Nevertheless, there have been some glorious exceptions to this slightly concerning rule. Case-in-point: Overlord. Turn back the clock two years, and you’d be hard pushed to find anyone who knew more than a few fleeting details about Triumph’s pantomime-fantasy-Pikmin hybrid. But no sooner had Overlord hit the shelves, then this state of affairs suddenly changed. While not a match for some of the big hitting games of that year (both in terms of sales or gameplay), Overlord’s ironic sense of humour and Pikmin-esque gameplay struck a chord with gamers.

Step back to the present, and things couldn’t be rosier in the twisted world of the Overlord and his minions. The successful 360 and PC launch was followed-up with a belated PS3 port, and now the series is set to expand further still: Wii and DS owners are due to receive their own unique spin-offs of the original game, while PC, 360 and PS3 owners can look forward to Overlord II, the full-blown sequel. On this occasion, the new Overlord and his minion horde find themselves tasked with battling the Romanesque ‘Glorious Empire’, as it embarks on a suitably tongue-in-cheek ‘war on magic’, stamping out hocus-pocus wherever it finds it by attempting to destroy anything that uses it.

In keeping with its general Roman theme, the armies of the Glorious Empire are numerically and tactically stronger than the tatty enemies that were the norm in Overlord 1, maintaining formation in battle and employing tactics against your goblin-like troops. Fortunately, your little guys have also beefed up since the events of the first game. The strong pack mentality of the minions remain – as does their absolutely obedience to the Overlord – but they’re now stronger (with some now strong enough to wreck buildings), are able to disguise themselves to infiltrate enemy camps and can now ride a variety of beasts, such as salamanders, giant spiders and wolves.

As with the previous game, the minions you command come in different forms. Brown minions are the usual thuggish types, red minions throw fireballs, greens are more adept at sneaking around and blues can heal their fallen brethren. Striking the right balance in battle will be crucial to your success – Indeed, you’ll even be able to split your forces up into units of ten or more minions, each led by a ‘minion champion’.

While this tactics-led approach should make for an interesting change from the original game, there are some elements that look set to remain. The story is once again being penned by critically acclaimed videogame story writer, Rhianna Pratchett (who’s previous works include the original Overlord, as well as Mirror’s Edge), and looks set to retain the same tongue-in-cheek humour that helped to make Overlord 1 so memorable. In keeping with this, the ‘Glorious’ Empire is anything but, proving to be a corrupt, decadent and polluting civilisation littered with comical anti-heroes and mythical peoples and beasts.

As you conquer more territory, you’ll also be able to exploit your land accordingly, as you build up your powerbase. Players can opt to rule their land with an iron fist, terrorising the population and using this to extract wealth from the oppressed masses they rule over. Alternatively, you can follow a path of rampant destruction, levelling cities and butchering their inhabitants. As your power grows, you’ll even be able to induce global warming to melt polar icecaps and create lakes for your boats to sail across.

At present, Overlord II is pencilled in for release sometime this year – although Codies is refusing to pin down a specific date at this time – and as you can no doubt tell from the screens dotted about these two pages, the game is certainly looking the part. Provided Codemasters and Triumph can back this obvious leap in visual quality up with a corresponding improvement in gameplay (while still retaining the charm of the original), Overlord II should be one to look out for in the months ahead.