Publisher: Codemasters
Developer: Triumph Studios
System requirements: Windows XP SP2 or Vista SP1, 3.4 ghz Pentium D or equivalent CPU, GeForce 6800 or Radeon X1800XT video card, 1 gb RAM, 1.5 gb hard-drive space
Genre: RPG/Action
Release date: Available now
Review by: Michael Teplitsky

Did you ever want to control an army of gremlins who would attack your enemies, set things on fire, bring you gold and perform other vital tasks? 2007’s Overlord was one of the first games that let you do it. A mix of role playing and action, it put you in the spiky, iron shoes of a mute Lord Sauron lookalike who commanded an army of minions. It’s now two years later, and the sequel has been released. Welcome to Overlord II.

Overlord II uses the same formula as the first installment. You control the titular leader, chopping things with an axe and casting magic spells. The majority of the action, however, falls onto the small but resilient shoulders of your minions. They follow you around and do whatever you tell them to do. Brown ones hit things, reds throw fireballs, greens backstab, blues resurrect the fallen. They help themselves to any loot they find, but bring you gold and gems. Minion mounts are also available, except to the blue minions, who compensate with a swimming ability.

The action takes place in an arctic region, a jungle island, a magical wasteland and a rocky but fertile imperial heartland. You face adversaries such as baby seals, hippie elves, enemy troops, magical creatures and giant spiders. Once you decide you’ve had enough, you return to your dark tower, which is located in the underworld this time. There you can pick up new missions, forge armor and weapons, upgrade spells and minion tribes, resurrect dead minions, decorate the place with chandeliers and fornicate with your mistresses. You can also save your game there.

Being primarily a comedy game, Overlord II produces a few good laughs. The environmentalist elves say things like “Let’s leave all this bad karma behind, maaan” in whiny voices suggestive of excessive marijuana use, and a rich citizen of the imperial city asks for a bailout while the city is being destroyed. Minion banter, the monologues of your mistresses and your chief adviser, Gnarl, are also occasionally funny.

And that’s pretty much it as far as the good stuff goes. All other aspects of this game are disappointing. Its plot is uninteresting; the only reason the final twist is unpredictable is because it makes no sense. The graphics are unimpressive. Level design is so bad that it’s actually possible to completely lock yourself up after defeating a minor boss. Strategy is non-existent: just send in the horde. The armor, spell and minion upgrades are useless, as is the minion-resurrection ability. Navigation in the tower is a chore. The lack of a normal save feature is infuriating. Puzzles are never challenging. Bosses are pushovers, with the final boss being the easiest of them all. Controls are imprecise, and when the game loads it displays “I’m a bad console port” in big red letters. Ok, I made that last one up, but it would make sense.

I was actually looking forward to playing Overlord II, since I liked the first one, but having finished it I am very disappointed. The most upsetting part is that it could’ve been a great game. I almost feel as if it was released before it was finished and we ended up with a pre-alpha build. While I respect the people whose hard work undoubtedly went into making Overlord II, I can’t recommend that people buy it. Unless you’re a hardcore fan of the original, this is something that can easily be skipped.

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