• Forums
• Watch Videos
• Contact Us
• TK Store

Since the 2D days of Super Mario on the SNES, re-imagining hackneyed fairytales always seemed like a charming idea. There’s really no telling how many of us have actually saved planets from doomsday, rescued damsels in distress and put stupid criminals behind bars as heroes. Unfortunately, not many videogames have let us step in the shoes of manic depressive killers bent on gouging human eyes out while simultaneously drinking ten barrels of blood. Overlord aimed to change all this, and now its evil twin sequel has the same goal in mind. With evil minions by your side ready to slaughter baby seals, you’d think this is the game for every aspiring Jason Voorhees. The real question is not whether you actually get to be an Evil Sauron-Looking-Son-of-another-Evil-Demon or not, because you do. It’s actually if being that Evil Bastard is as awesome as you thought it was. Well, is it?

If you’ve ever played the first Overlord, there’s probably not a whole lot of visual vista to knock your socks off in the franchise’s second outing. Character models are decently crafted; standouts being the well-varied settings and the gnarly Overlord himself. Despite some amusing character designs from hippie, tree-hugging elves to the early scenes of dumb, child bullies covered in Eskimo gear, the subpar scenery and often blocky models overshadow what could’ve been an attractive game. Even though Overlord II commits to a few visual missteps here and there, the animations of the restless minions are filled with life and personality. Their jumps, skips, leaps, bites and attacks add to the appeal of the game that your less-than-talkative antihero could ever conjure up. The problem with the game’s visuals aren’t in its art design, it’s in the transition from concept art on paper to digitally created characters in-game. That said, Triumph Studios should still be commended for their efforts in creating a world that exudes with personality, albeit one that is a little flawed in its execution.

Not one to usually give equal weighting for a game’s audio experience, it would actually be unfair to apply the same rule of thumb to Overlord II. Without the hisses, snarks, irrelevant commentary and war cry of your evil minions, the game would probably be stripped of its essence. Other than being tongue-in-cheek stupid, your personal army of uglies do provide much of the humour that carries the game forward. And this is what essentially makes Overlord II a little better than your average run-of-the-mill game. By incorporating slick lines here and there, satirically portraying your enemies as stereotypes, employing exaggerated voiceover work and having an overall flamboyant coat of audio paint; it’s a game that benefits from all the clamor’n’clatter of your demon slaves. It’s not Metal Gear Solid 4, but it isn’t supposed to be as it provides comedic relief whenever it gets the chance to.

To pinpoint how Overlord II actually plays would be rather difficult. On one end, it’s similar to a brainless hack’n’slash that requires the smallest of skills to pass a level. On the other, it incorporates elements from real-time strategy (RTS) in the sense that you get a pack of minions to micromanage in battle. Unfortunately, you probably won’t care much as to which genre it’s leaning towards. More than half the time, all you’ll need to do is summon your dirty critters and sweep the place clean without thinking twice, rendering any strategies encouraged in the game useless.

Occasionally, combat takes a backseat as the way-too-easy ‘puzzles’ pop-up here and there. While gamers may appreciate the breaks in between, they can hardly be deemed challenging. Perhaps one of the most enjoyable aspects of Overlord II is its main selling point; being downright merciless. By utilising the various minions at your disposal and simply wreaking good ol’ havoc, the game turns from a linear bore to an enjoyable romp through fairytale lands filled with humorous and quirky characters to both help and kill. Diversions such as being able to build your tower and collect trophy princesses also help to create that ‘Yeah-I’m-A-Badass-Villain-So-What?’ mood. Apart from these occasional payoffs to being a badass, the game unfortunately feels a little linear to make you feel like you’re in power. The point of being evil is to ultimately do what you please at your own whim, but because Overlord throws objectives at you left and right it feels more like a chore than a joy to play for long amounts of time. A certain critic said it best when he stated that there’s really no difference between a good hero completing good objectives and a bad villain completing bad objectives. What makes a game a humorous oddity is not the fact that you get to play as a Darth Vader-like villain, but because the chance to play as a Jedi-killing Luke Skywalker seems just that much more amusing.

After it’s all said and done Codemasters’ latest definitely has its moments, but it does ultimately fall short of being great. The linear mission designs, subpar visuals, shoddy controls and lack of inspiration all contribute to its pitfalls. Luckily, what made the original a success is kept intact in its sequel, and much of it is evident in the game. Vibrant settings that travel from icy Alaska to the tropical Amazon, the charm and wit of your ugly-headed pawns and the opportunity to play as the bad guy is all here for you to pick up and play. Your Overlord may not be as good as a manic depressive killer bent on gouging eyes similar to that of Jason Voorhees, but for now, this title will definitely be enough to hold you over until Triumph Studios decide to take more risks with their Overlord franchise.

Written By Jeff Effendi

A games journalist writing for various editorials such as AppGamer and MS Xbox-World, Jeff also contributes to big-time magazine 'Australian 360'. Being the first Asian-Australian to join The Koalition, he's unfortunately subject to a wealth of jokes in the office, just ask Edward.

1. David says:

   August 19, 2009 at 9:53 am

   Sorry this is crap. I enjoyed Overlord 1, but when you get to the part when you have to use the spiders on the walls – this is impossible. 2 solid days I’ve been trying to complete this part and all I want to do now is throw the Xbox out the window. Codemasters have not quality checked this game – unless they patch this part it can’t be done – and I’ve been playing computer games for decades! It really frustrates me that the public again are being used as beta testers for incomplete games.

   Reply

This site supports Gravatars, The globally recognized avatar system. If you do not have one, click here to create one.
Twitter and Facebook users do not need too do this.