I rented it shortly after reading this review, and the game is indeed very fun, and quite funny as well. I haven't had much of a problem control wise, but one potentially big issue is the fact that the framerate seems to stutter, and while it isn't game breaking, it is fairly annoying.
Another view: (this will be somewhat of a rant, so feel free to ignore, i'll even put it in spoilers)
Overlord 2 (which i bought and finished), when judged by it's own merits, is a very good game. Funny humor, relativly easy controls (from the pc version) and a pikmin like feel. The game on the other hand has some bluntly unforgivable errors (though these don't make the game unforgivable). the spider boss (you know who i'm talking about) is a blighter to figure out how to even hurt her, can one hit kill your minions, and moves insanley fast (she's worse than kahn, who at least had a slow moving mace and moved slow, not to say kahn wasn't fun, but i'm off topic). Also, if you'll permit me to reference yahtzee, it's like she has a 5 foot long mars bar and your diabetic. IT TOOK ME HALF AN HOUR TO KILL HER AND I DIDN'T DIE ONCE. also, during puzzles with no enemies or hazards, my minions should not be able to be killed. Also, sometimes the game will pit you against an absurdly powerful legion. Sure they just stand there, but they are immune to fireballs, and i don't have wolves, and can't see the commander. this happens twice in the game
i won't count the time in the wastelands when they come crashing down on you because your SUPPOSED to die if you don't run
and the only way to win is to send your minions to die, as you run to where ever your trying to get to (the second time this happens though, you have your blues, and though the battle takes awhile with 50% browns and 50% blues, your army should keep fighting long enough to win). The plot is slightly confusing at first, with
rose telling you to go to the old tower, which you never get to see inside , but all you find is the old tower heart shards. Rose makes no apperance later, until you attack the empire's city. On the other hand, the way the game makes us think of florian as stupid and useless, then reveal him as the final boss and mastermind was truly briliant.
aside from these major plot twists though, it seems that the plot revolves around "these are the towns, go kill them or take them" thing, with no motivation other than your evil. These all sound like bad things, and most of them are, but they are all taken in stride when you run baby seals into mines, or slaughter a comune of elves, and of course the games delightfully dark humor.
But enough of the game itself, does it match up with it's predicessor? the answer is No. no it does not. it makes a few improvements, but others feel downgraded, or outright forgotten. I will go through some of the games newer features, as well as it's predecrers old ones for a while
The siege engines (boats, catapults, etc): These feel slightly unneccesary, like little coffee brakes to satisfy your need to slaughter armys. They are certainly fun though, and these are welcome.
Possesion: Again unneccesary, but fun
The three mistresses: ok, this is something of a sore spot here. first of all, these all feel one dimmensional. Kelda is the huntress with a thick accent, Suno is obviously the sex-driven woman (who I immediatly despised, like with velvet from the original. I'm evil, not perverted) and Faye, who is evil incarnet. of the three she was my favorite, but i still harbor poor feelings. don't give someone a dramatic death to stop the empire, just so i can get a third mistress to make the game seem like an upgrade (you do get the option to kill her instead, which i considered).
None of these match the diverse characters of rose and velvet(who, though not giving out spoilers, were ACTUALLY related to the plot). Rose was kindly, motherly toward the minions, but also showed evil sides "Rose: that'll show those peasents whos boss" "Gnarl: With that keg of ale your minions will recieve a permenant boost. Rose: and they'll be right terrors to put to bed". Also, if you played the original, you remember depending on your choice of mistress your minions got upgrades. well now you can purchase ONE TIME UPGRADES, and instead you get to make an end game choice. what mount do you want for your minions; salamanders? spiders? or wolves? Triumph, i appreciate having as strategic choice, but i liked how my choice added something (the upgrades in the original were bonuses), the end game should be the culmination of everything. why give me one mount when i can have all for a true endgame feel? your taking things away from the game to give the illusion of the original choices.
Sorry that one was rather long eh? moving on.
The graveyard: A way to resurrect my best minions? AWSOME, a plus addition, though this is sometimes used as an excuse to throw formerly mentioned legions of uber soldiers at us.
