Overlord Minions

Monday 6th April/... Introducing the elite squad of Special Ops Minions that will star in Overlord Minions , coming this June for the Nintendo DS™, Codemasters today released the first gameplay video of the fearsome foursome in action. Get up close and personal with the Overlord’s best of breed in the trailer, now available to view and download from www.codemasters.com/minions.

Giblet, Blaze, Stench, and Zap form the Minion crew that, assisted by Minion master Gnarl, feature in Overlord Minions , an irresistible and accessible puzzle action game designed exclusively for the Nintendo DS. Set in the Overlord universe and penned by renowned games writer Rhianna Pratchett, Overlord Minions preserves the trademark humour of the Overlord series and features a completely new story, which runs parallel with Overlord® Dark Legend™ .

In Overlord Minions the player assumes the role of the great Overlord and commands his crack commando team remotely. In this 100% touch screen controlled game, the Nintendo DS Stylus is truly mightier than the sword as players use the stylus as an extension of the Overlord’s evil will, commanding and combining the Elite Minion team through devilish puzzles and a huge range of warped enemies to prevent Silas, the head of a new Cult, from resurrecting an almighty Dragon and threatening the Overlord’s totalitarianism.

The Minion Special Farces Team

• Giblet: A brown minion and the main fighter, brave, willing, and a little dumb.

• Blaze: A pyromaniac red minion who throws fireballs as a powerful range attack.

• Stench: A sneaky green minion whose obnoxious ‘fart dart’ gases are not only flammable, but can overpower enemies with their sheer toxicity.

• Zap: A blue minion and the mystic shaman of the unit. He channels magic through this body and can heal the other minions, should they be injured.

Whether they’re going into battle, combining to perform increasingly powerful attacks or solving puzzles, the Minion quartet’s on-going banter and playful-yet-ferociously-violent nature perfectly compliments the unfolding carnage of Overlord Minions .

Prepare to battle a huge range of new enemies from infected sheep, goats, spiders, paladins, infected dwarves, mutated trolls, scorpions, winged elves and many more as Overlord Minions launches this June, exclusively for the Nintendo DS. Budding megalomaniacs can get to know the Minion Special Farces team in the new gameplay video now showing at www.codemasters.com/minions.

# ENDS #

For maniacal minion media inquiries, please contact:

Stu Taylor

Barrington Harvey

01462 456 780

stuart.taylor@bhpr.co.uk

Anna Larke

Barrington Harvey

01462 456 780

anna.larke@bhpr.co.uk

OVERLORD TITLES, COMING SUMMER 2009:

A Trio Of Tyrannical Treats

OVERLORD®II

• PLAYSTATION®3 system, Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft®, Games For Windows®.

Overlord II is the sequel to the hit warped fantasy action adventure that had players being delightfully despotic. In Overlord II , a new Overlord and a more powerful army of Minions take on an entire empire in a truly epic adventure, inspired by the rise of the Roman Empire. As the Glorious Empire conquers kingdoms and destroys any sign of magic it finds, it’s time to go Minion Maximus and send in the horde.

The Minions return smarter, deadlier (and funnier) and are ready to fight in large scale battles that will see their wild pack mentality squaring up to the organised legions of the Glorious Empire. As ever, they’ll do anything and everything the Overlord commands of them, especially now that they can run ravage and wreck buildings and scenery. They’ve also learn to ride: In Overlord II Minions will be able to mount up and ride wolves and other magical creatures around the landscape and take them into battle, making our band of merry fighters faster and fiercer than ever before. Coming in 2009, Overlord II is now in development at Triumph Studios in Delft, the Netherlands, for the PLAYSTATION®3 system, Xbox 360 and Games For Windows.

OVERLORD® DARK LEGEND™

• Wii™

Designed and developed exclusively for Wii, Overlord Dark Legend is a brand new action adventure steeped in fairy tale lore with sinister, satirical twists. Set in a time before the original game, players take the role of a new young Overlord. As he revels in command of the Minions, our trainee tyrant will be able to take his growing pains out on the local fairy tale inhabitants as he protects his castle and lands.

Connecting players to the game world in three dimensions, the use of the Wii Remote™ gives unprecedented control over the minions. For example, individual Minions can be plucked from the horde, held by the neck and then, by vigorously shaking the Wii Remote, throttled to imbue him with some Overlordly power and turn him into a manic minion missile. With a now-explosive body, the insane little critter can be guided into enemies with hilarious, if rather fatal, consequences.

Backed by a rich, tongue-in-cheek story from award-winning games author Rhianna Pratchett, the game features Overlord favourites including Halflings, trolls, elves, and dwarves and introduces wicked witches, gingerbread men and Lil’ Red Riding Hood, the seeming sweet girl with a very personal lupine secret. Coming in 2009, Overlord Dark Legend is now in development at Climax Studios, exclusively for Wii.

OVERLORD®MINIONS™

• Nintendo DS™

Introducing Giblet, Blaze, Stench, and Zap – an elite Minion crew who, assisted by minion master Gnarl, get star billing in Overlord Minions , an irresistible and accessible puzzle action game, designed exclusively for Nintendo DS. In Overlord Minions, the Overlord commands the Minion team remotely. The Nintendo DS stylus becomes an extension of his evil will and every precise touch screen command is the player-as-Overlord directing, commanding and combining minions in battle, pointing and sweeping them to attack enemies and solving puzzles to execute his dastardly plans.

Controlling the Special Farces team of four, players negotiate fiendish levels and take on a huge range of warped enemies to hunt down the Kindred, a cult dedicated to resurrecting the mighty Dragon Kin, a race of humanoid dragon hybrids, determined to replace the Overlord’s despotism with their own. Extending the Overlord series’ trademark humour, gameplay focuses on the mischievous physical comedy of the minion’s antics and is delivered in a stylised cartoon visual style. Scheduled for release in 2009, Overlord Minions is now in development at Climax Studios exclusively for Nintendo DS.

PRESS RESOURCE WEB SITE

Download game artwork, screens and essential Codemasters’ press materials direct to your desktop from: http://www.codemasters.com/mediabank

ABOUT CODEMASTERS

Codemasters is a leading developer and publisher of best-selling interactive entertainment products for a global audience across multiple gaming platforms and channels. Established in 1986, the company’s dominant brands include Colin McRae DiRT, Race Driver GRID, Overlord and Operation Flashpoint; the company recently secured the exclusive worldwide video game rights to FORMULA 1. Codemasters is headquartered in Warwickshire UK, with North American operations based in Universal City, Calif. The company also maintains operations in Germany, France, Spain, Benelux and Malaysia. Codemasters receives over two million visitors to its web site every month, discover why at www.codemasters.com

ASK ABOUT GAMES

Codemasters supports askaboutgames.com www.askaboutgames.com - a UK initiative designed to help parents understand the age ratings system for computer and video games so that they can make more informed choices when choosing games for their children.

Codemasters is a registered trademark owned by The Codemasters Software Company. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. “PlayStation”, “PLAYSTATION” and “PS” Family logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Xbox, Xbox 360, and Xbox LIVE are trademarks of the Microsoft group of companies

Trademarks are property of their respective owners. Nintendo DS and Wii are trademarks of Nintendo.