War for the Overworld

Do NOT expect a chill dungeon management game like Dungeon Keeper - this is a VERY micromanagement intense game. To gain any edge, you basically need to micromanage every aspect of your dungeon and your units every move, there is no time to just chill and enjoy the dungeon you'e created while slowly pushing towards your goal, like you would in Dungeon Keeper. The clock is ticking and every moment you are not ordering every breath of your units around you are basically losing the level. While this is fine (RTS games can be designed to be extremely intense) the one and only problem with this game is that UI is designed for a chill dungeon management game: - You have no idea what your minions are up to (just if they're idle or not), basically you need to fly your camera around and looking at, picking stuff up, or moving stuff around all the time. This is frustrating as you have no idea what's really going on in your dungeon. - It's next to impossible to differentiate different units in the dungeon. Is that a worker or a goblin? No idea, need to take a close look. What's the goblin up to? Does it need food, sleep, or can you drop it back into the barracks for training? YOU HAVE NO IDEA. - During battles you have NO IDEA who is winning: the healthbars are impossible to read, and the tactical spells you have access to offer no real opportunity as it's all just a mess. - The list goes on, but these are some of the major issues you'll quickly experience... This game wither needs to just chill out and be a relaxing dungeon management game, where you slowly push and progress your objectives - or a fast phased RTS, which means the UI need a MAJOR overhaul

Its okay. Its got the Dungeon Keeper feel & gameplay, its got the narrator and its got fairly decent monsters. What it does not have are enough maps and i have no idea why. Across all the DLC and the main game there are just a handful of maps and they are really quick, some just 15 minutes long. But they are really basic, uncomplicated, straightforwards. I dont understand why they couldnt just make more of them when theres so little effort put into them.

别的其实也没什么好说的，这可能是与《地下城守护者》内核最为接近的游戏了，从牛蛙倒下到现在这么多年以来，陆陆续续也有不少厂商沿着这条开发路线做延伸和扩展，但总是没有把握住精髓，我也不好说所谓的精髓具体是什么，我只能说当我玩到这款游戏的时候，我就知道你可以把它当《地下城守护者3》来玩了，无论是玩法、剧情编排还是内核都十分契合，如果你像我一样是古早的一批牛蛙玩家，我个人十分推荐这款游戏，他值得这个价格，几个dlc除了皮肤外主要就是补充了一些长线玩法，如果你是新玩家，我建议你尝试完主线后再考虑要不要继续深入。

The game is great, I only write this review caz ppl are too stingy nowadays saying things about Dungeon Keeper and whatnot... The game has some issues, but it is playable and definetly worth its price. It is not Dungeon Keeper, but it can stand on its own as a good enough game to spend some time. It may not be a masterpiece and as I said there are some issues (like AI doing st*pid things sometimes), but it is playable and you will still have enough fun time with it... moreover developers are still there and still do some minor patches for the game.

It's essentially pretty much just an off brand Dungeon Keeper. The art style isn't as tight as Dungeon Keeper was. But it does the job. What it does nail however, is the game play. If you ever wanted more Dungeon Keeper, this offers loads of hours of more fun.

