GH Review: Overlord (Xbox 360)

Zardon · Jul 19, 2007, 09:43 AM

Read The Review Here
______________________

People are evil, there is no denying it. Sure, some may not show it and most only go as far as doing small evil deeds so that they don't get in trouble with the law. But deep down inside, every single one of us is just waiting for an opportunity to throw a rock at that annoying neighbor. Triumph studios know this and Overlord, their latest product doesn’t really give you a choice between good and evil. Instead you can choose between very evil and extremely evil!

Tipstaff · Jul 19, 2007, 11:44 AM

Totally agree with the review. It's a fun game, but can get repetitive, and later a bit... boring.. if you aren't careful. Plus, as mentioned in the review, the controls are probably the biggest issue I have. Some critical controls are never learned (such as how to take direct control over minions that you've 'parked' to hold a position), or certain controls overlap, and switching between them, on the fly, can sometimes be disastrous (ie. dead minions). I also find it, again, easier to play using the 360 pad over the mouse/keyboard.

That said though, once you learn the ropes it's a pretty decent game. I said it in another thread: it's not a great game, but it's not a bad game. That, to me, means it's worth playing.

bug77 · Jul 19, 2007, 12:08 PM

I wouldn't say performace on PC is lacking, I can play all maxed with 4xAA, np. And it sure is great fun. And you can add some replayablility since you can play lawful or chaotic evil (in RPG terms).
Also, you get to pimp your tower and fight all the creatures you defeat on maps in the tower's dungeon. You get to forge weapons and armor and imbue them with special powers (sacrificing minions, of course).
As a nitpick, all minions can pickup gear, not only the browns; it's just that the browns actually display every single piece of gear they pick up (others won't display helmets, for example). And picking up items makes them much more effective, granting an incentive to do your best to keep them alive.

I'm having a blast and I'm only halfway through the game, at most. I'd give it at least 9.5/10 if it weren't for the controls.

Zardon · Jul 19, 2007, 12:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bug77

I wouldn't say performace on PC is lacking, I can play all maxed with 4xAA, np.

Really? im surprised about that. I played the game for a week or so on and off on the xbox 360 and found it was super smooth. Then I installed the PC version on a xeon 8 core system with 8 gig of ram and at 1920 it was almost a slide show (and this was with a 8800GTX). granted it may have been vista or the nvidia drivers (a few revisions ago by todays standards), but I was sorely disappointed.

bug77 · Jul 19, 2007, 01:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zardon

Really? im surprised about that. I played the game for a week or so on and off on the xbox 360 and found it was super smooth. Then I installed the PC version on a xeon 8 core system with 8 gig of ram and at 1920 it was almost a slide show (and this was with a 8800GTX). granted it may have been vista or the nvidia drivers (a few revisions ago by todays standards), but I was sorely disappointed.

Ok, I'm using 1280x1024. And I can only control 25 minions, but I don't expect 50 or 65 to be a problem either, it's very smooth now.
Let's just say it's playable on 'earthly' resolutions

And did I mention it's loads of fun?

Edit: Were you playing at 1920 on the 360?

WhO_KnOwS · Jul 19, 2007, 02:17 PM

Most likely he is playing at 720p which is then upscaled to 1080i.

bug77 · Jul 19, 2007, 02:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WhO_KnOwS

Most likely he is playing at 720p which is then upscaled to 1080i.

Then it wouldn't be a fair comparison, would it?
Maybe the engine isn't optimized to go over 720p or something. But it's good to know anyway. Crucial, if you invested in a high-end monitor...

Tipstaff · Jul 20, 2007, 07:06 AM

Runs fine, and looks great here too with all settings maxed, but I too am running at 1280x1024.

Zardon · Jul 20, 2007, 09:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bug77

Then it wouldn't be a fair comparison, would it?..

Of course it would. I would gladly expect a game that runs on the 360 at 720p to run perfectly fine on a PC at 1920 which is about 5 times as powerful as the console. Most of them do (lost planet for example), except the ones which are poor ports.

I would need to try overlord again with the newest nvidia drivers and probably on windows XP to narrow things down. Unfortunately I don't really think the game is worth the effort, especially as the 360 version is so good anyway.

bug77 · Jul 20, 2007, 09:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zardon

Of course it would. I would gladly expect a game that runs on the 360 at 720p to run perfectly fine on a PC at 1920 which is about 5 times as powerful as the console. Most of them do (lost planet for example), except the ones which are poor ports.

