Nerd Mentality

REVIEW: Overlord Minions

Posted July 18th 2009 by Jacob Barnes.

Usually I find myself staying as far away as possible from games with words like "overlord" and "minions" in the title. My nerd level crests somewhere between Legend of Zelda and Final Fantasy games so this didn't look all that appealing to me. This seemed like something that I would need an Elvish Dictionary in order to operate. But this spin-off shows why you shouldn't judge a game by the name alone.

Based on the original Overlord title released in 2007, Overlord: Minions puts the players directly in control of four minions instead of an Overlord. The minions all have unique personalities and attributes, such as fireball attacks and resistance to water, which players must utilize to clear a map. Clearing a map involves some physical combat with minions as well as puzzle solving. For example, you may have to use Stench, the poisonous gas-resistant minion to walk through said poisonous gas to press a button, while another minion is split up doing a separate task to open a door.

The game has a Middle Ages European look to it with lots of rustic tones. Most of the 3D graphics are standard for what the DS is capable of. You won't see many bright colors on most stages but the 2D character sprites seen before missions liven things up a bit with bright colors and playful animations. Character dialogue, which pokes fun at Old English phrases, also adds some personality.

The game's main problem comes with stylus control. Defeating enemies and interacting with objects sounds incredibly easy; you simply slide the stylus over the object or enemy to attack. However, these simple gestures are not at all responsive. Shooting fireballs with the fiery minion, Blaze, for example, seems to take about two swipes before you get it to work, and even then you might miss your target. Sometimes you find yourself tapping and sliding through items multiple times before you get them to do what you want.

These control problems become real hassles when the game ramps up in difficulty. Even the easy chore of moving blocks becomes a demanding task when your minion has trouble grabbing onto the block. Combining this annoyance with a boss that's slowly killing your other minion as you're trying to complete a task will leave most players frustrated. It makes me wonder why they didn't use the D-Pad, or any buttons for that matter, for different tasks.

I want to like this game, but unnecessarily frustrating controls overshadow fun, if not simple, puzzle solving. And I know the DS' controls are capable of more than this. There's some motivation to play this until the end just to fight a few cool bosses and solve puzzles, but most players will end up quitting about halfway through.

Posted in: Reviews, Gaming

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