The Barracks: A nice way to give some personality to the game's iconic characters. pictures of our minions, hummerous, if slightly punny, names. again whats not to like.
The new forging system. I'll be blunt <-no pun intended here. I didn't like this new forging system. The old forging system encouraged life force gathering and spending (and could have invoked even more resource management with the addition of the graveyard) as well as customization to what stats we wanted. The new system gives us generic, set-in-stone items, with generic abilitys. Also triumph? the use of dark crystals, a limited resource that there are only a set number of in the game? STUPID!!!, if i have the funds, i want a full set of super armor. What would i do? combine the two systems. Use the old overlord 1 system, but by finding certain forge stones we can imbue items with abilitys for extra gold and minions. and get rid of dark crystals.
Another long one, sorry. anywho.
Mounts: Meh, they add another dimmension to the game, extra puzzles (though these are all rather obvious) and some new combat stratagies. unnecesary, but fun, like possesion and siege weapons.
The new spells: Ok, again this ones a rather sore spot, so settle in. I like the new magic transition, as you hold a series of buttons that feel good in context. Press the alt button: shoot a bolt of lightning. hold it: keep shooting lightning. hold it and click: pick up a minion and either keep holding to absorb it, or throw it's magically charged body at someone. Also the catalyst system is a nice way to allow us to have the spells we want without having to search for the specific stone upgrade. unfortunatly, some of the new spells SUCK. WHAT HAPPENED TO MY INFERNO, instead i have a couple rays that a pinprick of damage. My slow, stop, betray, confusion, etc domination spells are all gone, my shield now requires me to kill a minion, and i can't power up my minions anymore. again, kind of dissapointing. keep the old spells, use the new spell system.
The new alignment system: regrettably, the old motto: are you evil or really evil no longer applies. it's now: are you that kind of evil, or this kind of evil. To it's credit, it invokes genuine choice. Do you raze the town and get some really big instant rewards, or enslave it and collect your slaves fruits of labor. there was no real reason NOT to be evil before (except to keep rose, since that was also a strategic decision). What i don't like is having to hunt down each and every villager in the town before i complete the quest. whats the point of having a city hall terminal if the only use is to occupy the town? it turns the game into a huge match of hide and seek (hint: you have to break open the doors)
The plot: we're treading old ground here. The new plot lacks the sense of continuity feeling the old did. We're not hunting down the seven heros, we're just costing along killing people and finding hives. Also the new game drags far too long. By the time you get the blues, you're on your way to the second last area of the game. The last mistress comes RIGHT before your attack on the city. You had both mistresses and all the hives about halfway (MABYE 2/3s) of the way through the game. Also the wizards final fight was just epic, minions fighting minions, etc etc. now you just attack a couple boils on a huge ooze.
The overlord: kind of petty, but this new overlord looks to...barbaric...to combat ready...to scruffy. he lacks the aura of discipline and shiny, nobily evil armor of his father. also i did NOT want to know that the overlord's skin is blue. TMI. The new tower is neat though (even if it is upside down) and the new gates of spiky black metal and stone instead of the stonehenge type of tower gate exude a greater sense of evil.
A few minor things that i bunch up into one.
No massive hauls of life force, like the caves in the original. now we have to farm in everlight town with a bunch of fat tourists.
No arena
DO NOT TAKE THE NEXT ONE THE WRONG WAY, I AM IN NO WAY INTERESTED IN A GAME'S SEX APPEAL
The sex scenes (I.E. staring at a curtain) now consist of the mistress in question speaking a (what i assume to be) sexy-one liner. The old ones felt like they gave greater character to the mistresses. To be honest, unless it was bold-facedly told to me what rose and the overlord were doing, i'd have thought they were talking about combat techniches (i'm pretty sure pincer maneuver IS a military term), which reflects roses evil but nice character. Also the tower shakes, giving an interesting feel.
SEE I WAS TALKING ABOUT CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT
thank you for bearing with me on that, this has been stuff that's been brewing in my mind for a while.
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, but all you find is the old tower heart shards. Rose makes no apperance later, until you attack the empire's city. On the other hand, the way the game makes us think of florian as stupid and useless, then reveal him as the final boss and mastermind was truly briliant.
