Overlord: Dark Legend
Encyclopedia
Overlord: Dark Legend is a 2009 third-person
action-adventure game
developed by Climax Studios and published by Codemasters
for the Nintendo
Wii
. The game was released on 23 June in North America, 26 June in Europe, and 2 July in Australia.
Dark Legend is a spinoff of the 2007 video game Overlord
, and is set as a prequel. The gameplay is similar to Overlord, but presents some differences. While the game does not have several features of the original game or its sequel, Overlord II
, it offers some new content and a new gameplay style taking advantage of the Wii controller.
Reviews of the game are mixed: praising the humour, story, and controls of the game, but finding problems with the animation, short game length, and lack of complexity or difficulty.
The Wii remote
's nunchuck attachment is used to control the Overlord, while the remote itself is used to organise and control the minions, capitalising on the controller's motion sensor and pointer capabilities. One of the new features introduced for the Wii was the ability to grab a minion from the horde using the tilt and motion sensors in the Wii remote, shake the remote to imbue the minion with the Overlord's power, then release it to run at a target and explode.
(daughter of British novelist Terry Pratchett
) who also wrote for the other games in the "Overlord" series.
Instead of the unnamed Overlord introduced in the previous game, Dark Legend follows the story of a new Overlord (named "Lord Gromgard" in-game). In the form of puppet show-esque cutscenes, the Overlord's story is told (with Gnarl doing the narration). Lord Gromgard, as a child, was told by Gnarl that, on his sixteenth birthday, his destiny would be fulfilled. As the years passed, the kingdom suffered many problems in the form of blights, poor crop harvests, Halflings taking the local food, bandits stealing from the populace and wolves eating or destroying what was left. Desperate to reclaim his fame, the Overlord's father, the once mighty Duke Gromgard, set out on a quest to acquire some of his lost assets, only to return with nothing and to find his wife, Duchess Gromgard, had run off with a rich and strong nobleman from a neighboring kingdom. On his sixteenth birthday, Lord Gromgard is left alone when his father sets out on yet another quest to reclaim his fortune, leaving Lord Gromgard with his extremely unpleasant older siblings, Lord Greenville and Lady Gerda (in a reference to Cinderella
).
After getting a birthday
present
(the Overlord's Minion-commanding gauntlet) from a present that the castle chef
, Rollick (Lord Gromgard's only friend) found, Lord Gromgard finds the Dark Tower and the Overlord armor that once belonged to his uncle, the mysterious Black Baron (who might have been the First Overlord), and begins to learn the ways of the Overlord. He begins his rule by tearing apart his brother and sister's room (with help from some Brown Minions), and then repels a Halfling infestation. His grief, however, has just begun, as the Halflings start a castle-wide fire. Planning on stopping this, the Overlord finds the Red Minion Hive and returns it to the castle. He then destroys the remains of the Halflings, but incurs the wrath of the insane castle jester, a Halfling named Jinks, who was behind the whole attack. Fighting the Overlord in a pumpkin
-launching makeshift tank
, Jinks is sent flying after the Overlord causes the tank to explode. A brown Minion (who is really a young Quaver) quickly takes Jinks' title as the castle jester. The Overlord then goes to reclaim the castle forge, (which was stolen by the servants while the Overlord dealt with Jinks) that is in the hands of the "Black Flame Bandits", a notorious group of bandits. Using a rock giant to thin their numbers, the Overlord reclaims the forge and establishes some dominance in the world. He then visits the nearby town of Meadowsweet, where he meets a kind bard
named Nym, who asks him to kill the local wolves encroaching on the town. The Overlord kills them, and returns to town to meet a little girl in a red hood, who asks him to take her to her grandma's house in the forest (in an obvious reference to Little Red Riding Hood
). The Overlord escorts the little girl, only to find the girl is, in fact, a wolf queen. After slaying the wolf queen, the Overlord learns from the children he freed that they have seen the Blue Minions, mentioning that the local children have been disappearing after visiting a cookie
salesman. The Overlord intimidates the salesman, who claims the real person behind this is a kind witch named Doris, who lives in the woods. The Overlord finds the cookie sales are being used by Doris to earn money from the Tooth Fairy
(the cookies cause children's teeth to fall out). The Overlord shuts down her business, and takes care of the last of the fairy tale creatures.
