With the original on the and PC, publisher and developer Triumph Studios combined to create a fantasy videogame that could best be described as a violently humorous hack-and-slash, puzzle, real-time hotchpotch that liberally borrowed its aesthetic and gameplay inspiration from The and Pikmin.

Beyond its rather throwaway "Raising Hell" subtitle, the PlayStation 3 port and its evil-loving narrative plays out much like the original 2007 release. Indeed, apart from the gameplay longevity injection provided by the inclusion of all the single and downloadable content made progressively available to 360 players via Xbox Live, the port is certainly light in Sony-specific frills. However, what the version does do is address certain integral shortfalls and annoyances that sadly tarnished the game first time around.

In terms of storyline and player association, Lord of the Rings fans who've always harboured a longing to assume the role of Sauron are duly handed a pseudo-opportunity from the outset in Overlord as the player's on-screen avatar even looks like the briefly-glimpsed iteration of Tolkien's evil and all-seeing Lord.

Resurrected from your crypt within a decrepit dark tower that's been ransacked across the years by fattened and unchallenged heroes, you strike out as the game's newly-appointed Overlord, bringing a modest horde of ever-willing minions to the village of Spree (Bree?), which just so happens to be under siege by filthy Halflings (Hobbits?). Ridding the villagers of the Halfling threat by assaulting them head-on with bloodthirsty minions soon sees the player facing off in a jowl-heavy confrontation with a disgustingly obese hero, whose defeat ends a degree of Spree's imposed tyranny and leads to adoration and worship liberally lumped before the Overlord's blood-encrusted boots.

Of course, evil is the game's main selling point, so basking in heroic glory can be quickly swapped for healthy fear and respect by arbitrarily murdering a few villagers or kidnapping a group of helpless maidens for cleaning duties back at the gradually reforming dark tower. Granted, Overlord's narrative is a somewhat macabre and loose interpretation of the famous sprawling literary classic (without the banal trekking, eating and singing), but it's obvious that the game's creators are huge fantasy fans intent on delivering a more nefarious story slant in which evil stands an extremely good chance of winning through.

Regardless of the player's central position as the governing Overlord, the game's true stars are its unfailingly faithful minions. Available in four different colour and attribute varieties, the player builds their progressive minion forces by harvesting life force from any on-screen creature unlucky enough to incur the Overlord's deadly wrath. Although the player can attempt to hack-and-slash through crowds of Halflings, zombies, firebugs, innocents... and sheep... it's often far more effective to merely issue intuitive and instant directions to the comically violent minions instead. This generally entails using the right analogue stick to sweep the trailing minions effectively around the screen wherever unwitting life force carriers still dare to draw breath - though individual minions and separate breeds can be selected if so required. The minions also provide a quick-moving mass of weapon-wielding protection for the Overlord, who starts the game as a rather physically weak evil ruler prior to the gathering of tiered magical abilities, better armour and more deadly weaponry.

Resembling pesky goblins that scamper around the screen looking for murderous mischief, the minion breeds are: "Browns" which are expert fighters; "Reds" which can hurl and extinguish fire; "Greens" which are immune to poison and enjoy surprise attacks; and "Blues" which can safely traverse water obstacles and have healing qualities. Once all four breeds have been secured (by locating their respective hives and returning them to the dark tower) Overlord's sizeable Pikmin influence becomes much more evident.

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