It’s been six years since Codemasters released an Overlord, but I’ve gotta admit Overlord: Fellowship of Evil is not the sequel I was expecting. They seem to have turned it into Diablo.
What made Overlord so interesting and unique was both its sense of humor (you play as the quasi bad guy, after all) and strategy-lite gameplay. Players took control of an overlord and guided minions with different abilities around. You’d also take control of these minions to accomplish various tasks, since they’re smaller and nimbler than you. It was a neat dynamic!
They weren’t overly difficult games, they were just...fun. Goofy. Weird. I’ve missed them.
Overlord: Fellowship of Evil, however, seems to have ditched this for a faster kind of action game with a focus on playing with up to four friends.
You have to fast forward to 1:30 or so to see the new game in action.
The previous Overlord games were third-person action games, this new one is isometric. The previous Overlord games centered around manipulating minions, this one doesn’t seem to be.
The snippets we’re seeing so far are much more about players cooperating with one another.
There’s nothing to suggest Overlord: Fellowship of Evil couldn’t be a totally great game. I hope it is! But given how long it’s been since Codemasters touched the Overlord series, I can’t help but express disappointment over this being the way it’s coming back.
Based on the reactions to the trailer, I’m not alone, either.
Series writer Rhianna Pratchett has already started addressing fan concerns on Twitter.
Hey, maybe it’ll be awesome. Until I know that for sure, though, color me pretty bummed out.
You can reach the author of this post at patrick.klepek@kotaku.com or on Twitter at @patrickklepek.