Overlord: Dark Legend

In a way, Dark Legend is like Overlord with training wheels on. Which isn't by any means a bad thing.

With no doubt Overlord Dark Legend is fresh air for the console portfolio, not only for its control system -which we have already seen in other games-, but also for that uninhibited and "bad-ass" style it has.

Despite of a significant weakness in the controls, it's a title Wii owners should definitely have played. Graphically the game looks good and the sound is actually pretty decent. In short: The Overlord has returned to tell us the story about the rise of his existence, although he stutters while doing this.

Rock solidly made and full of evil-flavoured charm, but you can't help but wish this had been so much more. The Little King still rules Wii. [Aug 2009, p.58]

Climax Studios has done a nice job of crafting a fun world to explore and plenty of enemies to decimate. The real issue is engine stability, and polish.

All in all, Dark Legend gets a lot right, and as the Wii missed out on the well-reviewed original Overlord, gamers who own Wiis but no other gaming platforms should definitely give it a shot.

Dark Legend is still pretty fun but maybe too simple compared to the other Overlord games: the game is a good start for this franchise on Wii, with all the advantage and limitation that remote control can brings.

Great for those who have yet to experience the Overlord series. Everyone else should pass.

With its joyfully evil brand of warm humour enlivening every encounter, it's a game that makes you feel good about being bad. And with slick controls and a satisfying blend of action and strategy, it's a game that's never less than enjoyable to play. But while it provides superior controls and less frustration than Overlord II, it regrettably falls down by failing to offer enough of a concerted challenge.

Dark Legend on Wii manages to be an extremely competent third-party offering. It's too easy and suffers from a few technical shortcomings, but the campaign is always fun and entertaining. As an intro to Overlord, Dark Legend does its job. Play it on Wii and then move on to the superior and altogether more challenging next-gen sequel.

The game’s design is overly simplistic, perhaps as an attempted nod to younger players. It hurts the experience, since it feels like you’ve won every fight before you even begin, even against bosses. It’s rare that any puzzle or battle requires more than the mildest attention. Even knowing that, Dark Legend benefits from its clever premise – one that certainly stands apart from the rest of the Wii ­catalog.

The official debut of Overlord on Nintendo hardware has to be considered more than good. Dark Legend is a funny mix of humor and action with a solid gameplay made of strategy and action.

Dark Legend attractive visuals often force the action to chug, an overabundance of minions makes the game far too easy and at times incompetent artificial intelligence forces you to reissue the same commands to brain dead minions. If you can deal with those issues, then you'll probably enjoy this dark and destructive adventure.

Of the three games in the Overlord family, Dark Legend is something of a black sheep. It's smaller in scope and lacks some fundamental parts of the formula, but in its pursuit to be different, it's managed to one-up its cousins in certain key ways. The series' minion-control mechanics are a shoe-in on the Wii, and as an Overlord game, it succeeds at what it aims to deliver: mindless fun with irresistible charm.

Dark Legend's fun, I just don't think that a person with considerable skill at games will find it all that challenging. Still, if you want a good, humorous story, and are looking for something to entertain you (albeit briefly), then Dark Legend is among the better choices for the Wii.

Overlord: Dark Legend never gets very challenging and let's you do good deeds with the ultimate bad guy, which can be a bit strange. Luckily, the game is fun the play and looks and sounds excellent.

Commanding minions to wreak havoc in a fairy-tale world is just plain fun. [Aug 2009, p.91]

Although Overlord Dark Legend is fairly short and easy to finish, it delivers enough fun to keep you playing. There is enough variety in gameplay to compensate for the lack of difficulty, and commanding minions with the Wii-mote feels like a natural thing to do.

Merely a good version of a great product.

A mixture of genres that is neatly put together but has annoying slowdowns.

A potentially great game ruined by control issues. Stick with Little King's Story for your RTS adventure kicks.

A nice Control System and an humorous adventure seem solid "pros", but the adventure is really short, and the technical aspect is not so exciting.

It's a lot of fun while it lasts. [Aug 2009, p.75]

I do commend Codemasters for catering to the Wii with a brand new Overlord game instead of porting over Overlord II, which could only have ended in tears -- but give us a challenge guys. We're not stupid.

If the game was going to be this short, then it should have been made a tad bit more difficult to balance out the lack of content.

It's a shame that Overlord: Dark Legend is riddled with bugs and performance issues. If you look beyond these shortcomings you'll actually find a really enjoyable adventure with lots of evil and playful charm. But the various issues coupled with the short lifespan means this game is best suited for the younger audience at best.

Dark Legend possesses all the sly wit you'd expect from an Overlord game. Too bad the action and the once-engaging puzzles are all dumbed down.

The controls are superior to Overlord II, but the gameplay and difficulty is even more simplified.