Overlord overload: Sequel incoming, new versions planned for Wii, DS

by Alexander Sliwinski { Aug 14th 2008 at 2:15PM }

Triumph Studios' excellent (but flawed) Overlord will receive a sequel on Xbox 360, PS3 and PC, along with new versions for the Wii and DS, all scheduled for 2009. IGN reports Overlord II will have smarter minions who can ride mounts, use war machines and sail ships. The scope of the game world has been broadened in the sequel and the controls for the Pikmin-style gameplay have been "greatly improved." We loved the first game, and it's great to hear about all these improvements for the sequel, but we hope "polish" is a word that Triumph doesn't forget this time around.

The Overlord franchise will also spawn Overlord Dark Legend on Wii by Climax Studios, an "all new game" penned by Rhianna Pratchett. The game seems to be set in the original Overlord's world with many of the same characters, but with the inclusion of some fractured fairy tale aspect. Finally, on DS (and also by Climax Studios), Overlord Minion will present players with a puzzle action game. OK, does that about cover all the Overlord info? Good, all hail the Overlord!

Source -- Overlord 2: Xbox 360, PS3, PC
Source -- Overlord Dark Legend: Wii
Source -- Overlord Minion: DS

Tags: codemasters, overlord, overlord-2, overlord-dark-legend, overlord-ii, overlord-minions, triumph-studios

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

john @ Aug 14th 2008 2:25PM

Will it beat Pikmin 3 to the Wii/DS?

Come to think of it, why hasn't there been a Pikmin game for the DS? Seems like a no-brainer for that audience.

caramelzappa @ Aug 14th 2008 2:37PM

Developers are too close minded to put obviously good ideas to use. Nintendo abandoned the DS pretty early, as far as first part software goes. The games that they did offer didn't have the stellar quality or other Nintendo games, they were half-assed, medeocre games.

Everyone views the ds as nothing but a puzzle/minigame device, so even though an almost full featured pikmin or overlord game is a "no-brainer" they're making the DS overlord game a "puzzle action" game instead of a scaled down version of overlord.

Superstar90 @ Aug 14th 2008 4:21PM

wow caramelzappa, there are so many things wrong with that comment that I can't even begin to say anything.

Brad Lee @ Aug 14th 2008 4:28PM

caramel

I disagree about DS not having any good Nintendo games; Mario Kart DS, Animal Crossing DS, and New Super Mario Brothers were all pretty fantastic.

But I do agreew ith you that it's degraded into mindless crap. It's a shame, because the DS had such potential to change everything, but in the end it's become nothing more than a glorifed Gameboy Advance with two screens instead of one and a touch screen. That is to say, that 90% of the games are complete $hit, 9% are tolerable, and 1% is good.

I'm somewhat bitter at Nintendo for abandoning the DS, which I like, as a system, much more than the Wii.

Dale @ Aug 14th 2008 4:30PM

A-negative repping we shall go!

Superstar90 @ Aug 14th 2008 5:00PM

Geez guys nobody abandoned the DS. It's getting full support from not only Nintendo, but from third party devs as well.

Square is not only giving it remakes of previous amazing FF games, but also of previous DQ games, the newest DQ9(!) is exclusive, new RPGs like The World Ends With You and Sigma Harmonics and the obvious megaton Chrono Trigger remake. Not to mention there was the exclusive sequel to FF12 on the DS and the upcoming Kingdom Hearts game. That's pretty much ensuring it's continued success, and if you don't care for JRPGs then you can't really say that it's full of sucky games.

In addition to Square Enix, there is Sega who have made their best game on the DS. Shiren the Wanderer is an absolute hardcore dungeon crawler, not for the casual at all. Sonic Rush and Rush Adventure are the best recent Sonic games, the Bleach fighting games are also some of the best anime-based fighters around. Capcom has been giving it tonnes of support with the 2 new Megaman series (Starforce and ZX/ZXA). I mean look at just this week the release of the Bangai-O Spirits, the DS exclusive sequel to the amazing Treasure game. Atlus is also heavily supporting it by releasing their niche games like Disgaea, Etrian Odyssey and Summon Night which are all very deep games.

The biggest line up of classic adventure games is on the DS and they are all deep and have good deep storylines. Stuff like Trace Memory, Hotel Dusk, Professor Layton and the Ace Attorney series.

From Nintendo we have seen the strongest push for new games and IPs. Band Bros, Soma Bringer, Professor Layton, Rhythm Heaven, Magical Starsign, Archaic Sealed Heat, New Super Mario Bros and so on. Add that to incredible sequels to their already established series like Zelda, Metroid, Fire Emblem and the remakes of 2 of the best Nintendo games ever, Kirby Super Star Ultra and Super Mario 64 DS.

