I really wanted to review Overlord:Dark Legend because no one has done so, and I think this is a good game, and I want anyone who's thinking about buying it to know that. This is my first review, so I'll try my best.
Ok, well first off just a little about me: I'm a 24 yr old female, and I'm not what you'd call a "hardcore gamer" or anything, but I do like QUALITY games. I'm new to the Overlord series.
That being said, I definitely think this title is a good one. First of all, it is NOT a port or watered-down version of Overlord or Overlord II from the Xbox. This is a brand new game developed exclusively for Wii, which is nice in and of itself. It is a prequel to Overlord I (Xbox 360), and tells the story of young Overlord's rise. Basically, in this game you go about defending your realm from various evils (including your evil siblings) with the help of your minions, of which there are 4 colors, each with different abilities. You order your minions about to do your bidding. (I've heard this is similar to Pikmin, though I have never played Pikmin so I can't say for sure). As you progress through the game, you earn the ability to have more minions "spawned" at the same time, as well as earning upgraded armor, weapons, and minions. You direct your minions to move objects out of the way, smash things up, fight enemies, retrieve objects that are out of your reach, etc. You also learn various spells over the course of the game, such as creating a lightening bolt, shielding yourself and your minions, and slowing your enemies. If you want to know more of the plot, that can be found on the internet so I'll skip over that and get to the kind of stuff I would want to know before buying.
The characters are fun for the most part. Some of the bad guys are from "fairy tales gone wrong" (an evil little red riding hood, for example), or giant gingerbread men. Then there are your "traditional" elves, dwarves, Halflings, bandits, man-eating plants, giant slugs, etc. The minions are kinda cute (in an evil way) goblin-looking things. Overlord looks pretty cool in his armor.
I feel like the controls are pretty easy to learn through the tutorials (seamlessly built into the gameplay), and they are pretty good, though I do have occasional problems using the wii remote as a pointer (but I have problems with that in most games... could just be me!). There's this built in guide that you can easily access during game play for information on enemies, characters, controls, the storyline, etc. This is one of my favorite things about the game. Sometimes I forget how to perform some of the different control functions that aren't used as often, so this is a quick, easy reference.
The graphics look pretty decent to me on my LCD HD TV. It's not high def (the wii doesn't support that), but it looks nice. Then environments are nicely detailed, sound seems fine too. The only thing that is slightly annoying is that the enemies have a tendency to repeat the same "trash talk" lines over and over, but you can adjust the volumes of the character voices/sound effects/ music separately, so you could just turn the characters down if it bothers you that much.
The environment is just big enough for my tastes. There are plenty of different areas to explore, however the pathways are pretty linear. You can explore around, but in the end, there's really only one way to go so you can't get too lost.
There are two cons that I can think of: First of all, the game seems kind of short. That being said, I haven't finished the game, but I estimate that I'm about ¾ of the way through so far, and it's taken me about 8 hours or so. However, there are side quests to complete, and I haven't even begun to look into those, so there's plenty to go back through the game for, which will add replay value.
Secondly, I don't like the way the game saves. There are autosave check points, and the game seems to save often, but only once have I noticed an on screen indicator that the game was saving (up in the top left corner of the screen, it said something like "autosave" or something. Other than that, I constantly have to check the time stamp in the save menu to see when the last time the game saved was. This wouldn't be a problem, except that the time stamp doesn't display the time of the save, but rather the elapsed time of play up until the last save. However, there doesn't seem to be a one-to -one correspondence between actual time played and the time indicated in the save. It's hard to explain. Basically, my wii says I've played for about 8 hours, but my save file says only about 5 hours, and I know the wii is correct. What I end up doing when I want to quit, is checking the save menu and seeing what the time says (e.g. 5:02) and then playing through a little bit more and checking the save menu every minute or two until it updates (e.g. to 5:06). Then I know that it's saved somewhat recently. Now, I've spent a whole paragraph talking about this, but that was really just because it was hard to explain. It's not THAT big of a deal, because as I said, there seem to be a lot of autosave checkpoints, so even if you do lose some progress, it won't be much.
The final thing I want to touch on is the appropriateness of this game for children. Now, I'm a "nice girl". I don't like killing animals or peasants in video games. The Grand Theft Auto series makes me kinda sick; and I feel guilty even playing an evil character (like in Fable), so I was a little worried that this might be too much for me, but honestly, I haven't found anything too morally reprehensible. The Overlord (at least up to this point in the game - remember I'm only ¾ of the way through) is really just defending his realm from invading Halflings, elves, dwarves, and other mythical type creatures. There's no killing of innocents, and there's no blood. You do have the option of sacrificing a minion to get more life, but it's not required. The sacrifice entails the minion jumping into a blue or red fountain. It's not gory or violent. Occasionally, you are required to "throttle" a minion (half strangle him and then let go so he runs away and explodes in a frenzy), but as they are little goblin-like creatures, and they're all too willing to be sacrificed, I really don't have a problem with it. I'd say the worst thing you can do in this game is kill innocent sheep. Lastly, it's rated T for language (and fantasy violence, I think), but theONLY language I've heard so far is one instance of "damn". Other than that, the "trash talk" is stuff like "My granny can fight better than you lot". There is fighting with swords, axes, and giant dwarf hammers, but there's no blood. I'd say that the average 11-12 year old can handle this, assuming they aren't scared by goblins and elves (and I have pretty conservative views on what is and is not appropriate for children). If you let your kids see PG-13 movies, you'll probably be ok with the content of this game.
Overall, I really like this game. The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars is because it could have been longer, and because of the minor control issue (though I feel like this is the Wii's fault, not the game's fault). Well, sorry that was so long, but I figure since it's the first review, it's justified. If you guys have any other questions, let me know and I'll try to answer! Hope this helps. **Edit 7/6/2009**
I was wrong, it's rated T for "fantasy violence", which I have already addressed, and for "Alcohol reference", but I have finished the game (aside from a few of the side quests) and I didn't encounter one. Maybe I missed it?
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Overlord: Dark LegendProduct Description: Overlord Dark Legend is a brand new action adventure steeped in fairy tale lore with sinister, satirical twists. Set in a time before the original game (Overlord, 2007), players step into the role of a new younger Overlord and revel in command of the most vicious, yet lovable little critters in gaming - the Minions.Forming a unique rampaging army, the Minions are a demonic, slavish and loyal horde of imp-like critters predisposed to violence. No matter: they-re always ready and willing to follow even the most suicidal order, whether it's raiding villages for kicks and giggles or hurling themselves at enemies in the face of kamikaze odds in the beautifully rendered game world. With a story and characters that poke playful fun at fantasy cliche, our trainee tyrant will be able to take his growing pains out on the local fairy tale inhabitants as he protects his castle and lands
Buy cheap Overlord: Dark Legend now
This is the worst game I have played for the wii. I promptly returned it three hours after I bought it. In three hours I beat it and unlocked every level despite the ridiculously aggravating and stupid controls. DO NOT BUY THIS GAME. DO NOT ACCEPT IT AS A GIFT. I love Dave Mirra. He's a genuinely nice guy. But this game is crap.
