Overlord 2

 

 

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Overlord II is - initially, at least - an easy game to like. Its style and silly irreverence falls half way between the inane humour of Monty Python and the more subtle, slightly satirical Olde Worlde fantasy style of Fable. As if controlling a little group of murderous, highly destructive Gremlins - sorry, Minions - wasn't enough of a selling point, there's also a dictatorial Romanesque empire to bring down and a whole land to crush or sieze control of.

The Overlord's beginnings are auspicious; outcast at a young age from his home town of Nordberg as a 'Witch-boy', he rallys his new Minion allies to terrorise the citizens before leaving and being taken in by his leathery demonic friends, who train him to be their new master. Operating from a cavernous otherworld base, the now-grown Overlord reaches out in an attempt to rule the human realm and destroy the Glorious Empire, which has arisen with the intention of wiping out all magical creatures.

Levels are quite well designed, generally guiding the player forward whilst still allowing for a certain amount of secrets and elective exploration. There's a fair variety of locations, from snowy hills, elven caverns, moderately sized towns and even a gladiatorial arena. Areas are fun to explore although feel a little limited since the Overlord can't jump (must be all that heavy armour) and there's too many invisible barriers - often which will oddly disallow access close to buildings or fences, impeding the sense of exploration and freedom. Despite this, the art style is pretty good and locations can be returned to later on, allowing for further examination and treasure to be uncovered by the Minions.

It becomes clear quite quickly that Overlord II sadly hasn't made any improvements or changes in various ways in which the original game was flawed. For instance, as pretty as the visuals and style may be, the frame rate is fairly poor, frequently dropping for no discernable or understandable reason. Similarly, the camera is still awful, with the right analogue stick acting as both the movement button for sending out Minions and twisting the camera left and right - looking up or down requires holding L1, which never feels particularly comfortable. Clearly the controls would be a much better fit on PC, but it's a shame developers Triumph Studios haven't really refined the controls since the similarly fiddly first game.

As a burgeoning dark lord, the towns and villages must be crushed or suppressed (in a flimsy moral aspect every game seemingly must have these days), and so off the Overlord goes with a entourage of Minions, ready to lay waste to the land and its inhabitants. Missions don't tend to extend beyond running through linear levels killing all the various foes en route to the objective, although sometimes the level design is a bit more inventive, such as having to flank a well-guarded outpost or melting a frozen lake to allow a boat to sail free. It's a real shame there's not a great deal of depth though - sometimes there are a couple of ways to solve a particular problem, but usually the most efficient and effective means is to rush in, Minions on the offensive, and smash through the enemy defences.

Further, it's disappointing that the combat is so simplistic. The Overlord has a standard three-swing combo to begin with, and although he can acquire different weapons later on thanks to the Minion blacksmith, there are no combos to learn and there's no parrying or anything resembling what is comparatively standard combat according to other similar games. If the combat is, by comparison, making Oblivion look accomplished then something has definitely gone awry during development.

Having four different varieties of Minions is intended to introduce variety - and it does to an extent, but most of the time it's more effective to place the fire-casting red Minions a little way back and overwhelm the enemy with the rest. There are occasions or rudimentary puzzles where the Minions must travel where the Overlord cannot (through water or across a thin ledge, for example), and while the option is there to utilise the Minions' strengths (for instance, the Greens are expert assassins), there's so little depth and ultimately, not much need to bother.

Overlord II is probably at its strongest in terms of presentation. There's a fun, dark sense of humour running through its veins, and the Minions bring a sense of light relief, acting as both stress-relief fodder for the Overlord, and presenting him with gifts of treasure with an adoring "For yooou" as they hold it aloft. The visuals have a nice Pratchett-esque quality to them, but as mentioned the frame rate is none too reliable and there are a lot of graphical glitches such as clipping and objects falling through each other.

It's a shame to focus on the negative aspects of this game, because in most respects Overlord II is nearly there. It can be a lot of fun and beating up familiar looking green-clad elves forces a wry smile, but for the most part the poor combat, paper-thin strategy and technical limitations hinder a product laced with potential.

Firstly, I'd like to pint out that this game has quite a few new features from the first Overlord game and I'll run through some of them here;

Minions - The same minions are back but this time they're slightly smarter. One of the most notable new features is their ability to ride mounts. Browns - wolves (which come in useful for areas you can't get to and need wolves to jump across) Greens - Spiders (you'll be able to use the spiders to climb walls for those hard to miss secret areas) and Reds - Salamanders (these handy beasts will throw fire in combat while you easily roll them over ramps or run circles around groups of enemies). The mounts work well and are ALOT of fun. My favourites are the salamanders and help alot towards some of the later levels.

