The Five: Overlord II

3/17/2009 8:23 PM | 1 Comments | Page 1 of 1

The Skinny: The original Overlord was like an evil version of Pikmin. Playing as a Sauron-esque bad guy, you conjured up some hellspawn minions to do your bidding. And no, we're not talking about picking up your laundry or shampooing your carpet; they helped you take over the land. So how is Overlord II -- which Codemasters will release on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC this summer -- going to be different?

1. Things start off like a soap opera. At the end of Raising Hell, an expansion for the original Overlord, you were imprisoned and an impending father. Overlord II, rather oddly, casts you as your own son, who is raised by minions to take your own father's place. These are the days of our lives.

2. But it ends up being more like "Soap." While the game may sound rather melodramatic, it's actually quite funny ... in a British way. The team cites Monty Python and other iconic British comedy as influences on the game's tone and sense of humor -- er, humour. It also worked closely with writer Rhianna Pratchett -- whose father, Terry Pratchett, is a well-known British humorous fantasy writer in the Douglas Adams vein -- to not only write the game's script (as she had for the first game), but to come up with the story they built the game around as well.

3. Minions are people, too. Fundamentally, this sequel plays a lot like the original, with you bossing groups of mischievous minions around. But now, if you grow attached to one of the little buggers -- they are kind of cute, in an ugly sort of way -- you can actually resurrect them if they die in the line of duty (though it does involve sacrificing other minions).

4. It's like a See & Spell. While the gameplay isn't drastically different from the original, the control mechanics have changed a little. According to the dev team, the controls have all been simplified, especially the ones used to cast spells. Tapping a button will cause you to cast one spell, holding the same button down will cast a different spell, and hitting the button when you're aiming at something will cast another spell entirely.

5. There is another ... Skywalker ... I mean, Overlord. Overlord II won't be your only chance to be a jerk of a boss. "We have two other Overlord games coming out the same time as Overlord II," says Codemasters' Dan Robinson, the brand manager of the franchise. "We have Overlord: Dark Legend on the Wii, which is a prequel to the first game, and it's the same kind of game; and we have Overlord: Minions for the DS, a spin-off that's more of a puzzle game." We couldn't have said it better ourselves.

The Crispy Forecast: Miyamoto may not approve, but gamers with a god complex look like they're in for an evil time with this one.

This preview is based on a developer interview and demo of the game at a media event.