Vital Stats

Genre: RTS
Players: 1-2
Online: Multiplayer

Developer: Codemasters
Publisher: Triumph Studios
ESRB Rating: T
Release Date: 6/23/09

Platforms

• PC
• Xbox 360
• PS3

Overlord II is an improvement over the first game in every way. Gameplay is more varied, the writing is consistently funny, and decorating your dark Fortress has never been manlier. The improvements diminish the challenge somewhat, but who subjugates the strong, anyway?

Chapter 2
I don’t like to screw around when I travel through time. When I reviewed Overlord last week, I noted it as an island of console RTS evolution. However, I live in the future, where the rough-hewn design principles of 2007 would be eaten alive in the open market. Any viable descendant of Overlord would have to be stronger, faster, and better polished to survive. Overlord II is all those things, which means I just confirmed the theory of evolution. In your face, science!

Overlord II picks up some time after the first overlord succumbed to prosaic villain explosion syndrome. However, his unrighteous spawn survived, and death just doesn’t stick to evil minions. So the new overlord sets out to claim his birthright by hook and claw, but he lacks both and so commands his minions to do it for him.

Live and Learn. Die and Resurrect.

LEEEEROOOOY JEEENKIIIINS!

As the evil master, you’ll be followed by dozens of suicidal zealots who live to die at your whim. Though individually weak, your goblin henchmen are collectively unstoppable, and so your tactical deployment of these forces makes the bulk of the gameplay. Point them at an ogre’s back, and they’ll stream out and assault the monster until he bleeds out. However, sweep them as a group into deep water and they’ll all drown.

The controls for this process are essentially unchanged from the last game. Minions deployed as a stream will pick a target along the line of sight and break/steal/kill it as appropriate. Sweeping the group from place to place lets you control its path, but the mouse controls make an awkward substitute for thumbstick controls on a console. What has changed, however, is the level design. The first Overlord game was full of gotcha moments where you had to sweep your minions through tight terrain at range. Space is simply more open in the sequel, so you have a better chance to see and control your toadies.

Of course, it’d be easy to get lost in a trackless space, especially once your minions have bulldozed all the destructible terrain out of the way. However, the debut of minimaps and auto-mapping completely obviates the disorientation that mired the first game. The scaffolding extends to the quest line as well, and the game almost never leaves you foundering with no hook to the next plot line. Of course, praising this sort of feature is rank Stockholm syndrome, and it speaks more to the kludge of Overlord than the sequel’s accessibility. However, at least now you know that it can’t hurt you anymore.

Going Up In the World
If you’re looking for something new, Overlord II serves up much more varied gameplay than its forebear. At some points in the game, you can bodily possess one of your minions to serve as an embedded point man in your misfit troop. This lets you access spaces you’d normally sweep your minions through, and offers a bug’s eye view of the mayhem. Directing your troops makes use of the usual mechanics, but your fragile minion host requires a more conservative approach to combat that significantly changes the strategic landscape.

Are you my favorite hate-pooch?
Yes you are! Oh yes you are!

Possession also expands the scope of gameplay because the minions themselves have been embellished. In addition to their original tank/ranged/damage/healer roles, various minions can ride mounts, invisibly pass through guards, and wear disguises so flimsy that only an Overlord denizen could be fooled. Whether you’re commanding or possessing, even the purely cosmetic changes freshen the gameplay and stitch comedy into the world.

Overlord II has also gotten a substantial customization bump. Your fortress can now accommodate multiple mistresses, and each has interior design suggestions. Minions, magic spells, and equipment all have RPG-style upgrade options you can invoke at your whim. Even the morality system (which spans the gamut from lawful evil to chaotic evil) impacts your spell progression. If you prefer to enslave citizens, then your spells develop to favor buffs. However, if you prefer pogrom, your magic will support your murder habit. The end result is an empire of misery that feels like it’s yours.

As the mechanics grew rich and polished, so did the production values. The cohesive art style that nominally redeemed Overlord’s janky animation and simplistic texturing has been upgraded with legitimate detail. The fat citizens of the aggressor empire are comically awkward where Overlord‘s citizens were awkwardly comical. Even the writing has replaced vague and obvious punchlines with embedded atmospheric humor that plays out in the dialog instead being stilted by the dialog. The music is probably the only place that hasn’t seen a significant departure in quality, but it was already fun to murder sheep over Vivaldi’s Spring.

And Your Little Dog, Too
Overlord 2 is such an improvement that you’ll wonder what went wrong with the first game. The controls are probably still a dealbreaker for casual players, but then again the RTS genre is almost never accessible. Genre fans can expect strategic gameplay that’s been purged of the cheap roadblocks that marred the first game. Hardcore gamers will start out enjoying the simple novelty of a well-designed console RTS, but stay for the consistently funny writing. If Codemasters keeps up this rate of improvement, Overlord III will be the breakout game of the year that unites casual and hardcore gamers in song.

What It Costs: $30

What It’s Worth:
•To The Hardcore: $50
•To The Genre Fan: $55
•To The Casual: $0 (try playing splitscreen with a friend)