The player then contends with the Overlord's brother and sister, who are siding with the Elves and Dwarves (respectively) to start a war and claim the kingdom for themselves. Using the robes of Dwarven emissaries, the Overlord slips into the Elves' hideout, freeing the Green Minions and destroying the Elves plant-like monsters. However, Erasmus, the Elven leader, sees through the Overlord's disguise, and tries to stop him, only to die. Lord Greenville misunderstands Erasmus's dying words, thinking that Gerda is responsible (thanks due to the Overlord leaving a Dwarven item near Eramus's spot of death), and takes over as leader of the Elves. The Overlord then steals the robes of Elven emissaries, planning to perform a repeat of what happened to the elves. The Dwarves king, Widget (like Erasmus before him), sees through the Overlord's disguise, and attacks in a robot
-like suit. The Overlord, however, kills him and blames the Elves (similarly as to how he blamed the Dwarves for the death of Erasmus), leaving his sister to lead the Dwarves. The final cutscene shows the two forces fighting for years, only to have both sides give up after so long. Both Lord Greenville and Lady Gerda return to Castle Gromgard to be enslaved, leaving Lord Gromgard to rule as the Overlord.
the original video game to the Nintendo Wii console, Dark Legend was designed completely from scratch to allow a native Wii gaming experience.
The game was released in : in North America on 23 June, Europe on 26 June, and Australia on 2 July.
of 68 from 30 reviews.
Reviews found the storyline, humorous dialogue, and cutscenes reminiscent "of a Monty Python
comedy" to be strong features of the game. The controls and use of the Wii remote's capabilities was believed to be well executed, although the AI of the minions left something to be desired. Game Informer
said that "The story is never more than an excuse for silliness, but it serves its purpose right up until the end, when an abrupt conclusion leaves you scratching your head."
Graphics were good with well-designed environments, but animation was found to suffer as more minions and enemies were on screen. Gamespot Australia found that bugs and animation problems caused the game to crash
the Wii three times during their review playthrough, while the Totally Gaming Network review also noted the game's propensity to crash.
The main failing of the game was the length (averaging eight to ten hours for a first-run playthrough), which was compounded by the lack of complexity or difficulty. The Gamezone review suggested that Dark Legend was best suited for players new to the franchise, but veterans of the first game would be better off with the sequel, Overlord II
, on another platform; while Gamespot Australia referred to the game as "My First Overlord", believing the game never moved beyond the basics of the franchise. Game Informer felt that the game is "overly simplistic", which "hurts the experience".
Third-person shooter
Third-person shooter is a genre of 3D action games in which the player character is visible on-screen, and the gameplay consists primarily of shooting.-Definition:...
action-adventure game
Action-adventure game
An action-adventure game is a video game that combines elements of the adventure game genre with various action game elements. It is perhaps the broadest and most diverse genre in gaming, and can include many games which might better be categorized under narrow genres...
developed by Climax Studios and published by Codemasters
Codemasters
The Codemasters Software Company Limited, or Codemasters is a British video game developer founded by Richard and David Darling in 1986...
for the Nintendo
Nintendo
is a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....
Wii
Wii
The Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii primarily competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the two others...
. The game was released on 23 June in North America, 26 June in Europe, and 2 July in Australia.
Dark Legend is a spinoff of the 2007 video game Overlord
Overlord (2007 video game)
Overlord is a third-person action-adventure game developed by Triumph Studios and published by Codemasters for the Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows and PlayStation 3...
, and is set as a prequel. The gameplay is similar to Overlord, but presents some differences. While the game does not have several features of the original game or its sequel, Overlord II
Overlord II
Overlord II is a 2009 third-person action-adventure game and sequel to the 2007 video game Overlord, developed by Triumph Studios and published by Codemasters for Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3...
, it offers some new content and a new gameplay style taking advantage of the Wii controller.
Reviews of the game are mixed: praising the humour, story, and controls of the game, but finding problems with the animation, short game length, and lack of complexity or difficulty.
Gameplay
Much of the basic gameplay is similar to that of Overlord. The four minion types (brown, red, green, and blue) and their abilities remain unchanged from the original. However, the game presents some differences in terms of gameplay design. For example, unlike the other Overlord games, the life force collected from defeated enemies and used to create minions is no longer colour-dependant.The Wii remote
Wii Remote
The , also known as the Wiimote, is the primary controller for Nintendo's Wii console. A main feature of the Wii Remote is its motion sensing capability, which allows the user to interact with and manipulate items on screen via gesture recognition and pointing through the use of accelerometer and...
's nunchuck attachment is used to control the Overlord, while the remote itself is used to organise and control the minions, capitalising on the controller's motion sensor and pointer capabilities. One of the new features introduced for the Wii was the ability to grab a minion from the horde using the tilt and motion sensors in the Wii remote, shake the remote to imbue the minion with the Overlord's power, then release it to run at a target and explode.
