Minions are Overlord's stars

Codemasters has revealed more details for dark fantasy game Overlord this afternoon, focusing on the real stars of the show, the minions.

"The stars are the minions, who will carry out your most dastardly whims without a second thought," a spokesperson for Codemasters told Eurogamer this afternoon. "The sight of them rampaging through a village, setting fire to stuff and slaughtering animals is hilarious."

"Send the little guys out to murder people, or wade in yourself? It's your choice to make."

As Overlord you'll be able to amass an army of 50 minions (with hundreds also waiting in reserve), who will do literally anything you tell them to.

You'll be able to command them as a horde or individually, and even use them as living and reusable missiles. However, most of the time they'll help you reach areas that you can't reach on your own, operating hidden mechanisms and even working together to clear huge obstacles from your path.

As you grow more evil and ever more powerful, so do they - but you'll also have to keep a watchful eye on them. They like beer and music you see, which can drive them wild and out of control. We obviously have no idea what that's like. Plus they'll easily fall for the charms of a Succubus and her wicked sex-based ways. The naughty temptress.

There will be four types of dastardly devotees to fill your ranks with, each boasting their own strengths. Brown minions will be your fighters, the bread and butter of your force, able to equip themselves with equipment from weaklings who fell to their wrath. Then there's those red minions who will hurl fireballs at anything in their path, while their natural fire immunity helps to clear heated zones.

Green minions are your assassins, sneaking behind enemy lines and stabbing viciously from the rear - the perfect tools for an ambush. They also happen to be immune to poison and can turn random battlefield debris into upgrades for your army. And last but not least are the healers, the blue minions, who can swim and heal your wounded followers.

If you've got no idea what we're talking about, Overlord is a fantasy game from Triumph Studios that gives you a choice: to be evil or more evil still. Your task is to rampage through a fantasy world laying waste to all that stands in your way, commanding fear and respect from the snot-nosed peasants before you.

"Overlord is a fantasy game that'll even appeal to those who don't usually like fantasy games," the Codemasters spokesperson continued. "It doesn't concern itself with bewildering combinations of magic and who's got what pluses on their magic axe. It takes that Lord of the Rings-style of setting, and shakes it up with massive amounts of black humour."

"It's not about the traditional fantasy dynamic of good versus evil. Your choice is whether to be evil, or completely evil. Will you let the villagers in the towns you take over live in fear as your subjects, or will you just butcher them all?"

It's a choice you'll be able to make when the game is released on PC and Xbox 360 this summer.

Head over to our Overlord gallery to cast an evil-eye over the latest screenshots.