Review: Overlord 2 for XBOX 360

Being a huge fan of the original Overlord, I actually made it a point to pre-order Overlord 2 before it was released.

The game starts off a bit odd compared to the original Overlord. Instead of being the big beefy bad guy, you start off as a small pint sized child. You are actually the Overlord's son, and your goal, like your dads, is to re-build your evil empire, while of course ruling the entire world.

Your trusty minions are also with you in Overlord 2. Like the original game though you first must rescue their hives in order to make use of them in the game. The very first hive you will retrieve is your brown minions.

As the game goes on, and more missions are complete you will find your red minions, green minions, and lastly your blue minions.

Each minion color is the same as in the original, and no new colors have been added.

Minions are basically your clan of goblins whom you will control to wreak havoc on towns, and if you want, you can direct them to destroy everything in their path, while you, the Overlord sits back out of harms way and watched their fun destruction.

What makes the minions so spectacular though is not only the fact that they are hilarious, but they pretty much rule the game as in the original.

Although in the sequel our Overlord has a little bit more solo use, the minions once again take the spotlight in this game.

What is unique about our minions this round though is that they have names, and can be upgraded to become even more powerful, and mischievous.

Each color minion has a special power, and a weakness. The browns are excellent fighters, however they cannot go through fire, or walk through water. The reds are weak fighters, but when placed a distance away from the enemy they can throw balls of fire and set enemies ablaze. The greens can walk through poisonous gases, and are excellent fighters from behind. Face to face battles though they are weaker. The blue minions can resurrect minions who have fallen in battle, and they can of course, walk through water. They are weak as hell fighters though.

Another new unique addition is the fact that the Overlord can resurrect dead minions as well, in the minion grave yard.

As far as graphics go, Overlord 2 really pumped up the graphics with nice bold bright lush environments, and more details than what we remember from the original.

Sounds are all pretty much the same, with the addition of some really nice hypnotic music played in certain levels and scenes.

The controls are also all the same as the original. You move your minions using the right joystick. The camera angles are also adjusted in a 360 degree manner using the same control. This creates frustration at times however.

A button is the Overlords action button, which allows him to slice up enemies using his axe, or other upgraded weaponry.

A added map is now located on the lower left hand side of the screen. This map is helpful, but can be frustrating due to the fact that some levels have different plane levels, and when wandering around you can easily hit dead ends, which on the map don't look like dead ends, because they are located on the second level in the game. It's annoying, but without the map, things would be unbearable as far as roaming.

Another frustrating element in the game is the fact that many areas cannot be accessed till you find your blue minions. You find the blue minions though so late in the game, and it's annoying not being able to finish a mission without your blues. Having to go back and finish what you started is great for re-play value, however for some it may just be a frustration.

All in all Overlord 2 is a really killer fun game; it does have some issues, but overall is a very nice polished game for those who loved the original.