Story
"Dark Legend" is set before the events of "Overlord". The game features a new story line, with new characters and locations, written by Rhianna PratchettRhianna Pratchett
Rhianna Pratchett is a freelance computer games scriptwriter, narrative designer and former journalist...
(daughter of British novelist Terry Pratchett
Terry Pratchett
Sir Terence David John "Terry" Pratchett, OBE is an English novelist, known for his frequently comical work in the fantasy genre. He is best known for his popular and long-running Discworld series of comic fantasy novels...
) who also wrote for the other games in the "Overlord" series.
Cinderella
"Cinderella; or, The Little Glass Slipper" is a folk tale embodying a myth-element of unjust oppression/triumphant reward. Thousands of variants are known throughout the world. The title character is a young woman living in unfortunate circumstances that are suddenly changed to remarkable fortune...
).
After getting a birthday
Birthday
A birthday is a day or anniversary where a person celebrates his or her date of birth. Birthdays are celebrated in numerous cultures, often with a gift, party or rite of passage. Although the major religions celebrate the birth of their founders , Christmas – which is celebrated widely by...
present
Gift
A gift or a present is the transfer of something without the expectation of receiving something in return. Although gift-giving might involve an expectation of reciprocity, a gift is meant to be free. In many human societies, the act of mutually exchanging money, goods, etc. may contribute to...
(the Overlord's Minion-commanding gauntlet) from a present that the castle chef
Chef
A chef is a person who cooks professionally for other people. Although over time the term has come to describe any person who cooks for a living, traditionally it refers to a highly skilled professional who is proficient in all aspects of food preparation.-Etymology:The word "chef" is borrowed ...
, Rollick (Lord Gromgard's only friend) found, Lord Gromgard finds the Dark Tower and the Overlord armor that once belonged to his uncle, the mysterious Black Baron (who might have been the First Overlord), and begins to learn the ways of the Overlord. He begins his rule by tearing apart his brother and sister's room (with help from some Brown Minions), and then repels a Halfling infestation. His grief, however, has just begun, as the Halflings start a castle-wide fire. Planning on stopping this, the Overlord finds the Red Minion Hive and returns it to the castle. He then destroys the remains of the Halflings, but incurs the wrath of the insane castle jester, a Halfling named Jinks, who was behind the whole attack. Fighting the Overlord in a pumpkin
Pumpkin
A pumpkin is a gourd-like squash of the genus Cucurbita and the family Cucurbitaceae . It commonly refers to cultivars of any one of the species Cucurbita pepo, Cucurbita mixta, Cucurbita maxima, and Cucurbita moschata, and is native to North America...
-launching makeshift tank
Tank
A tank is a tracked, armoured fighting vehicle designed for front-line combat which combines operational mobility, tactical offensive, and defensive capabilities...
, Jinks is sent flying after the Overlord causes the tank to explode. A brown Minion (who is really a young Quaver) quickly takes Jinks' title as the castle jester. The Overlord then goes to reclaim the castle forge, (which was stolen by the servants while the Overlord dealt with Jinks) that is in the hands of the "Black Flame Bandits", a notorious group of bandits. Using a rock giant to thin their numbers, the Overlord reclaims the forge and establishes some dominance in the world. He then visits the nearby town of Meadowsweet, where he meets a kind bard
Bard
In medieval Gaelic and British culture a bard was a professional poet, employed by a patron, such as a monarch or nobleman, to commemorate the patron's ancestors and to praise the patron's own activities.Originally a specific class of poet, contrasting with another class known as fili in Ireland...
named Nym, who asks him to kill the local wolves encroaching on the town. The Overlord kills them, and returns to town to meet a little girl in a red hood, who asks him to take her to her grandma's house in the forest (in an obvious reference to Little Red Riding Hood
Little Red Riding Hood
Little Red Riding Hood, also known as Little Red Cap, is a French fairy tale about a young girl and a Big Bad Wolf. The story has been changed considerably in its history and subject to numerous modern adaptations and readings....
). The Overlord escorts the little girl, only to find the girl is, in fact, a wolf queen. After slaying the wolf queen, the Overlord learns from the children he freed that they have seen the Blue Minions, mentioning that the local children have been disappearing after visiting a cookie
Cookie
In the United States and Canada, a cookie is a small, flat, baked treat, usually containing fat, flour, eggs and sugar. In most English-speaking countries outside North America, the most common word for this is biscuit; in many regions both terms are used, while in others the two words have...
salesman. The Overlord intimidates the salesman, who claims the real person behind this is a kind witch named Doris, who lives in the woods. The Overlord finds the cookie sales are being used by Doris to earn money from the Tooth Fairy
Tooth fairy
The tooth fairy is a fantasy figure of early childhood. The folklore states that when a child loses a baby tooth, if he or she places it beneath the bed pillow, the tooth fairy will visit while the child sleeps, replacing the lost tooth with a small payment....
