Silly, fun and downright laughable video games, in a good way, are rare or to be blunt about it, video games which are actually funny instead of trying to be funny and failing miserably are a rare treat. Overlord was fun but I was unprepared for the numerous moments in the game where I laughed out loud and smiled over the simple and sly humor penned by Rhianna Pratchett, who also worked on some of my favorite video games Heavenly Sword, Mirrors Edge and Viking: Battle for Asgard. If you have played through her games you will see her attention to story detail and she certainly did not hold back with her considerable talent this time when penning Overlord 2.

Overlord 2 is the sequel to the extremely surprising and well received Overlord game from Codemasters. Instead of being the Hero you control and evil Overlord from when he is a young child, but still very evil, who is kicked out of his village and finally rescued by our favorite in game friends, the Minions! Embarking on several missions to destroy and conquer you lead your Overlord and his army of Minions and build your fortress of evil while you crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentation of their women. Well everything but that last part, the women kind of whine.


Gameplay

The gameplay has not changed much since the first Overlord game and that is fine because the gameplay was very good. But it has improved slightly such as it seems that the sweep function when you control your minions is more responsive and when you need to switch to your camera it allows for a quick change over. You still control your minions by sending them to attack the enemy by selecting the number to attack who or just sending them all in for a massive melee fight. Setting up your Red minions to sit back and use fire at a distance while your Browns rush in and fight is a quick system of button presses this time and allows for some strategy and tactics which seemed to be missing from the first game.

Difficulty wise, Overlord 2 is not hard at all but there are times when you die and have to re-play a very long stretch. More checkpoints would have been nice but this actually only happened twice and my deaths were more due to inattention rather than the game being better than I was.

Just like the first game you have your warrior minions are the Browns, your nukers, the Reds, your assassins, the Greens and the healers are the Blue Minions. Using each one properly is your only way to win the game without taking massive losses and seeing the death screen over and over again. Browns are the fighters and are great in close but you do not want to use Reds up close instead have them sit back and hit the enemy from a safe distance while the Browns fight up close and get into it.

Customizing your “home” this time is better as well because you can buy or find new items to add to your home, build new armor and weapons and change the look of certain areas to reflect how you control your Overlord. But the customization does not limit itself to just being a good home maker you can choose to be a Destroyer or Dominator by destroying towns or enslaving them. Enslaving them has its perks as you can return to the towns and see the tribute which has been collected for you. This Destroy or Dominate gameplay choice allows for a complete new play through and adds much to the overall games fun factor.

I do not remember if the first game had them but this time around your Minions can ride mounts and they add much to the way you can use your minions in battles. Wolves and Browns work well together, Greens ride spiders and more. On top of it all your Minions can operate war machines such as catapults and ships and use them against the enemy with a little help from ‘The Master’.

While Overlord 2 is not a game which is leaps and bounds over its predecessor it did something smart and that was to build upon the first games strengths and fix most of the issues it had and bring in a solid gameplay experience for gamers to enjoy. I hope for an Overlord 3 because there are so many places where the series can go.


Graphics

Just like the first Overlord, Overlord 2 follows the same art style but the game has been improved in terms of animation and level design. Multilevel areas with plenty of interactive sections such as sending exploding mine carts down rail ways, each level theme is fantastic in its overall design and does not limit itself to cloning other areas for its own ideas such as the differences between the “Jungle” and “Winter” areas. Even the small graphic touches such as the minions picking up armor, weapons and almost everything to be used as clothing and bludgeons has been improved dramatically to make it a better looking experience in both terms of art and animation. Such as seeing your minions as guards in a town you just conquered will put an evil smirk on your face.

The one issue I have with the game and it was a pain which carried over from first game, is the camera, which just never works correctly and does slow down your progress throughout the game. It is not as bad as the first games as the camera this time never caused me to lose most if not all of my current minions, but it did often cause me to get beat down or stuck. Hopefully a smart camera patch can be released this time which will make the experience even more enjoyable for those Overlord nuts out there who love putting in the long hours into the game.


Audio

If I have one complaint about the games audio it is the fact the voices for the towns people all remind me of Fable 2’s and while I like them it just seemed they put a ton of thought into the minions voices and just decided to copy Fables 2 because it sounded good. But maybe I am just being picky. The rest of the games audio, the music, combat and environmental sound effects are all well done and suit all of the action and levels perfectly and certainly help the game become more enjoyable in the long run.


Value

The multiplayer Co-op is interesting and can be fun but is not a big selling point when the single player game is so well done and one of the stronger single player games in the last couple of months. There is plenty of replay value with at least two ways to play through the game of Destruction or Domination. There is plenty of ways to improve your Overlord, Minions and the Keep which helps with keeping the game entertaining and goal oriented.


Bottom Line

There was several times during the game that I laughed out loud and that helped make this already enjoyable game much more fun. Certainly a must buy for fans of the original or just action fans in general but if you did not like the first game make sure you try out the demo first because the innovation from the first game is not that noticeable until you are well into playing it.