Review: Overlord: Raising Hell (PS3)

Despite Gamestyle having already played through the Xbox 360 version, Overlord still manages to retain its freshness a year on. Allowing you take control of the lead character (simply known as the Overlord), your only aim is to be really evil and renew your control over the lands. This is achieved by commanding your legions of evil creations known as minions, who are little more than Gremlins in another form. While you can wield powerful spells and engage in brutal close combat, your minions will do most of the fighting and dying at your bidding, gladly laying down their life for the greater evil cause.

Already Overlord sounds a little different and could be a twisted version of Nintendo's Pikmin or Doshin the Giant, but Triumph Studios have really littered the game with stylish moments and black humour of their own. Take for instance the country bumpkins who populate a nearby village and feature ye olde English accents, or the twisted fantasy environments you will venture into. It is clear that the game is prepared to laugh at itself, yet never loses sight of the importance of playability and a sustainable challenge.

A key component comes from the variety of obstacles that stand in your way and the different classes of minions. The levels are well designed and full of secrets to be discovered, treasure to be seized and areas to revisit. Thankfully the nature of repetitive backtracking has been avoided, as you'll welcome the opportunity to finally recover a missing spell, or increase other powers with your minions. This is achieved by the unique abilities of your clansmen, and while the initial brown warrior clan perform well in battle, they have no stomach for poison (greens), roasting fires (reds) or water (blues). So when you uncover these additional classes, obstacles that previously restricted your progress can now be breached.

Raising Hell features several additions, some of which were available previously as Xbox Live downloadable content. The most noticeable and worthwhile is arguably the most simple, correcting an oversight of previous versions. The lack of a map was one criticism Gamestyle levelled at the Xbox 360 edition, and the PS3 features a mini-map onscreen. For us it’s still not good enough but a step in the right direction, as is the improved minion AI. The cluttered menu remains, but we would have liked the overall presentation tided up and the inclusion of a full world map. As it stands the mini version will help, as some pathways are well hidden due to the environments, but it is more of a modest patch than a vaccine. Unfortunately the two limited camera angles remain and do not offer a diverse perspective in either case.

Previously another flaw for some players was the lack of a help function; too often you were left almost scratching in the dark trying to achieve the necessary action to progress. Triumph Studios has included a hint that appears on the new loading screens. Again, like the aforementioned mini-map it is more of a patch than a complete solution to the issue.

It’s not just design issues that prevent Overlord from realising the superb experience it could potentially offer. Technically the visuals are improved but hampered by a varying frame rate and an overly complex control system. The online offering, which has been bolstered by the inclusion of several new maps, remains sluggish and fails to deliver any worthwhile extension of the single player adventure. The split screen mode increases the frame rate and camera issues making its inclusion almost pointless.

This theme continues onto the new realms that are not the fully-fledged levels Gamestyle expected. Instead a temple in each environment will take you onto an area where you must impose your evil authority. Again like most of the new content it is not as fully realised as we had hoped for. The sleeve may promise new additions but the only one you will keep playing is the main mode itself, now thankfully devoid of any Xbox 360 bugs.

It is a shame that Overlord Raising Hell took so long to appear on the PS3, arriving just after the excellent Sid Meier’s: Revolution. The extra content is appreciated but does little to expand what is already an enjoyable and offbeat experience. The size and scope of the main mode remains Overlord’s most enduring aspect, allowing you to ransack and pillage in a unique fashion.

Rating: 7 / 10

Words by Jason Julier