me), but I'm a little disappointed with the execution. There's a great game in there, but there are just too many annoying little problems (and one not so little problem). Definitely a "B" title in it's current form.

It can be a lot of fun  , but it's frustration quotient can rise dramatically in short order . I'm not sorry I got it, but I'm not sure it's really worth full whack.

[Knightshade Dragon]

If I had known then what I know now..., I would've waited.

Wonderful concept (that's what sold me), but I'm a little disappointed with the execution. There's a great game in there, but there are just too many annoying little problems (and one not so little problem). Definitely a "B" title in it's current form.

It can be a lot of fun  , but it's frustration quotient can rise dramatically in short order . I'm not sorry I got it, but I'm not sure it's really worth full whack.

http://gamingtrend.com/Reviews/review/review.php?ReviewID=865

Right in line with my estimation.  Good to redeem myself a bit after Spider-Man 3.   

[Ridah]

I just started Overlord today and have put about 3-4 hours into it. The lack of a map really hurts the game and just from reading other impressions I can tell if I continue I'm in for even more frustration, so I'm going to call it quits before I begin to hate the game. Developers really need to understand the need for a competent map, The Darkness suffered a bit from the same issue, often leaving me wondering what I was supposed to do next.

 

[CeeKay]

Played it on Gametap.  It was definitely worth the download!


oh, and has anyone pointed out that the game title doesn't have an S in it yet? 

[Ridah]

Played it on Gametap.  It was definitely worth the download!


oh, and has anyone pointed out that the game title doesn't have an S in it yet? 

Good catch, thread edited. So did you play all the way through it? It's really sad that such a basic thing would be missing in such a potentially great game and dampen the fun.

[CeeKay]

Played it on Gametap.  It was definitely worth the download!


oh, and has anyone pointed out that the game title doesn't have an S in it yet? 

Good catch, thread edited. So did you play all the way through it? It's really sad that such a basic thing would be missing in such a potentially great game and dampen the fun.

I finished it the other night and it didn't even occur to me that it was missing a map.  the only place that got kind of confusing without a map was the Elven forest, but most of the levels are fairly small and linear.

[EddieA]

oh, and has anyone pointed out that the game title doesn't have an S in it yet? 

I think everyone's still busy playing Masters of Orion

[Bullwinkle]

Overlord!

Yeah, Chazs is right.

Right there.

[Arkon]

Played it on Gametap.  It was definitely worth the download!


oh, and has anyone pointed out that the game title doesn't have an S in it yet? 

Kiss my grits CeeKay(s)

[CeeKay]

Played it on Gametap.  It was definitely worth the download!


oh, and has anyone pointed out that the game title doesn't have an S in it yet? 

Kiss my grits CeeKay(s)

do you butter your grits or are they plain? 

[Arkon]

Played it on Gametap.  It was definitely worth the download!


oh, and has anyone pointed out that the game title doesn't have an S in it yet? 

Kiss my grits CeeKay(s)

do you butter your grits or are they plain? 

plain?  there is such a thing as plain?

Butter all the way!

[Ridah]

I finished it the other night and it didn't even occur to me that it was missing a map.  the only place that got kind of confusing without a map was the Elven forest, but most of the levels are fairly small and linear.

Hmm, surprising that you never found yourself needing a map. I found myself wishing for one within an hour into the game. I don't know how long the game is, but I don't want to suffer through the rest of it feeling the same way. I also can't figure out how to summon the red minions.