Missed potential, but has a wicked sense of humour.
GRAPHICS
The graphics are creative and well-designed. Technically they are proficient, but not great. There are well designed animations such as when your minions smash open chests and pumpkins, and use miscellaneous objects to protect themselves. The landscapes you explore are colourful and bright, and it is obvious the game does not take itself too seriously.
SOUND
The sound is really very good, with no significant flaws. Interesting music, good fx... the only flaw is that jester minion who constantly shouts titles at you during your stay in your keep. But then again, he does serve the purpose of acknowledging the choices and achievements you have made in the game.
GAMEPLAY
You play the role of the evil Overlord, the master of the goblin-like minions. You have been raised from death by your minions, and your fearsome anti-hero or villain rises and rebuilds his keep over time. Peasants and sheep beware! Your character controls minions, they can be moved using the control stick, and given orders. They can be used to move wheels, moved to attack enemies, or just smash objects open to arm themselves. Your minion can also launch his own attacks and spells. Over time you gain access to more types of minions, and more spells. With the different kinds of minions including fighter minions, fire throwing minions and thief minions, there is a solid albeit basic, strategy involved in fighting the enemies. Interestingly, the enemies are all reversed fantasy archetypes, and the approach they took to the game is really quite funny. The combat can be fun, but most of the time it falls quite flat. It is just too simple, and there is no real strategy. Controlling the minions is time-consuming, especially the stand-ground option. To compensate, battles are very simple. Enemies rush or attack from a distance, and you send minions in. There are different strategies that work best for different minions, but it is more a matter of memorization than strategy.
There is a clever roleplaying aspect, where you can choose whether your Overlord is truly evil or merely greedy and power-hungry. Quests can be solved in different ways, and peasants will react to you differently in regards to this. However, there are no dialogue choices or complex quests and exploration. Variety is the name of this game, as there are many different things to be done while you aim to turn the land into a place of despair. You may improve your keep, court a wicked mistress, and forge weapons and armour. One main failing is that the game has many features, but the underlying combat system is very simple. Controlling four types of minions is just too much of a hassle with a real-time console game. The ability to lock minions into formations may have helped. In any case, the control scheme and level design were lacking in challenge or strategy. Rent it first, if you enjoy the combat system, then it is worth a buy. One thing that is not lacking was the charm, the hilarious dialogue and the many well-implemented features. There is true replayability, as long as you can stand the main core of the game.