While it
feels great to save the farmer from the savage beast that threatens his
livestock or save the beautiful maiden that has been captured by a group of
bandits; it feels even greater being the monster that is wrecking having in said
farm or being the fiend that kidnaps the beautiful maiden. It’s fun to be bad,
as games like the original Overlord and games that feature the choice
between doing being good or bad have shown us. Now we get a second chance of
being a dark lord of the netherworld in Overlord II for the Xbox 360 and
being bad never felt this good … albeit still not perfect.
“Man, these
Burning Man concerts get weirder every year.”
In fact, all
of the things that went wrong with the original are back in Overlord II,
although the game does introduce new gameplay elements and improvements in other
places that made the original a fun romp. If you bought the game the first time
around, the new features might not be enough to bring you back to the
Netherworld. Thankfully, the new content adds more deliciously evil twists to
your rise as a dark overlord.
Overlord
II begins with a
child who is seen as an outcast and misfit by adults and children when you come
to learn that you have influence over gremlin-like Minions that are willing to
do your bidding at the drop of a hat. One day, you decide you won’t take any
more grief from the people of your village and unleash your minions on them and
ruin a perfectly good Christmas-like event Grinch-style. Unfortunately, the
forces of a Romanesque Empire interrupt and you are tossed into the freezing
ocean. Years pass and you are thawed out by a Minion Master named Gnarl who
inspires you to be the Netherworld’s dark Overlord.
Of course,
you don’t automatically rise to power so you are tasked with revealing yourself
to the world … especially the village that still haunts your dreams. For
starters, you already have the look (a nod to Tolkien’s Lord Sauron) as well as
the support of a small group of Minions. You can command said Minions around by
directing them manually via the right analog stick or target a subject and send
them on their destructive way. You can also do the trampling and slaying
yourself with your weapon as well as your magic.
Your evil
deeds aren’t as gruesome as other games and your road to evil overlord can
actually be very funny thanks to the charming British wit the game displays
during the lengthy campaign. For example, there’s a new faction that takes the
form of a group of Elves that are a nod to Greenpeace and PETA rolled into one
hilarious stereotype when you begin your reign of terror, which includes smashing
trees and sending your Minions to club adorable baby seals and endangered
manatees.
Oh, that’s
just the start of your dark road. Your evil deeds include setting fires to
friendly villages and working your way to smashing the Empire that has become
more powerful during your long absence. As the overlord of the Netherworld, you
can accept tasks offered from citizens that see no other alternative but to come
to you for help. Imagine lending a farmer a hand and then enslaving the farmer
and you get the picture of how evil you really can get in this game. You can
chose to enslave villagers and make them worship the ground you walk on or you
can send Minions riding vicious wolves to tear them apart.
“Go forth,
my Minions, and bring me every Hannah Montana poster you can find. I so love
her!”
Speaking of
Minions, the game introduces new Minion types such as archers, healers,
assassins and fighters. Each one can be called upon on the fly and if you happen
to lose a few during combat, you can always spawn more from a few magical
portals. One portal even allows you to transfer your essence into a Minion so
you can control that Minion temporarily to carry out duties you can do yourself.
They can even carry moveable objects for you, gather loot for you, move objects
out of your way, guard a spot and even disguise themselves at your command.
As I
mentioned earlier, the campaign is longer thanks to the new missions that give
you plenty to do to the point that you can even return to the Netherworld that
acts like a hub to do everything including save the game. There are a few paths
to take in this game that could lead to a different ending up the main mission,
of course, is to watch the Empire crumble at your feet and make your old village
pay dearly.
Unfortunately, the flaws from the original are back. The camera is still a
problem despite the fact that the right analog stick is used to move it around
to your liking. You can move it but not nearly enough to make the places or
things you want to see visible unless you move your characters closer to what
you want to see. Combat can be a tad tedious but not enough that you’ll get
frustrated with it. Then there’s the problem with your Minions that aren’t smart
know that they can drown or can’t reach a certain place unless you lead them
directly.
There’s a
multiplayer mode that can be played online or offline with or against a friend.
The co-op mode is rather fun, especially Invasion where you and a friend are
tasked with taking on a centurion. Then there’s the competitive modes that are
even more fun, such as Dominate where you attempt to dominate an area on the map
before your friend does. It’s good fun, indeed, but not great.
“Honey,
remind me never to come to Rome ever again.”
The game’s
graphics are also improved so the world and characters actually do look good
during cut scenes as well as during the action. The environments, for instance,
really stand out beautifully and the destructible objects do smash beautifully
in this game. What really stands out are the visual effects and the number of
Minions going crazy on the screen at once. My only complaint is that the camera
will sometimes have you looking at nothing worth looking at when you can’t swing
it around.
I do love
the game’s voice acting and the funny lines of dialogue that is heard throughout
the game. The surfer dude accents on the Elves are hilarious, especially when
you’re doing something as atrocious as stepping on little gnomes right in front
of them or setting fires. The soundtrack is not bad at all but it’s the sound
effects that do sound good enough that you’ll definitely play the game with the
volume up.
Overlord
II for the Xbox
360 has its share of problems but despite its glaring flaws, this second outing
is undeniably and wickedly entertaining. With a few additional changes that make
for a bigger and funnier game than the original, it’s great to be bad again and
even more so when you have a lot more to do in this game. If you haven’t played
the original then I highly suggest you skip that one and buy this one instead …
unless you’re a member of PETA, of course.
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Gameplay: 7.5
Despite an
irritating camera that you can’t really rotate and minions that aren’t at all
very bright (thank God you can spawn more), causing as much mayhem and
destruction is still downright addictive. The single-player campaign is longer
now and that’s very good news of evildoers everywhere.
Graphics: 8.5
The visual
improvement over the original is very noticeable thanks to some gorgeous and
wonderfully detailed environments and visual effects. While the humans don’t
look as great during the in-game action, the magical creatures of this realm do
stand out.
Sound:
8.5
The score is
wonderfully cinematic and has that fantasy movie feel to it and the sound
effects are nicely detailed. The best part of the sound, however, is the voice
acting and the funny dialogue that you might catch if you’re really listening
during the action. Even the minions are hilarious to listen to in this game.
Difficulty: Medium
Most of the
game’s challenges will have you thinking while the others are very obvious.
Combat can be a bit frustrating at times but not to the point that you will be
cursing the game.
Concept: 8.0
Commanding the
minions with new abilities as well as making use of runes and other magical
items that can call up more minions or even take control of one is great stuff.
You can enslave those wretched humans or slay them for a different ending
narration. There’s also multiplayer co-op and competitive online action.
Multiplayer: 7.5
Online there are
a few dips in the framerate but otherwise it runs smoothly enough to participate
in some competitive game modes against a friend in Dominate and Pillage or co-op
in game modes like Survival and Invasion.
Overall: 8.0
While the flaws
from the original are back and the game doesn‘t break any new ground,
Overlord II is still a delightfully enticing and addictive game about being
evil. The new content might not be enough to lure in gamers who own the original
but those who missed it should definitely pick this one up instead.
