Evil... always finds a way...

Can you believe it it's already been two years since I ended my first Overlord article with the same catch phrase? I was praising the game at that time for its innovative ideas and great story, if I recall. Overlord II keeps in line with the same achievements, and while not altering much of the core gameplay style and continuing the story on the same humorous tone, still manages to draw one's attention and offer hours and hours of quality entertainment for people of every age.

The quality of the story compelled me to search for Rhianna Pratchett, writer to pretty much everything that happens in the Overlord universe, and responsible for work on other influential titles like Heavenly Sword, Prince of Persia and EA's Mirror's Edge, just to mention a few. It's the dark comedy aspects of the game, but it's not limited to that. From a well thought evolving story, to witty dialogue lines and funny characters, Overlord II has got them all.

It begins with the poor minions that the previous Overlord abandoned in Raising Hell for reasons unknown to them, and their search to find an evil presence to obey, a reason to live, protect and serve. And they find their new master, the "Overlad" in the cold, frozen town of Nordberg. Yes, a young boy of great magic potential, destined for great power.

And since the citizens of Nordberg decide to throw you "to the wolves" and denounce you to the rulers of the Great Empire as a magic user, strictly banned by law, you leave your home city, and manage to escape the Empire's wrath with the help of some friendly minions.

Growing up to be the Overlord every minion hoped you would be, it is now time to take destiny into your own arms, and conquer the world. And as any renowned villain, you know from Kahn that "revenge... is a dish better served cold". You start with your hometown of Nordberg, and in one bold move you manage to enslave everyone in it and to slay the mayor. Now that the town is finally yours, it is time to set the big plan in motion: next sop - the world.

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As I've told you already, gameplay is very similar to the first title, with brown minions available to control first. It seems like the reds, greens and blues fled to different regions once there was no Overlord mind to compel them to obey.

Browns are the bulk of your army, your first line of warriors, the most numerous and the toughest. They are melee fighters, and they upgrade themselves by picking up various stuff from their victims: a hat, a sword, some boots, anything they find on the floor really.

Reds are your ranged damage dealers, throwing fiery balls at anything that comes close. They are immune to fire, and thus can pass through or destroy fiery blockades or barricades. You can really do tricky, fancy strategic maneuvers by pre-positioning them into a guard spot, with the Q hotkey, and then holding the line with your brown minions for example. Just be careful: even if the reds are immune to fire, the other minions aren't. Plus, the reds are physically very weak, and must be protected and kept at range at all times.

Greens are your assassins, and can sneak up on unaware foes. They do extra damage when attacking from behind, and can clear your path from poison. In fact, they are immune to it. Finding them will surely be a priority when trying to clear some locked paths so that you can advance further in the game.

Blues are your designated healers and can also resurrect dead allies from their spirits. Their "other" special ability is to walk on water, expanding your gameplay opportunities even further. But that's why they are found last. You should also note they are the weakest of them all.

A welcome addition to the new world is a minimap, found in the bottom left corner of your screen. You'll see it and love it at once. It's nice to see Triumph listens to player opinions. There isn't however a bigger, level map. This and the much larger levels make the long gameplay time Overlord has to offer even longer, as paths are not that strict anymore and there are many primary and minor objectives spread all around a map.

New mythical fantasy creatures have been added to the story to spice up killing and the world. Gnomes are particularly annoying, and they resemble your average, pointy hat, garden gnome. They tend to steal your souls and stick to you or a minion causing powerful explosions. That's why your advisor recommends you disposing them at once.

Elves are not the beautiful, magical creatures everyone is familiar with, but rather a bunch of gay environmentalist hippies that aren't too sure what they are up to at any time. They wear or are made of plants most of the time though, and that makes nice flammable targets for your Reds.

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The Glorious Empire is just a bunch of people oppressive regime, with world conquering intentions. And why should anyone other than you be oppressive or a world conqueror? Don't answer that.

While down under, in the infamous Netherworld, your new residence, minions have also learned to man siege vehicles. Of course they will fire wherever you point at, master. You will also possess a ship to travel the seas and bring devastating attacks. The control system is rather friendly, but I got lost most of the time while in the boat, because of the lack of a decent map. Plus, you are asked to dock the ship without controls to strafe it left or right, which is murder.

Minions also can ride wolves or spiders, which makes them not only cooler but more destructive as well, being able to break through enemy formation defenses.

The rooms in the Netherworld have gotten wider, a perfect place to add more improvements, both functional and just good looking. More bloody rugs, drapes, spikes, skulls, a big bed for your mistress' room... Oh wait!

The biggest improvement over the previous title: you can have multiple mistresses living with you at the same time in your dark castle. I guess you are a better Overlord than your dad after all. Poor guy, only had two, and had to choose just one to stick to.

Forging armor pieces or new weapons isn't that chaotic anymore either, and you have an exact number of minions to sacrifice for each weapon, plus an added ingredient: some power crystals, which are relatively rare to find. But don't worry much, just like in the previous title, old explored zones are farmable, and you can revisit those locations to boost your gold or other resources like minions or crystals.

For the most avid, passionate players, several hard working long sidequests have been added, like killing 1000 gnomes or possessing every citizen in a certain village to your will. A lot of time, patience and dedication are required to complete these tasks.

Your spells have been upgraded, and you will able to mind control and enslave people or temporarily possess a minion in certain pre-defined areas, along with the "traditional" damage component.

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Conclusion

Overlord II is a perfect example of a "if it ain't broken, why fix it" scenario. It kept the same concepts as the original, it has a nice gameplay, cute and improved graphics, a longer, deeper story that nevertheless keeps its charm and dark humor we were so proud of in the first Overlord, and all the other essential ingredients to make it a good game.

Gameplay: 90

Addictively fun, with support for multiplayer, you will spend many many hours exploring and conquering the new world, and expanding your dark domain to reign supreme. For me, the story is the most fun element, but other aspects shouldn't be ignored either.

Graphics: 84

Many fresh, new, exotic locations are present in Overlord II, but overall the tone and graphic engine was kept the same. Funny and cute at times, and really evil and deadly other times.

Multiplayer: 81

Yes! Just like the other Overlord, this too brings the ability for you to compete for resources or just fight in a multiplayer environment. It even offers Split Screen for PC, an option not usually present to games these days.

Sound: 84

Voice acting is A plus as usual, dialogues are well written as I've previously stated, and the music matches the game without being over the top.

Hardware: 85

I was kida expecting a bit more spark, shine and glow to it, but the game engine is good at what it does and works decent on most gaming systems. Add to that it was simultaneously released for XBOX 360 and PS3, and we can reasonably claim we have a decent title in our hands.