Game Details

• Title: Overlord 2
• Developer: Triumph Studios (Codemasters)
• Released (UK): 26/06/2009
• Age Rating: 16+
• Game Type: Action RPG
• Multi-player: 2 player online and local splitscreen co-op and versus
• Length: Medium (>10 hours)

Background

The first Overlord game, released in 2007 was an enjoyable RPG-lite, that put you in the role of the villain and had you battling corrupted heroes modelled after the 7 deadly sins. This sequel puts you in the role of the son of the Overlord of the first game, and also offers lots of minion carnage and fluffy animal killing.

Game Modes

The main game mode is single player, and this will take 10-25 hours to complete depending on how thorough you are being. There is also 2 player multiplayer with both online and local splitscreen options.

Sadly the multiplayer is fairly poor and feels tagged onto the game simply so the developers can say they have a multiplayer mode, as the Co-op mode is 2 maps with the main objective of survival and is not a version of the single player campaign, while the versus multiplayer suffers from it being for only 2 people.

Technical Stuff

The graphics appear to be marginally better than in the first game, though they do suffer from the standard Xbox 360 pop in issues. The sound and music are superb, while the script  and voice acting is really tight and funny.

One potentially significant problem I came across is that the mission triggers are slightly glitchy, and I recommend keeping multiple saves. I came across one instance early on (Nordhaven/Everlight Reef) where the failure of a trigger to register caused a game ending hangup when steps in a mission did not register or reset once an earlier trigger was finally tripped.

Difficulty/Achievements

The game is relatively easy, with only one boss killing puzzle likely to cause serious trouble. If anything the game is too easy and you can get through most of the game without using your minions tactically.

Likewise the achievements in the game are fairly standard and are based around completing the game and collecting everything. Due to the nature of the achievements they will require a minimum of 1.75 run-throughs to get them all. There are also multiplayer achievements which will be difficult to legitimately get due to so few people playing online.

Positives

• More Minion Mayhem
• Evil Finds a Way
• Fun Story and Humour
• Superb Music

Negatives

• Mission Checkpoints can be Glitchy
• Story Not as Good as in the first game
• Have to Find the Minion Hives AGAIN!!
• Minion Skills new and old underutilised
• Multiplayer Seems Pointless
• Does not rectify flaws from the first game

My Recommendation

Consider – 7/10

Despite its flaws, Overlord 2 is in no way a bad game and fans of the original game will enjoy it. The main problem is that Overlord 2 feels more like the first game in a series than a sequel in many ways in part due to having to repeat the Minion Hive retrieval missions of the first game. The game can easily be completed within 20 hours, if not less and this combined with the what to me seems pointless multiplayer, stops me from giving Overlord 2 a better rating and I would recommend renting this game rather than buying.