I am definitely not Sauron. I’m…some other guy.

Overlord was first described to me as Dungeon Keeper meets Pikmin and frankly that didn’t work out in my mind. But considering my affection for both of those franchises, I had to give the game a shot. I haven’t said this about a game in a while: I was instantly hooked. And to this mix of Dungeon Keeper and Pikmin has also been added a splash of Fable. Hit the jump to hear more.

Go forth, my minions, and destroy!

Overlord is set in a Tolkien-esque countryside and you’re on the dark side of the equation. The game begins with your character being woken by a handful of imps presumably after the sacking of your dark tower. Your character is almost a direct transplant of Sauron from the Lord of the Rings films, only quite beaten up and relatively weak. Your once-great beacon of evil is now in disrepair and your ever-loyal imps get you back on your feet and started on the quest to restore your dark tower to its former glory.

The humorous mood is established right away as you practice your combat skills on the tower jester who, despite your endless thrashing, sings your praises throughout the game. After learning how to fight on your own, you learn the skills of minion control. As it turns out, Pikmin-style control works perfectly for guiding your minions through the countryside and laying waste to everything in your path. Your minions are directed as a pack using the right analog stick and they perform different actions based on their surroundings. If they meet enemies, they pile on and kill, if they encounter an obstacle, they team up and push or pull it out of your path. And as the minions cut a swath of destruction, they pick up weapons and armor for themselves and deliver treasure and other loot to you, humbly muttering things like “For the maaaasterrrr”. Your minions’ collective strength grows as they arm themselves with whatever they can lay their hands on, and the funniest example of this I’ve seen so far is a minion using a broken pumpkin as a helmet.

Each venture away from your tower has the potential to bring back vital pieces for the reconstruction of your fortress of evil. As you add to and rebuild your tower, new areas and rooms within are unlocked for increased training and gameplay.

So that’s the quick glance at Overlord. This one’s going to get a lot of play over the next few weeks and I’ll offer another look as my empire grows.