Think Pikmin. Now think Fable. Now think Pikable. That should be the title of this game. The elements of having a bunch of multicolored minions all able to do different things for is the jist of this game, combined with the one-button combat system of Fable along with similiar... everything!

Honestly, it's like someone was playing Fable and just LOVED getting evil points. So he decided he would make a game like Fable using the same artstyle, voice-acting, bad use of bloom and sense of humor, only there wouldn't be the choice of good and evil, just the choice of evil. Instead of rewarding you for doing good OR bad things, the game simply rewards you for doing a bunch of bad deeds. Save a village? The game instructs you to kill the villagers cheering for you. (Which, by the way, seems to be using the EXACT same sound as the cheering villagers from Fable!) The only thing visually different from Fable is some upgraded graphics. While less noticable in the environments surrounding someone, the game has quite obviously enhanced the textures and overall detail in the character models. This isn't to say it's at todays standards, it just looks better than Fable is all.

Anyway, the game starts out in a first-person cutscene with a bunch of gremlin-looking creatures (later referred to as "minions" surrounding you. Your visions is gaussion-blurred to the max, and you hear one of the creatures instruct to another to spread acid in his eyes to wake you up. They do so, and your vision clears up. As it goes on, you learn that you're their Overlord and they slightly hint at the fact that your kingdom was destroyed by someone or something and you have to get it back. While they seem to be going for a mysterious setting, it doesn't work, and instead just makes you think you should already know what's going on. After all, everyone working for you knows what's going on, so why shouldn't you? "You" being Overlord. Sorry, that's all you get. No name for you! I guess it sounds better than "Hero"...

Immediately after the opening scene, you are thrown out of into gameplay. The tutorial for the basics of the game follows very quickly, throwing boxes of text that don't pause the game, but are just slapped over the game while you play. This happens constantly for the first 20 or so minutes of the game. It gets annoying quite quickly, especially since they don't go away until you finish what they tell you do, often making you think you're doing it wrong. While things such as "press spacebar to perform an attack" are a bit obvious commands such as "destroy the farm" are more confusing when they just told you before only to smash the pumpkins.

As far as combat goes, you do a very small amount of it yourself. Spacebar is to swing your rather large axe and E hurls a fireball while holding SHIFT locks-on to enemies. The lock-on system is bloody awful by the way, and fighting by using spacebar and E is just plain awkward. So is controlling your pikmin minions.

You don't seem to be too good in combat, so, as your assumed right-hand man says "Why risk death when you have servants to fight for you?" This may seem like an introduction to a good strategic element, but it really isn't. It just makes the game boring. But try to fight without your minions and you will die very quickly. I promise. It's also very difficult to be strategic about who you attack and with how many, because you seem to have very little control how many rush over to a certain group of enemies. Yes, the enemies are ALWAYS in clusters which does make it a little bit easier, but if one cluster runs over in front of another, your henchmen will just change their mind and go after whoever is nearest. It's a system that doesn't work; plain and simple.

So basically, you stand out of the playing field and tell your homies to rush after who ever you tell to... or not to They attack and you can choose to help them out, but they don't really need it unless you have a very small amount of helpers. If one dies, it's not a big deal, as you can pull them out of portals that are scattered throughout the unnamed fantasy world of whatsit. You're constantly tripping over these portals (which do have a term but I was too uninterested to listen to) which can make the game way too easy. You don't have an unlimited supply but for every person/creature you kill, you get one minion. You start out with being able to have a maximum of five minions follow you, but in increases to 10 quickly. They should have kept it at 5, because 10 is way more than enough.

There's more to your Pikmin (I'm not going to correct it that time) than just making them do all the fun stuff for you, they also can lift stuff out of your way, take stuff back to the portal to send back to your castle, bake a cake, be sent into a sacrificial alter to refill your health for theirs, or whatever. None of it is any fun though. You just you could do it yourself.

The voice acting is annoying enough to wish the game was completely subbed, muting the dumb sounds coming from the badly synched lips of each and every character you come across. What really gets me though, is being given tasks by a guy who is always next to you repeating the same lines over and over and over again. It's enough to make you want to mute the game, truly.

I'm not going to say I played this game for 10+ hours, I played it for about 2, and it was enough to see what needs seeing. It's an utterly mediocre game that isn't even worth of the title "average" as it the bad of the game outways the good quite a lot. The only good thing I can actually think of is the sense of humor, which I liked in Fable, so why wouldn't I like it in Pikable? Also, sending a fireball at a field of wheat lights the whole field on fire. That's fun too. Because there are usually enemies in there.

Score: 6/10