Sorry for the long comment, it's just that I get annoyed when people assume that the DS has no good games, or is full of gimmicky minigames. Go play Etrian Odyssey and tell me that the DS is a casual minigame system with no support.

caramelzappa @ Aug 14th 2008 5:25PM

Whoa whoa. I never said the DS has no good games. Or that the games nintendo did manage to push out were bad. I own a DS and I have a few great games for it. I'm talking about the quality of nintendo's offerings on the ds. Mario Kart is awesome, I agree. Yoshi's Island was awesome too. And pokemon is good in that it gives you everything you'd expect from the series. But a lot of the other games nintendo's released just aren't up to the high standards I'm used to with nintendo.

Metroid for instance. I applaud them for making an FPS for the DS, I really do, but that game is nowhere near the same calibur of other metroid games. There are no real puzzles and each level is almost exactly the same.

As for super mario 64, it doesn't win a best game award. It was an amazing game on the n64, it was. But on the DS the d-pad and the touchscreen just don't give you enough control, and for me broken controls are enough to make a great game mediocre.

So Nintendo made a couple of good games for the DS. 3, maybe 4 great first party games, for a console that has been out for 4 years already?

And tell me, what does nintendo have planned for the DS? Have you heard any announcements you're excited about? I haven't. As far as I see it Nintendo doesn't take the DS seriously, and has abandoned it software wise. Why do they need to keep making good games for it when it "prints money"?

And yes, some developers are smart enough to make real games instead of minigame nonsense for the DS, but not many. Geometry Wars is awesome, and Dementium is a quality FPS. But the list of great games is just too few, and month after month the DS's library is filled with more shovelware because most people don't take the DS seriously enough.

I wish they did, it's a great little system.

Superstar90 @ Aug 14th 2008 6:06PM

Did you read my comment, they have made way more than 3 or 4 good games in the 4 years of the system. And coming soon they have Rhythm Heaven in US, Archaic Sealed Heat and Kirby Super Star Ultra. In Japan just this week Fire Emblem DS came out (and since the GC and Wii versions got here, this one should too). They are also about to release the new Stafi game (probably won't come out here, but it's still from Nintendo).

So yeah, I am pretty excited, considering Kirby Superstar is the best Kirby game ever, and Rhythm Heaven has gotten a lot of nice previews and videos look awesome. Archaic Sealed Heat has very high production values like full voice acting and more animated cut-scenes than any other DS game. They are also working on localizing Professor Layton 2, and going to release professor Layton 3 in Japan.

All that is much more first-party effort than any other company. I just wish Soma Bringer would be released here.

McWeen @ Aug 14th 2008 2:26PM

Might be worth checking out. The first one seemed like a rental based on the demo. Where are the RTS games for Wii/DS they would make sense.

redjack @ Aug 14th 2008 6:56PM

Seconded! I wasn't impressed by the controls on Battalion Wars 2 but the interface seems right for RTS games.

Mazoku @ Aug 14th 2008 2:38PM

This is great news. I loved the first.

syrik zero @ Aug 14th 2008 2:45PM

Me too. That game was so much mindless fun!

Tiptup300 @ Aug 14th 2008 2:48PM

Yeah, the split-screen co-op was a major disappointment though. :(

JayVe @ Aug 14th 2008 2:40PM

Excellent news. I'm a big fan of the first one and can't wait to see what the developers do this time around. Also, the expanded audience of Wii/DS owners should be a great way to get more people to try the title.

Good luck Overlord II!

Ciatrick Leodis McKelvin @ Aug 14th 2008 4:00PM

I hope they make for PSP also.

JayVe @ Aug 14th 2008 4:02PM

Good call. My PSP's release schedule is, by far, the weakest of all systems. I'd love for people to make ALL KINDS of games for the system. Sadly, most developers seem to be focused on more lucrative platforms.

The_Punisher @ Aug 14th 2008 2:42PM

They really whored it out, didn't they?

I wonder if the Wii version will take out the gore and be renamed Petz Minionz

Superstar90 @ Aug 14th 2008 5:02PM

My miinionz, let me show you them. Come to my miinion plaza, watch them blink.

Wiinterfang @ Aug 14th 2008 2:42PM

I don't know too much about the game but good news nonetheless.

gir @ Aug 14th 2008 2:43PM

Is that the lord of the ring guy?

Mr Khan @ Aug 14th 2008 2:44PM

I did think it looked like a neat game, from the pikmin-esque style of scaled-down RTS, to the age-old allure of running amok as an Orc, or something very much like it

Plus the game was colorful, which is always a plus for me

I would welcome a Wii version, though my 2009 schedule (from 3rd parties alone) is looking fairly crowded already between MadWorld, The Conduit, and Sonic and the Black Knight

Vcize @ Aug 14th 2008 3:33PM

3 games makes for a crowded year?

Wow, even putting probably a thousand hours into one of my games (Gears) I'm still around 20 games every year.

Ciatrick Leodis McKelvin @ Aug 14th 2008 4:06PM

Mad world does look good. The one that look best for Wii is on download and is call world of goo. That looks real real fun. Conduit looks just plain bad. The only reason people liking it because its on Wii. The game looks generic and bland from my eyes. Like a bad portal.

Let's all pray that the new wario land shake is actually a good game. not much to play on the wii lately.