Somebody call an exorcist: New video games are overrun with evil spirits. If you’ve ever wanted to control an army of malevolent minions that do your every bidding, we’ve got you covered. Whether your gaming tastes run to first-person shooters, real-time strategy or turn-based role-playing, there’s a game out there that will let you command a squadron of creepy familiars from every layer of hell.
Overlord
This isn't what I meant when I said I wanted to start a rock band.
Screenshot: CodemastersThere are plenty of games out there that let you choose between good and evil. There are precious few, however, that let you choose between evil and more evil.
Your job as the titular hero of the Xbox 360 game Overlord is to impose your terrible will on a world that's an entertaining mockery of standard fantasy-game tropes. Here halflings are rotund gluttons ruled by a butterball king, elves are mopey, telepathic spirits, and the secret society of the Red Dawn keeps sheep for unsavory purposes. You can attack your enemies yourself, but it's far more efficient – and dignified – to send a squad of goblin-like minions forth to wreak havoc in your name. By game's end you’ll have many different minions, from fireball lobbers to poisonous backstabbers.
The controls are both the best and worst part of the game. Marching forward with your left thumbstick while directing a herd of imps with the right one feels perfect, and there's great satisfaction in seeing your followers take down a troll or smash up some ancient statuary. But when things get tough, your little guys just aren't reliable, often getting stuck as you move through the halls or bypassing an enemy to drown themselves in a puddle beyond.
The game could also really use some sort of mapping. The areas are nicely spread out, but that means you can end up trying to find your way around when you should be crushing dissent. These flaws aren't enough to crush the enjoyment out of Overlord, though.
– Lore Sjöberg
WIRED: Fun, funny and wonderfully cathartic.
TIRED: Full of tiny bugs, in more than one sense of the word.
Price/maker: $60, Codemasters
Rating: 
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Persona 3
Only if we can get those soft pretzels they have.
Screenshot: AtlusHere's a PlayStation 2 role-playing game that's like Pokémon for grown-ups. You catch and summon monsters to do your bidding in battle, but instead of cute electric rats, they're cat-women in skin-tight pants. Or floating brains.
The freaks of Persona 3 come out at night during your treks to Tartarus, a demon-infested tower that plays host to hours of turn-based RPG combat. You'll fight a volley of messed-up creatures: enormous hands, flying books, dancing tiaras and one particularly memorable monster who attacks you with legs spread and "BJ" tattooed on her breasts. Your main characters summon their own Persona creatures by pulling out a gun and shooting themselves in the head.
But by day, you're just a normal Japanese kid – you'll go to school, hang out with your friends, shop at the mall. These mundane activities are actually integral to your nighttime success. Making friends with someone forms a Social Link, which gives you access to more Personas for battle. But the game restricts the amount of time you can spend socializing, so you'll have to decide which relationships are most important.
You can either level Personas in combat, steadily adding to their skill sets, or fuse them together to create new, stronger Personas. A Fused Persona inherits some, but not all, of the skills from both parents, forcing you to weigh the increase in power against whatever skills are lost. With an enormous roster of uncanny familiars at your disposal the possibilities are nearly endless and you’ll happily spend hours pondering all your mix and match options.
–Susan Arendt
WIRED: Beautifully balanced gameplay elements (socializing vs. monster-bashing) and some hilarious language localization.
TIRED: The annoying background music will stick in your head for days.
Price, maker: $50, Atlus
Rating: 
The Darkness
If you think this is scary, imagine how that guy feels, looking at you and your crazy tentacle pals.
Screenshot: 2K GamesAs an eel-like tentacle spewed forth from my possessed body to kill another gangster, I idly wondered if using tentacles to rip the hearts out of my enemies would ever get old. A hundred or so dead bad guys later, I discovered the answer was: "No, not really."
The first-person shooter action in The Darkness (for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3) is divided neatly into two categories: killing people and exploring the storyline to discover why you’re killing people. Neither disappoints. The combat is well-paced, and the cut-scenes flesh out the game with interesting characters.
The awesome and grotesque powers that inhabit your character are recharged by standing in darkness (natch), so you're constantly looking for shadows to hide in (you can always shoot out a lightbulb to create some). If you're feeling particularly badass you can run-and-gun, but this tactic isn't for beginners.
As the game progresses, you'll be joined by AI-controlled minions, called Darklings, which you can summon to your aid. For example, the Kamikaze Darkling will explode himself at your request, opening up hidden pathways. Making them do what you want can be awkward at times, but they're what keep the game from turning into just another FPS.
Don’t bother with multiplayer. Beyond being ordinary, it also doesn't work very well. The maps are small, and there's tons of lag. You're better off concentrating on the single-player game, which lasts a solid 15 hours.
–Susan Arendt
WIRED: Using the power of darkness to smite thine enemies is terribly satisfying.
TIRED: The short length and unfun multiplayer seriously undercut replayability.
Price/maker: $60, 2K Games
Rating:
