War for the Overworld Review

In many RPGs, we go into dungeons and kill everything around us, without actually paying that much attention to the environment. This is a problem that Subterranean Games tried to fix with War for the Overworld, a strategy game that places you in the role of an underlord whose main purpose is to design the dungeon in any way he wants.

War for the Overworld does have quite an interesting story, since it relates to a demonic voice that tried multiple times to find an underlord worthy enough to control the underworld region. However, despite the fact that you were chosen, numerous other underlords are in the region, and you have to stop them, some being very powerful.

The gameplay in War for the Overworld is very fun and exciting, since it takes place in real time. Although you do need to take care of the tedious tasks such as building traps, feeding pits, alchemy labs and many others, it’s nice to see that War for the Overworld puts all the power into your hand and you are responsible in regards to the direction that the game takes.

All maps start with just your core and maybe one or two buildings, but you are offered a clean slate to go ahead and create a fortification according to your needs. For me, the best part comes in the form of real time decisions, because anything you ask for will be followed by your minions to the letter.

Building up your base is pretty much like in all strategy games, but you do need to dig your way into the underworld if you want to have space for your buildings. Of course, other neat stuff can be found here, such as portals that bring troops to your barracks, gold veins and other cool stuff that makes the game very impressive and appealing.

What I did enjoy quite a lot is the fact that there are numerous spells (called Sins) which you can use. Sure, the game starts with only two of them available, but there is a tech tree which brings you access to a variety of technologies as you complete quests and gain points. These points can be invested in any tech you want, and you can also research spells too.

Sure, War for the Overworld is a lot like Dungeon Keeper, but it does hold its own through the unique game mechanics that it offers, such as the portals that bring in troops and the freedom to destroy all blocks in the game world.

There is a multiplayer component and the developer is quite active when it comes to creating new content and patching the game. Multiplayer plays nice, but it does take a little time to build up a base, so expect long multiplayer sessions if you want to play.

The campaign levels tend to rely a lot on rushes, once you manage to finish the few tutorial missions. However, you can take your time and play for as long as you want. Some of the concepts such as room building, constructs, tavern and the Sins add up to create a very pleasant experience.

War for the Overworld looks great considering that it’s a game about the underworld, and the graphics design does show that. The minions and the enemies look amazing, the game world can be zoomed in and out as you see fit, and even the camera moves very well, so there are no issues in this regard.

When it comes to the sound, the music is amazing, voice acting is great and the simple fact that the dev team actually hired the person that performed voice acting for the Dungeon Keeper games clearly shows the high amount of commitment that the team had on the project.

There are a few problems, such as the lack of polish, which can be seen specifically in the possession mode, where you take direct control of a minion, but the game works well even on systems that just have the minimal requirements, so it’s indeed optimised quite well and you won’t encounter hangs or other problems.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3is0untjG40

While I was skeptical when entering War for the Overworld, I have to say that the title impressed me a lot. It plays great, looks great and it manages to be a good successor to Dungeon Keeper. With more features coming in the near future, the experience will get even better, so I recommend you check out War for the Overworld right now, it’s an amazing game to play, especially if you like strategy games.