Overlord Dark Legend
Ground-Up, Wii Exclusive: Not a port, a completely original game.
Release Date: TBA 2009

quote IGN

Publisher Codemasters on Wednesday revealed to IGN that is planning to release a new take on its popular Overlord franchise exclusively for Wii. The title, built from the ground up for Nintendo's system by Climax Studios, is called Overlord Dark Legend and is set for a 2009 release. Players control a young, new Overlord as he takes control of his evil minions. The "trainee tyrant" will, according to Codemasters, "be able to take his growing pains out on the local fairy tale inhabitants as he protects his castle and lands."

Dark Legend will feature an original tongue-in-cheek storyline penned by award-winning games author Rhianna Pratchett, and is set to include a host of old and new franchise-favorite characters, including Halflings, trolls, elves and dwarves, as well as new wicked witches, gingerbread men, and Lil' Red Riding Hood, "the seeming sweet girl with a very personal lupine secret."

Become the Overlord and control your minions with the Wii remote.
The Overlord franchise sparked to life on Xbox 360 in 2007 and immediately drew comparisons to Nintendo's own Pikmin because the main character, although very different from Captain Olimar, controlled his squad of minions around the world very similarly to the way Olimar did the Pikmin. Players used the second analog stick to move the Minions about like a wave.

Of course, Overlord Dark Legend will make full use of the Wii remote to further enhance the experience. According to Codemasters, the Wii remote enables "unprecedented control over the minions." Using the controller, gamers can pluck a minion from the horde, hold him by the neck and shake him around, "throttled to imbue him with some Overlordly power and turn him into a manic minion missile." Now charged with an explosive body, the in devilish critter can be guided into enemies with "hilarious, if rather fatal, consequences."

Pillage villages and kill anybody who crosses your path.
Overlord Dark Legend sounds very promising to us. For more details, we chatted with Codemasters' Dean Scott, who is serving as associate producer on the project. Here's what he had to say:

IGN: Will Overlord Dark Legend be a port or an all-new game for Wii?

Dean Scott: It's an all new game, designed especially for Wii. New story, new characters, new gameplay. It doesn't make sense to try and port the old version, when the Wii gives you an opportunity to make something that works very differently. The key difference is in how you play it. You point, and the minions go and break and kill things. It's a very literal connection for the player.

IGN: How is Overlord Dark Legend related to the first Overlord game?

Dean Scott: There are lots of subtle connections for Overlord-savvy gamers, but in the lineage of the series the events take place before the original game. So certain things you do set up events featured in the other games. It's not the same Overlord though. We're setting up the idea that there have been a series of Overlords throughout time.

IGN: What can you tell us about the story?

Dean Scott: It's part fairy tale, part classic fantasy, and all hilarious. Obviously we've twisted the fairy tale stuff around, because it wouldn't be an Overlord game without a load of black humor. So instead of helping Little Red Riding Hood find her grandma, you'd be helping the wolf shop for granny-friendly sauces. That's not actually in the game, but you get the idea.

IGN: Any new minions?

Dean Scott: It's the same four minion types, but we've given them new abilities. Some of these may be themed around bodily functions that childish folk like us find hilarious. We'll be revealing more from GC Leipzig.

quote IGN

...Lil' Red Riding Hood, "the seeming sweet girl with a very personal lupine secret."

quote bbb7002004

Release Date: TBA 2008

quote IGN

is called Overlord Dark Legend and is set for a 2009 release.

quote Barmy Brat

quote bbb7002004

Release Date: TBA 2008

quote IGN

is called Overlord Dark Legend and is set for a 2009 release.

yeah

tbh it looks pretty boring/rubbish. I doubt I'll get excited about a game who's predecessor only managed a 6.6.

quote IGN

There's something deliciously malevolent about the developer of Viva Pinata bringing the Overlord series to the Nintendo Wii. Climax Group has crafted a deviously warped fairy tale about the trials and tribulations of the very first Overlord, off on an adventure to kill Hobbit scum, a lycanthropic Red Riding Hood and hostile gingerbread. Overlord: Dark Legend might be a prequel, but based on our hands-on time with a finished build, it's looking forward as much as it's looking back.

The story puts our tender young Overlord at the mercy of his mean older brothers, thanks to an absentee father. That's right: the Overlord is Cinderella. With a battle axe. Not content to sweep floors, he chooses instead to reclaim his castle in a semi-noble quest to amass, then abuse, ultimate power.

Essentially, most Overlord functions are mapped to the nunchuk, while minions are commanded through the Wiimote. Minions haven't changed. The same four flavors return - bruiser Browns, fire Reds, stealthy Greens and healthy Blues - but controlling them is a fluid experience. Aiming the Wiimote at the screen brings up your targeting reticle, which changes color according to what mischief they can do; red for enemies they can kill, green for objects they can destroy and/or homes they can raid, blue for tasks they can accomplish. The B button sends them out, and holding B automatically tasks more minions. Even better, while you can take a point-and-press approach, you can also simply hold down B and sweep the reticle over a series of objects or enemies, and the minions will tackle them all. At least, until you run out of minions.

Minions also automatically pick up minion power-ups they find in smashed debris. A wide variety of silly hats toughen them up, while anything from hatchets to cooking spoons increase the pain they dish out. Pressing A and B together lets you grab a minion out of the pack and give him a good Wiimote shake, the goblin equivalent of pulling the pin on a grenade. Release said minion to watch them berserker, running off to whale on some unfortunate. Shake them too long, and they'll explode in your gauntlet.

Mr. Overlord isn't left out of the power up loop, either. Minion sacrifice for personal gain is fully intact, and now there are eight collectable spells that give the Overlord super powers. Most notable are a lightning throwing Energy Spike, increased shielding, and a bit of bullet timing. It's the only Overlord function mapped to the Wiimote (aimed, Control Pad down to use), and that makes it feel oddly out of place.

Generally, minion controls feel smoother than the Overlord. His axe attacks are performed by swinging the nunchuk, but it just doesn't feel very tight, like the Overlord's using more battle axe than he can really handle. Over on the Wiimote, however, switching between minion types is control pad easy (recall is done by holding A), and they're smart little buggers, too, able to do pretty much what you want if you send them where they need to go. Minion-related puzzles feel intuitive, and there are times when you'll actively guide them from a distance to unlock new areas. Sadly, minions aside, this Overlord works alone. There won't be any multiplayer mode. But Codemasters promises an 18-hour game to make up for the deficiency.

Ultimately, we still love our minions, and sending them out to do our evil bidding has rarely been easier. While it's billed as a standalone adventure, Codemasters promises that returnees to the franchise will get their fill of in-jokes and eggs, courtesy returning writer Rhianna Pratchett (daughter of "Discworld" author Terry).

Codemasters and Climax are set to unleash Overlord: Dark Legend on an unsuspecting world at the end of this month.