[h1][i]“Isaac: I'm alive! I'm mother******g still alive! G: Yeah, just my luck.”[/i] ~The House of the Dead: Overkill[/h1] Remember [b]Dungeon Keeper 3: War for the Overworld[/b]? No? I really wonder why... Oh, wait, wait! I know! [i]It's because those a-holes from [b]EA[/b] canceled it![/i] That's why. Sure, they did that to focus on games based on [b]The Lord of the Rings[/b] and [b]Harry Potter[/b], some of which were actually quite good, but come on. We're not praising [b]EA[/b] here, we hating 'em. [i]Focus![/i] Anyway, the story of [b]Dungeon Keeper[/b] was our usual [b]EA[/b] thing from 90s / early 2000s. They've consumed the original makers and they've killed their love child. The end. [b]Dungeon Keeper[/b], a unique franchise, beloved by many, was no more. [b]EA[/b] still tried to milk its name by making some crap, though. There was that canceled tower defense game for [b]Facebook[/b], there was that MMORPG for Chinese market (which looked a lot like [b]WoW[/b] for whatever reason) and, of course, there was that f2p game for smart devices. Naturally, nobody liked that. [b]Facebook[/b] game didn't even make it to release, Chinese MMO was shut down in, like, a year (which makes it one of the shortest-lived MMOs ever made), while mobile game was our usual “pay to win and invade random people” crap. [b]DK[/b] was dead. And with it being [b]EA[/b], instead of doing some smart necromancy, they've just buried the corpse. [i]But.[/i] Like I said, despite having only two proper games, the series had a very strong fan base. You know where this is going. It's always the same story. There are some dedicated fans, there's that website... When it's about [b]Ion Fury[/b] ([b]Duke Nukem 3D[/b] total conversion) it was [b]Duke4.net[/b]. In [b]Dungeon Keeper[/b] case? It was [b]Keeper Klan[/b] forum. As you can easily guess from this game's title, guys just refused to give up on [b]Dungeon Keeper 3[/b]. I mean, come on. We even got ourselves the official trailer back in the days. It was one of [i]those[/i] games. Those that were so heavily teased that many years later, people still kept dreaming about 'em. Thankfully, the torture is finally over. Because guys from [b]Keeper Klan[/b] finally made our dreams come true. Did they, though? My first thought when I started playing this game was “OMG! It's [b]Dungeon Keeper 2[/b]!” Like [b]Dungeon Keeper Online[/b], this game uses [b]BLIZZARD[/b]-like visuals, but all in all, it's impossible not to notice just how similar the design here is to what we had in [b]DK2[/b]. Not to the original game from [b]Peter Molyneux[/b] and his team, but to that bright and colorful sequel. Which, in my book, is not really a good thing. Say whatever you want, the first [b]Keeper[/b] had way superior design and the atmosphere. But OK, OK. They wanted to deliver us third game in an unofficial way (akin to what was done in [b]The 13th Doll[/b] in a way), I can understand that. Unfortunately, while not having enough experience, guys made lots of mistakes. Let's start with gameplay. Despite the game's name, you should not expect real overworld here. Yes, [b]Dungeon Keeper 3[/b] trailer showed us [b]Horned Reaper[/b] (the most badass creature in the series that also served as its face) appearing on surface. No, there's nothing like that here, in [b]War for the Overworld[/b]. In this game we're back to dungeons. I may sound like that dog from [b]KC Green[/b]'s comic, but honestly, this is fine too. [b]Dungeon Keeper[/b] was dead for OMGWTF how long, nobody really expected this to stay true to the original lore. I mean, [b]The 13th Doll[/b] did, but judging fan projects too much is always a bad idea. Just keep that in mind – this game does not really continue the original story, OK? My first real complain here is... the pace. [b]Brightrock Games[/b] (that's how our guys decided to call themselves) added lots and lots of new stuff to our usual [b]DK2[/b] formula. We've got consumables (like those bombs that'll help us clear certain kind of terrain), we've got rituals that'll require some of our [b]Cultists[/b] (new name for our ol' pals [b]Warlocks[/b]) to gather, we've got skill points similar to what we had in, say, [b]Command & Conquer: Generals[/b]... No, seriously, there's heck of a lot of things here to bother. And it's not a good thing. How's a lot of content is a bad thing, you may ask? Well, like I said, it breaks the pace. Both previous games were thought through. They allowed us to speed things up during the boring parts (like early excavation), they did understand that having too many things can make us feel overwhelmed... [i]Technically[/i], new stuff here isn't a huge problem either. I mean, you [i]can[/i] regulate speed in [b]War for the Overworld[/b]. Unlike some of the other [b]RTS[/b] projects (new guys under [b]EA[/b] did that in the “new” [b]C&C[/b] games and even the original makers from [b]Westwood[/b] did that in their post-[b]EA[/b] projects), [b]Brightrock Games[/b] didn't forget to include speed slider, [i]but[/i] there are no hotkeys. That's right. Every time you'll need to slow the game down or speed it up, you'll need to go to menu. Every. F*cking. Time. Ruins the single player campaign quite a lot. Talking about single player mode. Not like I'm judging guys for being heavy on DLC (hard work, after all, requires proper payment), [i]but[/i] it's important to mention that, while [b]Dungeon Keeper[/b] games had about twenty-missions-long campaigns, this here only has thirteen. And DLC adds only eleven ([b]Heart of Gold[/b] adds four, while [b]The Under Games[/b] has seven, even though there's more replayability in it). Which... Isn't a lot. Sure, you may say that there are always skirmishes and multiplayer and... Yeah. Can't argue with that. [b]War for the Overworld[/b] does feel like it was made with all that in mind. I mean, they didn't really bother with the atmosphere and just repeated the same mistake the first [b]Dungeons[/b] game made by adding cheap parody humor, akin to what we had in, say, [b]Magicka[/b]. It does feel like this game was meant for online sessions and since multiplayer in [b]DK 2[/b] was buggy as heck it [i]does[/i] make sense, [i]but[/i] here comes our biggest problem. While [b]DK2[/b] was buggy, this game is downright broken. Not like [b]Brightrock[/b] didn't try. There's a support button sitting right in the main menu and they do reply both on their own website and on [b]Steam[/b], it's just... Despite all of the major problems being reported ages ago (we talking, like, ten years here), they never managed to do anything 'bout 'em. As the result, the game's suffering from all sorts of crap. It may crash, maps got 50% chance not to load properly, leaving you with no way but to shut down game's process, there's a big chance to get black screen after beating a level, sometimes critical scripts just won't work, leaving you with a game-breaking situation on your hands, etc. It also criminally unoptimized, which can (and will) render some of the big maps unplayable at some point, even if you'll use the lowest settings possible. Heck, even cutscenes here are broken! Like, after a pretty intense final level I was supposed to enjoy the ending, but guess what? Cutscene just froze on its first frame! Nice job, [b]Brightrock[/b]. Really nice job. [i]NOT![/i] So yeah. Imagine your favorite series you considered dead for ages making a big comeback and you wishing it didn't. Just because of how poor that comeback is. Again, I totally appreciate the effort and all the job. Must be fun for the guys to work on their dream project too. But as a random paid customer I just can't give a thumb up to a product that barely works. And even if we'll forget about all the bugs and other technical difficulties, [b]War for the Overworld[/b] is a meh game at best. The first couple of minutes were probably the only good memory I've made with it. As sad as it is, [b]Dungeon Keeper 3[/b]? Is still a dream. Dixi.

