Difficulty:

Just Right

Time Spent:

10 to 20 Hours

The Bottom Line:

"Been there, done that"

Gameplay: 3.5/5
+ The basic concept of the game is that you control an overlord who commands a squad of imp-like minions which run around causing havoc, chaos, and evil. There are four types of minions in your arsenal: brown, red, green, and blue. Browns are your main melee warriors, reds are your ranged attackers but are fairly weak, greens are fast and strong when attacking from behind, and blues are mainly healers who can resurrect fallen minions. This combination allows you the same strategy that the first game had where you have to decide how many of each minion type you should have have following you around at any given moment. Also, you must plan where each group of minions should be placed in a battle or else you risk seeing a lot of them die really quickly.
One new thing that this game adds is the ability for minions to have mounts. This only applies to browns, reds, and greens and they are able to mount wolves, salamanders, and spiders. These mounts give the minions an increase in attack power, special abilities, and an increase in health too. It's a lot of fun to have them, but unfortunately there are only a few instances of using them. Still, it's fun to play around with.
The game still has a fair amount of action to it, though. As overlord you are able to use melee weapons to do attacks. Finding forge stones throughout the levels will allow you to create new weapons and armor, too, each having its own unique benefit. In order to craft these you must have enough money, minions, and resources that are required.
You also have a few magic spells that you can cast as overlord. Here is where there is a noticeable difference between the original game and the sequel. In the original game you had twelve spells, each falling into four different categories. In Overlord II you basically have three spells with two variants. The first spell directly saps an enemy's health but if you release it before completely killing them you can dominate them and have them fight for you. The second spell either boosts your minions' power temporarily or unleashes an explosive attack if you hold down the spell button for its full duration. The final spell either lets you fling minions in a ranged attack or lets you sacrifice a minion to heal yourself. The spells aren't really the strong point of the game, though. It's real easy to neglect them, and you only get the final spell real late in the game. They are useful at times, but it's not primarily a magic-casting game. So I do think that the lack of emphasis was a good decision. It is kind of weird to cast some of the spells, though. For example, the second spell type requires you to press Alt+A+D in combination
The game does a good job balancing the puzzle elements and the combat, too. Some of the puzzles require you to use certain minions to reach certain areas, and then other minions to follow them. The puzzles aren't really that challenging, but the diversity is enjoyable. One new thing that this game adds is the ability for the overlord to possess a minion and lead a group of other minions. These are activated at special summon stones. These cases are a lot of fun and let you travel to areas that wouldn't be possible with the overlord. It's a great new experience and it really does expand the game.
Still, the game has plenty of drawbacks. There is a constant problem with the mouse buttons getting stuck just like there was in the first game. To send minions you press left click, to recall minions you right click, and to sweep minions you press both of them together. All too often when you try to send a few minions it suddenly acts like your left mouse button is stuck down and continuously sends minions over and over. Also, when you try to sweep minions so they can move somewhere else it will get stuck in that phase and they will stay sweeping instead of letting you return to controlling the overlord. Even though you just have to click the mouse buttons a few times to get them unstuck, it's still a constant pain and nuisance and really damages the game. Also, there still could be more diversity and challenging when it comes to combat and puzzles. It's a decent attempt but it does seem to get repetitive sometimes and feels like you're just clicking over and over to have your minions kill enemies. Finally, the boss battles can be kind of frustrating since they don't do a real good job at directing you of your objectives and the mechanics of how to defeat the boss.
Still, if you liked the original game then this sequel offers a lot of the same overall gameplay that made the first game so unique.

Story/Presentation: 3/5
+ The story seems like it has a clearer path and doesn't wander aimlessly around. It picks up where the first game lefts off, but it still has its own unique story that can be understood if you haven't played the first game. The voice acting and dialogue are fairly cringeworthy throughout most of the game, though, which is the same problem that the original had. Even though everything is decent, it just doesn't have enough to resonate and make things memorable. It has some humor to it but overall it's just enough to get from the start to finish and doesn't have enough depth to make it memorable.

Graphics: 3.5/5
+ The graphics are definitely improved from the first game, but it's still not impressive enough to notice. It does use nVidia's PhysX and things such as fur looks more detailed and interesting. But the textures and animations leave a lot to be desired. For a game that only came out two years ago it looks a lot worse than you might expect. It's not so terrible that it's unplayable, but the graphics do look fairly inferior throughout.

Value: 4/5
+ The game doesn't have quite the same length as the first, but it still has plenty of hours. It took me 14 hours to beat it, and for $10 that's is a really good deal. There isn't a whole lot of replayability to it, but if you enjoy the game enough then there are some extra things you can keep doing in the game to extend your play time.
Overall, if you liked the first game then this will give you a chance to experience more of what the first had to offer. It's not a great game, but it still is fun and good in its own unique right. If you are interested, check out the demo and decide for yourself.