Graphics - the graphics in this game have been improved quite a bit. there are three main areas in the game - Nordberg (the cold icy village area) Everlight (jungles, beaches and water area) Empire (the Roman-style areas with guards and temples. There are also some other secret areas and ofcourse your Netherworld Tower which is quite large this time with a heap of stuff to do including upgrading the tower/minions, forging items, pleasing your mistresses and so on. Each area is full of detail and the graphics are quite stuning in parts, I loved the sun light effects in Everlight. The Overlord has improved and the minion mounts all look fantastic. Overall a very good looking game with alot of variety.

Gameplay elemets - You can now control catapults to take out approaching enemies, crush towers and just cause havoc, you get to throw rocks or arrows depending on the type of catapult. Ships - you can now sail ships and rafts in water areas to reach certain out of reach areas and crush other enemy ships. These features I really liked and found that they're fairly easy to use and enjoyable and add a nice mix to the overall game and they're also included in the multiplayer modes.

Overall I think Overlord 2 is a brilliant game with loads of fun and genuinely entertaining humor. The minions are as cute and devilish as ever and with their mounts they are just brilliant. I found the story this time around alot more interesting and the diverse range of areas to explore, many characters, animals and enemies in the game keep you interested throughout.

Multiplayer isn't too bad either with my favourite being the Pirate Plunder and Domination matches. My concerns here are the lack of people online to play with and some of the waiting times when you do actually get a match going. However, I think most people who know the Overlord series know that the multiplayer is just a bit of added fun on top of the lengthy single player experience you get.

I can see why some people find this game frustrating and I did myself in a few parts. The camera and your minions can get mixed up some times making things go a bit crazy, however for the most part, considering just how much there is to control at any given time (your main character, four minion types with marker options and new mounts, 7 powers and your own combat) I think the game doesn't do too bad at making all this manageable and relatively smooth throughout but combined with some challenging boss fights and large areas to explore you will most likely find yourself annoyed at times.

the first overlord was a good game, sort of like pikmin but with mass genocide and lots of laughs in it, overlord 2 is all of that but on a larger scale, when playing this game everything feels bigger, grander and just more polished than the original from your minions to your mistresses; everything is just better. The original game's main criticism was its camera, this hasnt entirley been fixed for overlord 2 and while it can get in the way at times, the confusion is only very brief and does very little to detract from the overall experience.
In conclusion to not buy this game would be to miss out on a humorous RPG experience, this is the sort of game that everybody wants to play but designers dont make, this game is just pure fun, from start to finish.
Sam

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5.0 out of 5 stars They've done it yet again!
Yes, it has lots of bugs...

Yes, it has lots of invisible walls...

Yes, the controls a bit fiddly... Read more

Published 18 months ago by badoubade

5.0 out of 5 stars Fun Time!
I'll not go over everything that others have, but for me this game gave me many hours of fun and laughter. Read more

Published 20 months ago by Gordon Keenan

4.0 out of 5 stars Just great fun
Hi, I'm a casual PS3 player, usually play for hour or so few nights a week and not linked online.

Overlord is just great fun, doesn't take itself too seriously and I... Read more

Published 23 months ago by Mr. Robert Leslie Sims

5.0 out of 5 stars Addictive gameplay and nice 3D effects
surpriseingly addictive gameplay, with very nice visual graphics. Having not tried overlord 1 I was sceptical when i first bought this game whether it was any good but having... Read more

Published on 1 Dec 2009 by P. C. Hutchins

3.0 out of 5 stars Good fun
Overlord gave us a fresh new game idea that works really well. Think Lemmings but more flexible and fun. Use minions to solve small puzzles but mainly use them to attack. Read more

Published on 23 Nov 2009 by The usual suspect

4.0 out of 5 stars What the...
All I can say is: what the... This is... LOOOOOLLLLL

The funniest game ever, you will laugh all thge time. A little bit splatter :P

Published on 19 Oct 2009 by G. Sabatini

5.0 out of 5 stars one game, two destinys
a game entertained, apt for all the public, perhaps something lacking of but thanks on the part of the minions, but generally a good game.

Published on 31 Aug 2009

1.0 out of 5 stars frustrating
this game really started off well and fun, but started to get boring and frustrating after a while. luckily i rented it... so my advice would be rent before you buy.

Published on 6 Aug 2009 by Mrs. Susan Whelan

5.0 out of 5 stars Be Evil or Really Evil. It's your choice.
This game like the first one (Overlord raising hell) is a little gem. It's a mixture of strategy and RPG. Read more

Published on 3 Aug 2009 by AstroMonkey

1.0 out of 5 stars shocking
if you love games that make you tear your hair out with annoyance at a game that so is so difficult to play this is the game for you. Read more

Published on 29 Jun 2009 by wow just wow

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