Overlord II Review

Written by: Darren Cartledge Posted: 8th July 2009

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The Dark One returns!

Overlord II Details:

	Action
	PC/PlayStation 3/Xbox 360
	Triumph Games
	Codemasters

16+

Out Now

1-2

Codemasters gave gamers the opportunity to let their devilish side come forth with Overlord, last year. Letting us spread mayhem and mischief with the help of our minion hordes. Now the Overlord returns with a more powerful horde but does the game provide build on the chaotic fun we saw last time around?

The game starts with you playing as a young Overlord, living in the town of Nordberg. However, when The Empire shows up you are soon sacrificed as a magic user by the townsfolk. But, with the help of some minions you are able to flee to the Neverworld where you stay until you are ready to return and begin your era of domination.

If you’re unfamiliar with the Overlord games, they’re a bit like Pikmin albeit with a lot more mature theme then the Nintendo games. You travel the game world trying to conquer towns, gain treasure and so on accompanied by your army of minions causing chaos and destruction as you go. There are four different minions for you to summon, Browns - the basic grunts, Reds – fire minions, Greens – a sneaky stealth unit and blues - water minions. Obviously each minion type has its own unique strengths and weaknesses and the game world features many areas that only one minion type can reach. This of course adds a level of variety and strategy to the gameplay, albeit in small amounts. In general Overlord II is good fun, and sending your minions on the rampage, attacking any enemies or small animals they comes across is strangely entertaining and very additive. Especially as you get to watch them eagerly scurry to the intended target. So far so good! However, Overlord II takes things further! Minions are now able to destroy scenery, enter buildings and bring them crashing down making the game even more chaotic and more importantly, fun to play!

It doesn’t stop there, other new additions to Overlord II include the ability for minions to take mounts, Brown’s can climb on the backs of wolves making them a formidable force able to break the Legion ranks of The Empire. Greens can befriend spiders allowing them to scale walls and reach otherwise inaccessible areas, whilst Reds can mount Salamanders allowing them to perform hit and run attacks. Minions also now level-up as they fight in battle. Picking up the armour and weapons of defeated foes, this can often lead you commanding a varied looking bunch. As minions adorn themselves in peacock feather head dresses and Legionaries helmets! Another new ability for your minions is to be able to make use of disguises and war machines such as bastilles and catapults.

The Overlord’s magical abilities have also been expanded you can now grab minions, charge them up and use them as missiles. Or drain life energy from them in order to give yourself a boost. You can also leap into the body of a minion through the use of possession stones. This allows you to enter small spaces the Overlord wouldn’t normally be able to access!

As fun as the game is, sadly there are a number of questionable design choices that stop the game being great. Firstly, at first glance the game may appear to be set in an open world. However you’ll soon come to realise that in fact, the level design is quite linear which really limits any opportunity for exploration. The games camera can also be the cause of some frustration, with only two third person viewpoints, close-up and far off available. This wouldn’t be some much of a problem if the angle of the camera wasn’t as steep as it is, but in its current form it does really restrict your forward view! Even more so, considering that the developers have failed to implement a system that allows you to look around the game world. For me though the biggest cause of frustration comes with the fact that sweeping minions and camera controls are both controlled using the right thumb stick. Whilst this isn’t too much of a problem during general play, during intense combat it can often lead to you becoming confused and losing focus on the enemy you’re currently fighting. Another area of concern is the games aiming system which is very inaccurate and makes selecting enemies and objects something of a chore. Whilst these are all only minor problems they are often the cause of considerable unrest that often results in you wanting to stop playing.

The multiplayer aspect of Overlord II is pretty good fun, offering a range of co-op and versus game modes. The co-op aspect is good but only has limited appeal with the games versus modes far more likely to hold your attention. Most notably the Dominate game in which you fight head to head with another player to control several control points with only limited units at your disposal. These battles often become intense, especially as your number of minions begins to dwindle.

Graphics in Overlord II are impressive and Triumph has done an excellent job of creating a varied fantasy world that includes snow covered mountains, Elf sanctuary’s, dense jungles and even beach resorts. Characters are all brilliantly designed and animated and it’s nice to see the minions equipping themselves with armour and such as you progress through the game. Sound in the game is top notch! Voice acting is performed in a funny, yet believable style that’s in keeping with the games dark humoured theme. Sound effects such as the clashing of sword on shield are brilliant whilst the games soundtrack is very fitting to the dark fantasy setting of Overlord II.

Overlord II is a nice improvement over last year’s game with a lot of worthwhile additions to the core gameplay. However, some questionable design choices stop this instalment from being a great game and can at times make Overlord II a very frustrating experience. Despite its problems it does generally provide a fun experience and fans of the first game will love the new ways of spreading chaos.