- Publisher: Codemasters
- Developer: Triumph Studios
- Also On: PS3
- ESRB Rating: “T” for Teen
- Genre: Action/Strategy
- Pros: Very funny; challenging puzzles; fun gameplay; nice graphics and sound
- Cons: Control and camera issues; not a big jump over original
Overlord II is your fresh start as an Overlord, and in an interesting twist you start out as a scrawny kid that just so happens to be the son of the first Overlord. After finding some brown minions and expertly using them to exact a little revenge on some bullies, the “Overlad” is taken to the underworld and raised as a proper Overlord. From this point on, the game is pretty much like the original Overlord. Your job is to find the rest of the minion types, rebuild your dark tower, terrorize anyone and everyone you come in contact with, and even take a mistress or three.
One comment I had about the first Overlord is that you felt more like the “Diet Coke of Evil” rather that actually doing anything all that bad, and it is the same way here. The difference now, though, is that the enemies you face (in the Roman-style “Glorious Empire”) seem to be a lot more evil than you are. You're still evil, but in doing evil (against the Empire) you actually kind of do good. I gotta say, I like this cloudy heading on the moral compass.
The real stars of the game are your army of gremlin-like minions, and they are just as twisted and funny as they were in the first game. When you first start up the game and the minions are singing and chanting on the menus, you know you are in for a good time.
Gameplay
The gameplay is pretty much like the first Overlord, but with plenty of new tricks thrown in. You control the Overlord with the left stick and can swing a weapon and use magic (and even better, you aren’t nearly as wimpy and worthless as the overlord from the first game), and move your minions around with the right stick. The same camera and control issues from before are also present, unfortunately. Sometimes your minions don’t move like they should or the camera flips out and you lock onto things you didn’t want to. Not game breaking, but it takes some effort to get used to it.
The important part is that Overlord II has plenty of new stuff in it to that make for a much deeper experience overall. Minions can now find mounts to ride (wolves, spiders, salamanders), which make them a lot more powerful. There are also special sequences where the Overlord directly possesses a minion so you can run around and sneak through tighter spaces than the big guy can fit through in order to open doors and complete objectives. You also are given the opportunity here and there to sail ships or control powerful fixed weapons like catapults. All of these gameplay variations are constantly switching in and out of the normal “break everything, kill everyone”-style so you are always doing something new and different throughout the 20-hour campaign.
Graphics
Graphically, Overlord II is a nice looking game. There is a lot of variety in the environments you can explore and everything is nicely detailed and looks great. The minions also look good, and it is always neat to see them actually wearing and using the armor and weapons that you find along the way.
Sound
The star of the presentation in Overlord II is the sound. The voice work for your minions as well as all of the NPC characters is great all around and the dialogue is pretty much 100% hilarious. The music is also very good and fits the twisted fantasy universe presented in the game perfectly.
Bottom Line
