Let's start with the first thing. This is NOT it's own game. It's DLC for Overlord. Why it's listed as it's own game? Probably because it was put up on steam before DLC was really a big thing. I don't know.

So why the negative review? Well let's start that I played this while playing the base game of Overlord. I played it at the same time and the game really feels like that's the intended use case. There's a number of additional "Abyss" levels that the player can go through. 5 of them. Each have their own story and each has a play on the bosses faced in the real game, with an all new final boss.

There's at least one or two good levels in here. I particularly liked the level that dealt with everything being a play. It's an interesting twist, and I really liked a number of things done in that level. The down side, well the other four levels really didn't fill me with the same enjoyment. A few of them were annoying, and overall, I felt this is underwhelming. The last level is insultingly short, simplistic, and tedious all at the same time. An impressive feat.


Now the bigger issue that I think everyone should take with this. This is DOUBLE the price of the base game currently, and definitely not worth that and the same price as the sequel.

I enjoyed Overlord. I actually liked it a lot, but when I was doing things for Raising hell, I felt let down. It wasn't a horrible experience, it just was more of the same, and while I really liked Overlord, the changes in Raising Hell, felt like they were there to differentiate itself from the base game, and failed at that.

It didn't help that a lot of the levels felt overly padded and uninteresting. When the game had an interesting idea, it kind of built on it. There also was a decent amount of interaction with the world. In the DLC, it felt stale and desolate. And annoying. There's at least two puzzles I can think of (the lawn mowing and the sheeps) that was just annoying rather long after the interesting part of the puzzle was gone.

Will you hate this DLC? No. But it's just not worth your money. There's a sequel to the original game that is likely worth you money more than this. It's not that it's bad, it's just unneeded and lackluster. For me, that means I can't recommend it.

I hate that in order to play the dlc of the base game you basically had to own both the base game and this game and only play this one. Was not a fan of how this was implemented back in the day and definitely not a fan of it today.

My goodness these controls don't hold up well. More frustration than fun.

Expansion pack for the first Overlord.
Adds couple new dungeons, equipment to forge.
Rounds up story that connects Overlord to Overlord 2.
It's not really worth, it just reuses old bosses and stuff.

First of all, to make it abundantly clear: You will need the Overlord base game to play this overpriced DLC.

That said, Raising Hell is a continuation of Overlord, this time replacing the whimsical landscapes populated with halflings, elves and unicorns with whimsical hellscapes populated with halflings, elves and unicorns.. The comedic moments are plentiful if you like the sort of tongue in cheek humor that accompanies a swole evil dude stomping around with a bunch of diminutive servitor-imps. Either way, you are still the head honcho acting as a glorified overseer at a slightly evil kindergarten.. There is a new take on crafting that I frankly don't care about but otherwise it's more of the same good ol’ evildoings and misadventures.

The verdict is this: The game is more of the same with a few new mechanics and honestly I still don't get why this is not simply baked into the standard game. It is still to this day TWICE the price of the original game. If you adore Overlord there is more of the same cake here although I'd say spread the game sessions out a bit since it can easily become repetitive.

I’d say wait with Raising Hell until you have finished Overlord and actually feel like you need more, although one could argue that the storyline gets a bit confusing if you wait.. Definitely wait for a sale, the price point is pure evil..

Overlord the base game is a master piece it's great it's amazing the regular dificulty is just for those that wanna feel like an overlord does the legendary it's for those that like getting kicked in the teeth it's amazing 100 out of 10, then you come to the dlc, the dlc is trash, most fights rely on gimmicks that lets be honest they are freaking trash, it's not a case of them being good or bad it's the fact that they are all trash, trash that relies on you doing a single thing over and over and over, I beat all of them on dumb luck alone, the last dlc boss I was expecting something amazing since spoilers you stay there it seems, but nope 3000 greens by the start of the fight 2400 by the end I just stood there pulling greens he attacks some die he smashes the ground unleash all greens on his head rinse and repeat, Triumph Studios made an impecable amazing game then like in overlord 2 they tie a huge boulder to the dlc and say here you go, now jump off that bridge, the people that read this need to be aware the dlc is not worth the freaking money settle for the base game you are missing nothing.

ive played way back when it first came out and wanted to again, but i did not work on my PC, would not start up.

• Genre: 3rd Person Tactical RPG.
  
• Developed & Published by: Triumph Studios and Codemasters
  
• Platform: Windows only.
  
• Business Model: Base Game + Expansion.
  
• Copy Purchased by Myself

Preamble

Originally posted by Overlord: Raising Hell Steam Description:

How evil can you get? Discover how corruptible you are in Overlord, the twisted fantasy action adventure where you can be evil (or really evil). In the game's seriously warped fantasy world, players will become the Overlord and get first-hand experience of how absolute power corrupts absolutely.

To me, this paragraph is describing another game entirely. It's one case of marketing that I could argue negatively affected my impression, and eventual review, of a game. I did create a review several years back but I've returned after several years to make it informational and useful to you, the reader. So, let's begin.

Overall Story Thoughts
Overlord is a quirky cartoonish game sure, but a dark twisted fantasy adventure where you get to be really evil? I disagree. It’s true that people who do evil deeds don’t feel evil or in the wrong when they’re doing them. But...well...let's talk about the story. In the game, you're setup as some sort of evil Overlord, tasked with bringing darkness and ruin to the world along with the help of your minions. So, you go out into the world and destroy people who are more evil than you and bring peace….and prosperity….to the land. Ok, that's one way it ends. The other way the story ends is that you create a land ruled by fear and your power's corruption and devastation of the lands. But all it does is affect the ending cutscene, not the game itself. Well, it doesn't affect it that much. I really don't like games that set me up to think that my in-game actions will affect the world when all it really does is affect the end cutscene.

This game doesn't really let you be an evil overlord during the course of play. Part of which is to be blamed on the more comedic, cutesy tones present throughout the story. You can’t just randomly kill people if you wish, only in special circumstances. While you can set fire to wheat fields, slaughter sheep and destroy all the kegs of beer you can see, they just regrow back as soon as you leave. I get that it needs to be that way for gameplay reasons but it’s hard to feel evil when you know what you’re doing isn’t really harming anyone. If anything, I just feel more like a destroyer of boxes than a ruler of all that is dark and evil. I can’t even make children cry at the sight of me! I mean, c'mon. What is this...

All that said, it does make for a decent time as more of a comedic/light fantasy story than a dark tale of power & corruption. Characters are two dimensional and stereotypical but the interactions can be somewhat amusing at times. Especially between the Overlord and the town citizens. All typical fantasy creatures can be found here. Drunken Dwarves, Ethereal Elves, Portly Halflings, Dumb Trolls and more are in this world, serving the part they play in most any other fantasy genre. You get to see a decent variety of locations too. But there wasn't much that surprised me.

Gameplay Thoughts
You control up to 100 minions and an unnamed overlord at the same time. The overlord gets a melee attack chain and the use of spells but he should generally stay out of the fight. Otherwise, you'll wind up running out of health and mana extremely fast. So, you'll be playing most of the game through your four types of minions:

• Brown melee minions that will generally make up the cannon fodder of your army.
  
• Red fireball throwing minions that are immune to fire.
  
• Green poison immune minions that will backstab enemies.
  
• Blue minion reviving ones that are immune to water and have weaker attacks.

It’s a decent variety of minions but the game lacks in tactical decision making. Just send swarms of minions at your enemies and recall if you notice a big telegraphed attack coming. That’s really about the sum of the combat. Most of the time you’ll be losing minions because the controls didn't respond or you didn't see a hazard in time. That or they become stuck on doing whatever activity you "assigned" them or in the terrain. The sweeping function doesn't help matters either as it has the same issues. It’s more tiresome than enjoyable to deal with these controls when multiple types of hazards/enemies are present in a level. One last thing: I was fighting the camera more than I felt necessary for a 3rd person game which doesn't help the already frustrating gameplay. You have very limited control over it.

PC Settings & Multiplayer
I never did get a chance to experience multiplayer because the servers were shutdown after Overlord II was released. You can play online through Hamachi but the community has no doubt suffered. There is a split-screen mode though, that’s rather unusual for a PC-centric title. Graphics settings are solid. Resolution options, AA slider, V-Sync, Texture/Debris/View distance sliders are here as well. FOV is missing but you probably won’t need it. Audio sliders are present as well and it supports up to 8.1 speaker systems which is nice. Mouse and Keyboard function well enough but I think controller is the preferred control scheme. Even with a controller, the game feels like it’s fighting me the entire time. The game is getting on to be 8 years old now and it is rather disappointing that the framerate doesn't stay consistent. I noticed even on my current machine that it would fluctuate between 50-60 fps during the first level. I don't think it's enough to be a deal breaker but I wonder how bad it would be to play some of the later levels again.

Overlord: Raising Hell Expansion Thoughts
It’s not worth it. Half of it is challenge levels with a minor amount of story attached and the other half of it is maps for the now non-functioning multiplayer. Unless you really enjoy the mechanics of controlling your minions and want to challenge yourself to a new level of frustration, this expansion is a pass. Oh and keep in mind that the original game won’t launch if the expansion is installed. Not a big deal but something I should mention here.

Final Thoughts
I don’t recommend Overlord or Overlord: Raising Hell. While there are glimpses of really fun gameplay, it eventually gets worse over time. Frustration set in long before the game ended and there’s a constant sense of repetition and I want this to end already that plagues the latter half. It just becomes a long grind. Between that and the quirky controls/minion behavior, it leaves a lot to be desired. Additionally, there is a ton of backtracking. The story itself is...ok. Its not awful but its not very memorable either. It seems at odds with itself on whether you're a good guy or bad guy. Outside of smacking minions around, destroying some buildings and killing a few people, you don’t really feel like a true Overlord to me. You just feel like an anti-hero who's a jerk when all I'm doing is defeating corrupted heroes, saving the townspeople from starvation and being a generally good guy. It's a decent enough 3rd person "RTS" game but I think it could have been much better given more attention to its gameplay.

Overlord hat sehr viel Spaß gemacht. Leider waren alle Level aus diesem Addon richtig schlecht und teilweise frustig. Also lieber nur Overlord ohne das Addon spielen.
1/5

Pros:
An excuse to listen to gnarl, the soundtrack and use my op arcanium equipment.

Cons:
Incredibly frusterating and non intuitive puzzles (i solved the first abyss puzzles by accident).
tonnes of enemies that 1 shot groups of minions without warning
checkpoints like 10-40 minutes apart
More terrible voice acting/ writing.
Elves

Get it on sale definetly if you enjoyed the base game.