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Computer Times
Editors' Choice DS Game Overlord: Minions Reviewed by Angie Kibiloski
Overlord: Minions (Retail $29.99), from Codemasters, is a fun arcade style game for Nintendo DS, where you are the Overlord in control of 4 demon Minions, ordering them to explore their world for treasure and pitting them against various foes. Each minion has his own unique talents that you can utilize to overcome obstacles and defeat your enemies. Sometimes, the minions must work together, each with his own special task, in order for a level to be completed. Giblet is the brute fighter, great at the smash and bash work. Blaze is resistant to fire and also can shoot fire balls, which are perfect for long distance attacks. Stench has a lethal….well, stench, and can also resist toxic fumes in the environment. Finally, Zap can heal the other minions, attack with magic, and is the only one of the quad who will set foot in water. Rounding out your set of allies is one more minion, though he does not enter into combat. Gnarl is an old, wise minion, who will council you along the way, as you discover new items and abilities. He is a bit like an on-going tutorial. Also, he will report to you about the goings-on in your realm which you must send your 4 minions out to resolve. Think of him as your royal advisor.
In each level there are treasure chests that you must find and collect. As you gather these chests, you will unlock bonus material for your viewing pleasure, like concept art from the production team. These chests will not always be easy to obtain, and might take some ingenuity on the part of you and the minions. As well as chests, there are other items, like barrels, that your minions can enjoy smashing and destroying. These items will sometimes contain health potions, to restore your little minions back to tip top fighting condition. Barring your way throughout each level will be vile enemies. These might be reanimated skeletons, strange gooey blobs, ghostly creatures, trolls, or god-only-knows what else. Kill them before they kill you, simple as that. Well, simple in theory. No worries if one of your minions dies in the line of duty. Throughout each level are spawning pits, where you can go to resurrect your fallen brethren. Very handy when up against particularly nasty foes. As you fight, as well as each time you smash an object, you gain some special attack charge. When you have enough charge, each minion has a special attack ability he can unleash. Once spent, he cannot use that ability again until he has enough charge regained.
Overlord: Minions is really cute, and the minions, though supposedly evil, are all quite endearing. It is fun to try to figure out which minion you need to use to get past each challenging obstacle, and to try to get them all working together when needed. All the action is controlled with the DS stylus, so game play is simple. The arcade style environment and basic plot means that you can casually pick this game up and enjoy it one level at a time. You’ll love controlling your own little minions and having them obey your every whim. There are also two other new titles from this franchise this summer: Overlord II, for PC, Xbox, and PS3, and Overlord: Dark Legend for the Wii. These are more fleshed out action/adventure titles than the one for DS, but you are still an evil overlord with a hoard of minions to order about, just in a much larger and complex setting. Each promises to be extremely fun, and packed with all sorts of cool minion fighting action.
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