(the cookies cause children's teeth to fall out). The Overlord shuts down her business, and takes care of the last of the fairy tale creatures.
The player then contends with the Overlord's brother and sister, who are siding with the Elves and Dwarves (respectively) to start a war and claim the kingdom for themselves. Using the robes of Dwarven emissaries, the Overlord slips into the Elves' hideout, freeing the Green Minions and destroying the Elves plant-like monsters. However, Erasmus, the Elven leader, sees through the Overlord's disguise, and tries to stop him, only to die. Lord Greenville misunderstands Erasmus's dying words, thinking that Gerda is responsible (thanks due to the Overlord leaving a Dwarven item near Eramus's spot of death), and takes over as leader of the Elves. The Overlord then steals the robes of Elven emissaries, planning to perform a repeat of what happened to the elves. The Dwarves king, Widget (like Erasmus before him), sees through the Overlord's disguise, and attacks in a robot
Robot
A robot is a mechanical or virtual intelligent agent that can perform tasks automatically or with guidance, typically by remote control. In practice a robot is usually an electro-mechanical machine that is guided by computer and electronic programming. Robots can be autonomous, semi-autonomous or...
-like suit. The Overlord, however, kills him and blames the Elves (similarly as to how he blamed the Dwarves for the death of Erasmus), leaving his sister to lead the Dwarves. The final cutscene shows the two forces fighting for years, only to have both sides give up after so long. Both Lord Greenville and Lady Gerda return to Castle Gromgard to be enslaved, leaving Lord Gromgard to rule as the Overlord.
Development
Rather than portPorting
In computer science, porting is the process of adapting software so that an executable program can be created for a computing environment that is different from the one for which it was originally designed...
the original video game to the Nintendo Wii console, Dark Legend was designed completely from scratch to allow a native Wii gaming experience.
The game was released in : in North America on 23 June, Europe on 26 June, and Australia on 2 July.
Reception
Opinions of Dark Legend have been mixed. As of January 2010, Dark Legend had received a ranking of 69.71% from review aggregator GameRankings, derived fron 24 reviews, and a score from MetacriticMetacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
of 68 from 30 reviews.
Reviews found the storyline, humorous dialogue, and cutscenes reminiscent "of a Monty Python
Monty Python
Monty Python was a British surreal comedy group who created their influential Monty Python's Flying Circus, a British television comedy sketch show that first aired on the BBC on 5 October 1969. Forty-five episodes were made over four series...
comedy" to be strong features of the game. The controls and use of the Wii remote's capabilities was believed to be well executed, although the AI of the minions left something to be desired. Game Informer
Game Informer
Game Informer is an American-based monthly magazine featuring articles, news, strategy, and reviews of popular video games and associated consoles. It was formed in August 1991, when FuncoLand started publishing a six-page magazine, free in all its retail locations...
said that "The story is never more than an excuse for silliness, but it serves its purpose right up until the end, when an abrupt conclusion leaves you scratching your head."
Graphics were good with well-designed environments, but animation was found to suffer as more minions and enemies were on screen. Gamespot Australia found that bugs and animation problems caused the game to crash
Crash (computing)
A crash in computing is a condition where a computer or a program, either an application or part of the operating system, ceases to function properly, often exiting after encountering errors. Often the offending program may appear to freeze or hang until a crash reporting service documents...
the Wii three times during their review playthrough, while the Totally Gaming Network review also noted the game's propensity to crash.
The main failing of the game was the length (averaging eight to ten hours for a first-run playthrough), which was compounded by the lack of complexity or difficulty. The Gamezone review suggested that Dark Legend was best suited for players new to the franchise, but veterans of the first game would be better off with the sequel, Overlord II
Overlord II
Overlord II is a 2009 third-person action-adventure game and sequel to the 2007 video game Overlord, developed by Triumph Studios and published by Codemasters for Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3...
, on another platform; while Gamespot Australia referred to the game as "My First Overlord", believing the game never moved beyond the basics of the franchise. Game Informer felt that the game is "overly simplistic", which "hurts the experience".
External links
- Codemasters webpage for Overlord: Dark Legend
- Overlord: Dark Legend at IGNIGNIGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...