I would need to try overlord again with the newest nvidia drivers and probably on windows XP to narrow things down. Unfortunately I don't really think the game is worth the effort, especially as the 360 version is so good anyway.

True. And yes, it may not be worth the effort...
Like I said, it probably wasn't designed to go over 720p.

Markius · Jul 26, 2007, 05:01 AM

i agree that the controls are the games biggest hurdle...but if you can get them "sussed" its a great game.
i found it to be a pretty original and at times funny game also.

Jul 19, 2007, 09:43 AM	#1
Zardon DriverHeaven Founder Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 32,480 Rep Power: 179	GH Review: Overlord (Xbox 360) Read The Review Here ______________________ People are evil, there is no denying it. Sure, some may not show it and most only go as far as doing small evil deeds so that they don't get in trouble with the law. But deep down inside, every single one of us is just waiting for an opportunity to throw a rock at that annoying neighbor. Triumph studios know this and Overlord, their latest product doesn’t really give you a choice between good and evil. Instead you can choose between very evil and extremely evil!

Jul 19, 2007, 11:44 AM	#2
Tipstaff HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Real capital of Canada: Torauna Posts: 6,773 Rep Power: 190 System Specs	Totally agree with the review. It's a fun game, but can get repetitive, and later a bit... boring.. if you aren't careful. Plus, as mentioned in the review, the controls are probably the biggest issue I have. Some critical controls are never learned (such as how to take direct control over minions that you've 'parked' to hold a position), or certain controls overlap, and switching between them, on the fly, can sometimes be disastrous (ie. dead minions). I also find it, again, easier to play using the 360 pad over the mouse/keyboard. That said though, once you learn the ropes it's a pretty decent game. I said it in another thread: it's not a great game, but it's not a bad game. That, to me, means it's worth playing. __________________ Portal: The Flash Version _________________________________ Brain: So, you sacked the cocky khaki Kicky Sack sock plucker? Mr. Sackett: The second cocky khaki Kicky Sack sock plucker I've sacked since the sixth sitting sheet slitter got sick.

Jul 19, 2007, 02:17 PM	#6
WhO_KnOwS The Knows Mister Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Slovenia, Europe Posts: 409 Rep Power: 0	Most likely he is playing at 720p which is then upscaled to 1080i. __________________ How you can help DriverHeaven by using Digg!

Jul 20, 2007, 07:06 AM	#8
Tipstaff HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Real capital of Canada: Torauna Posts: 6,773 Rep Power: 190 System Specs	Runs fine, and looks great here too with all settings maxed, but I too am running at 1280x1024. __________________ Portal: The Flash Version _________________________________ Brain: So, you sacked the cocky khaki Kicky Sack sock plucker? Mr. Sackett: The second cocky khaki Kicky Sack sock plucker I've sacked since the sixth sitting sheet slitter got sick.

Jul 26, 2007, 05:01 AM	#11
Markius DriverHeaven Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Australia Posts: 2,350 Rep Power: 0	i agree that the controls are the games biggest hurdle...but if you can get them "sussed" its a great game. i found it to be a pretty original and at times funny game also. __________________ DriverHeavens Aussie... "Lifes tragedy is that we get old too soon and wise too late"

Jul 19, 2007, 12:08 PM	#3
bug77 DriverHeaven Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: around Posts: 792 Rep Power: 0	I wouldn't say performace on PC is lacking, I can play all maxed with 4xAA, np. And it sure is great fun. And you can add some replayablility since you can play lawful or chaotic evil (in RPG terms). Also, you get to pimp your tower and fight all the creatures you defeat on maps in the tower's dungeon. You get to forge weapons and armor and imbue them with special powers (sacrificing minions, of course). As a nitpick, all minions can pickup gear, not only the browns; it's just that the browns actually display every single piece of gear they pick up (others won't display helmets, for example). And picking up items makes them much more effective, granting an incentive to do your best to keep them alive. I'm having a blast and I'm only halfway through the game, at most. I'd give it at least 9.5/10 if it weren't for the controls.