War for the Overworld is a modern take on the classic Dungeon Keeper series. Many design principles and aesthetic elements have been directly borrowed from its predecessor. Demonic finger icons, orc rallying banners, and gold ore veins nestled in the grid-like destructible walls of your dungeon all evoke nostalgia for the original. Players can slap minions, ensure they're fed, and provide entertainment via the tavern room. Casting spells to enhance your dungeon feels very similar to Dungeon Keeper (specifically Dungeon Keeper 2), to the point where one might call it a spiritual successor. Unfortunately, War for the Overworld falters in its appeal. The game retains the minion and resource management struggles of its predecessor. Players spend much time moving minions back and forth through the dungeon, ensuring they're working, defending, and getting paid. This requires extensive manual manipulation, often becoming tedious. A particular frustration lies in the boring unit management, which occupies most of your time. Small groups of enemies can't be selected; instead, you can only rally large selections of units by placing the entire unit type's flag at desired locations. Units will arrive and mill about or attack nearby targets, but never leave unless you delete the rally flag. They'll stay put, refusing to eat or return for payment (they must manually travel to a gold tile to be paid), eventually mutinying or leaving the dungeon if the rally flag isn't removed. You can't select specific actions or target certain enemies, only move entire unit types to an area and hope they do what you want. The campaign attempts to capture the tongue-in-cheek humor and sarcastic high-fantasy tone of the original but fails to deliver any laughs. The base game offers about 13 missions that slowly introduce new mechanics, but this drip-feed approach feels like one long tutorial. For an older game, it performs poorly on modern hardware and appears to be poorly optimized. On larger maps, the game becomes sluggish, with mouse movement feeling like it's trudging through molasses as the simulation slows down with increased units and visual effects. All of this has been done before, and in some ways better, in the original. A superior modern take that expands on the Dungeon Keeper formula is the Dungeon series. I would recommend skipping War for the Overworld.

The game is fun, but it can be quite taxing at times. Compared to DK2, there are many new features, some of which are necessary quality of life improvements. However, other changes are unnecessary and overcomplicate features. There are some aspects where I wished for more: Story and level design – rather weak; DK2 is simply better and more fun. Art design – goofy and cartoonish; DK2 struck the perfect balance between dark/gritty and goofy/ridiculous. Combat and unit control – some improvements, but combat is (still) a colourful mess. I would love a more streamlined version of War for the Overworld. There is extreme overlap and redundancy in the "upgrades" (spells, constructions, potions, dungeon upgrades, sins, etc.). Ultimately, I don't see why I would ever replay War for the Overworld when DK2 is waiting on my shelf.

This game is an RTS with the twist that workers don't build your base structures, they dig out and claim the land for them, and mine the gold to pay for them. That interesting twist unfortunately fails to deliver a fascinating play experience. In the early levels of the campaign the AI is slow and provides no real threat, whereas the later levels are mostly an experience in artificially inflated numbers that make the game frustrating, It seems that almost all AI behavior is scripted, and not responsive to player behavior at all, other than pathing through shorter routes to attack, if the player happens to open one up. To worsen matters, the campaign does a poor job of instructing in the later game units and abilities, complicating that late game numbers disadvantage. The late game required the same unimaginative tactic many times to deal with the numbers (cannons in a chokepoint). The troop's movement and management, once again, is good in concept, but in execution is clumsy and too inefficient. Troop needs are easier to ignore than to meet (even though it results in the unit turning hostile against your units), as the units need so often, and are so bad at fulfilling those needs, even when you make it as easy as you can for them. They will doggedly fight rather than withdraw, often even when you use the Recall spell (they often only run for a bit and then reengage when harried), or they get "lost" in your base, and seem to be unable to find pay/food/sleep even when they walk over the tile required. I can appreciate the devoted fan service to the Dungeon Keeper series, but only the completionist in me could get me to finish this title. Due to the above mentioned, I wouldn't wan't to subject myself to the multiplayer experience, let alone another DLC campaign.