Overlord: Fellowship of Evil has just been revealed for next-gen consoles, which is cause for celebration. But wait- will fans of the franchise even recognize it?
Whereas the original Overlord games saw you controlling a single evil overlord from a behind the back perspective and sending forth your minions to do terrible deeds at your command, much like a dark version of Pikmin, Overlord: Fellowship of Evil is a four-player co-op experience.
“We’ve been scheming about a new Overlord for some time” said Rob Elser, Executive Producer Minion, Codemasters. “We really wanted to do something that would allow us be evil alongside our friends, instead of the normal heroics in every other game. The idea of playing as a team of bad guys commanding Minions to do our utmost bidding, while also causing chaos for each other, just really made us smile. And as you know, an Overlord game never takes itself too seriously.”
Since the real Overlord is deceased (not that that's stopped him before) there are four playable Netherghūls who will step in, four new additions to the series who are working together to ensure that evil triumphs over good.
The new perspective will doubtlessly be pretty shocking for fans of the series, looking something closer to Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light. But the creators are promising that the same dark sense of humor is intact, and to prove that they announced that Rhianna Pratchett (writer for every previous Overlord installment) will once again be lending her mighty pen to the script.
“Finally the secret dark rituals have paid off!” said Rhianna Pratchett, Mistress of Scrolls “I’m often asked if there’ll be another Overlord game, so it’s wonderful to be back in black helping to create a new carnage-filled evil ride. This is one game franchise which has been as fun to develop as it is to play, and Fellowship of Evil is no exception. And don’t worry, there will be sheepies. We have plans for them. Oh yes!”
Watch the above trailer and you'll also see that beloved and loyal servant Gnarl is back as well, voiced once again by Marc Silk.
Overlord: Fellowship of Evil will be a digital-only title that hits PS4, Xbox One and PC sometime later this year for $19.99 (£14.99 / €19.99) and offer both local and online co-op.
You can find out more about the game on the Codemasters Blog or by watching the first dev diary below.