Written by: Mark

 

 

 

In 2007 a game was released which gave the player opportunities to be as evil as possible and to command vast armies to do your dirty work. That game was entitled "Overlord" and offered a new twist to the RPG genre and pretty enjoyable it was too.

 

Fast forward two years and developers 'Triumph Studios' are back with the sequel predictably named "Overlord II" which promises to be bigger and better.

 

 

'Overlord II' is not so much sequel but a game in it’s own right, admittedly the gameplay is very similar to it’s predecessor however it is the story change which is the major difference. This time the game takes place days of the Roman Empire with the army of minions looking for a new master and this is where you come in.

 

The first level sees you taking on the role of a child who is on the path of evilness and this is a good way of introducing the gameplay aspects to newcomers to the series and acts nicely as a tutorial level. Players are then given the role of the Overlord and this is where the fun and challenge really begins.

 

 

It does not take long to be introduced to the various powers at your disposal and these usually involve the minions which are a charming bunch and have nice characters of their own. As the game progresses you can eventually command up to fifty of these little creatures and it certainly proves to be fun to be able to command these to commit your evil deeds from collecting treasure, beating up villagers and tackling enemies throughout the game.

 

Undoubtedly the control of the minions draws a vast amount of inspiration from previous Pikmin games although that is no bad thing. The way this stands out though is that as you progress you gain control of four classes of minions who come in different colours (red, green, brown and blue) each of which has their own special abilities and this certainly adds a tactical aspect to the game and a bit of a puzzle element as to which class is the best to use at specific points of your quest.

 

The actual lead character of the Overlord does have his own magical and combat abilities but I have to say does not offer the same level of charm as the minions or various other characters found throughout the game and this is somewhat surprising. Personally I was pretty impressed with the game and the majority of the character design although I never really felt like I was drawn into liking or appreciating the lead character as I have with those in many other games particularly in the RPG genre. This is not say that he does not have his strengths but to me just lacked a little something in comparison to many other of the games characters.

 

 

There is no doubting that the overall gameplay in Overlord II is pretty enjoyable but can also prove to be equally as frustrating on occasions thanks to the pretty linear level design despite the worlds appearing to be seemingly vast. In addition at times you are forced to backtrack in order to seek out the correct minions in order to progress and this can appear to be a chore, as can certain points in the game which require a bit too much strategy and lead to confusion.

 

 

I hate to criticise what is a fairly charming game but moments like these do take away some of the overall enjoyment and instant likeability factor and may put off the more casual player from this pretty solid game.

Since the release of Overlord II I have heard many people comparing it to the outstanding 'Fable 2' and in all honesty that is an unfair thing to do as they are totally different games in terms of gameplay. I think the RPG elements and in particular the graphical presentation is where people are drawing comparisons between the two games although Overlord II does not offer anything like the depth of Fable 2.

 

I get the impression that the game is not trying to take itself too seriously and in this respect becomes more user friendly than various other RPG’s currently available and has a storyline that is pretty easy to follow and a charming graphical style.

 

 

Overlord II has a nicely presented fantasy world setting with scenery ever changing and nice interactive environments however it rarely had many jaw dropping moments in terms of it’s quality. That is not to say it is bad by any means although perhaps one could have expected slightly better on a next gen system.

 

 

As stated earlier in the review the game has a more charming feel rather than a serious one and this is also highlighted with the design of the various characters found throughout and overall this is done pretty well and fits in well with the fantasy theme.

 

My main criticism however is the camera angles used and although this has been changed since the first game in the series it seems to have not shown any progression, in fact some would argue that it has taken a backwards step. In Overlord II the developers have attempted to integrate minion control and camera to the same use of the right thumb stick and although a brave move which could have worked well more often than not leads to moments of sheer frustration. On the flip side I can see what the developers have tried to do and in certain aspects it works however there is still massive room for improvement.

 

 

Upon reading the manual which comes with the game the vast amount of controls may seem to lead the player into thinking that they are in for a pretty daunting task with every button and stick on the joypad used in one aspect or another. What has been implemented well is the first level which although sets the scene for the forthcoming story gets the player used to using the controls well and this I have to say has been very well done and a thoroughly welcome addition and quickly dispels any previous fears.

 

 

Whilst all buttons are used to control the lead character and has variety of weapons and powers it is the minion control which proves the most interesting as this is solely done using the right thumb stick with sweeping moves used to direct them in various directions and to attack other characters. It is pretty refreshing to see how this works and for the most part has been implemented well however all this good work seems to be undone with the confusion between the aforementioned minion and camera control.

 

There is no denying that the developers have been bold in the way that they have made changes and most importantly listened to players comments with the release of Overlord II and for this they deserve a big round of applause however there are still many ways in which improvements can be made.

 

 

If I was asked to sum up "Overlord II" in one word then the word I would use is charming and there is no doubt that the game has an abundance of charm throughout.

 

Unquestionably the game has many faults although if you look beyond these then I am sure you will find a fair amount of enjoyment from this pretty solid title which proves to be an excellent user friendly entry to the RPG genre.

 

 

 

 

+ Very charming game
+ Excellent tutorial level
+ Nice to be able to play as an evil character
+ Pretty user friendly game with RPG elements