While it feels great to save the farmer from the savage beast that threatens his livestock or save the beautiful maiden that has been captured by a group of bandits; it feels even greater being the monster that is wrecking having in said farm or being the fiend that kidnaps the beautiful maiden. It’s fun to be bad, as games like the original Overlord and games that feature the choice between doing being good or bad have shown us. Now we get a second chance of being a dark lord of the netherworld in Overlord II for the Xbox 360 and being bad never felt this good … albeit still not perfect.

 
“Man, these Burning Man concerts get weirder every year.”

In fact, all of the things that went wrong with the original are back in Overlord II, although the game does introduce new gameplay elements and improvements in other places that made the original a fun romp. If you bought the game the first time around, the new features might not be enough to bring you back to the Netherworld. Thankfully, the new content adds more deliciously evil twists to your rise as a dark overlord.

Overlord II begins with a child who is seen as an outcast and misfit by adults and children when you come to learn that you have influence over gremlin-like Minions that are willing to do your bidding at the drop of a hat. One day, you decide you won’t take any more grief from the people of your village and unleash your minions on them and ruin a perfectly good Christmas-like event Grinch-style. Unfortunately, the forces of a Romanesque Empire interrupt and you are tossed into the freezing ocean. Years pass and you are thawed out by a Minion Master named Gnarl who inspires you to be the Netherworld’s dark Overlord.

Of course, you don’t automatically rise to power so you are tasked with revealing yourself to the world … especially the village that still haunts your dreams. For starters, you already have the look (a nod to Tolkien’s Lord Sauron) as well as the support of a small group of Minions. You can command said Minions around by directing them manually via the right analog stick or target a subject and send them on their destructive way. You can also do the trampling and slaying yourself with your weapon as well as your magic.

Your evil deeds aren’t as gruesome as other games and your road to evil overlord can actually be very funny thanks to the charming British wit the game displays during the lengthy campaign. For example, there’s a new faction that takes the form of a group of Elves that are a nod to Greenpeace and PETA rolled into one hilarious stereotype when you begin your reign of terror, which includes smashing trees and sending your Minions to club adorable baby seals and endangered manatees.

Oh, that’s just the start of your dark road. Your evil deeds include setting fires to friendly villages and working your way to smashing the Empire that has become more powerful during your long absence. As the overlord of the Netherworld, you can accept tasks offered from citizens that see no other alternative but to come to you for help. Imagine lending a farmer a hand and then enslaving the farmer and you get the picture of how evil you really can get in this game. You can chose to enslave villagers and make them worship the ground you walk on or you can send Minions riding vicious wolves to tear them apart.

 
“Go forth, my Minions, and bring me every Hannah Montana poster you can find. I so love her!” 

Speaking of Minions, the game introduces new Minion types such as archers, healers, assassins and fighters. Each one can be called upon on the fly and if you happen to lose a few during combat, you can always spawn more from a few magical portals. One portal even allows you to transfer your essence into a Minion so you can control that Minion temporarily to carry out duties you can do yourself. They can even carry moveable objects for you, gather loot for you, move objects out of your way, guard a spot and even disguise themselves at your command.

As I mentioned earlier, the campaign is longer thanks to the new missions that give you plenty to do to the point that you can even return to the Netherworld that acts like a hub to do everything including save the game. There are a few paths to take in this game that could lead to a different ending up the main mission, of course, is to watch the Empire crumble at your feet and make your old village pay dearly.

Unfortunately, the flaws from the original are back. The camera is still a problem despite the fact that the right analog stick is used to move it around to your liking. You can move it but not nearly enough to make the places or things you want to see visible unless you move your characters closer to what you want to see. Combat can be a tad tedious but not enough that you’ll get frustrated with it. Then there’s the problem with your Minions that aren’t smart know that they can drown or can’t reach a certain place unless you lead them directly.

There’s a multiplayer mode that can be played online or offline with or against a friend. The co-op mode is rather fun, especially Invasion where you and a friend are tasked with taking on a centurion. Then there’s the competitive modes that are even more fun, such as Dominate where you attempt to dominate an area on the map before your friend does. It’s good fun, indeed, but not great.

 
“Honey, remind me never to come to Rome ever again.”

The game’s graphics are also improved so the world and characters actually do look good during cut scenes as well as during the action. The environments, for instance, really stand out beautifully and the destructible objects do smash beautifully in this game. What really stands out are the visual effects and the number of Minions going crazy on the screen at once. My only complaint is that the camera will sometimes have you looking at nothing worth looking at when you can’t swing it around.

I do love the game’s voice acting and the funny lines of dialogue that is heard throughout the game. The surfer dude accents on the Elves are hilarious, especially when you’re doing something as atrocious as stepping on little gnomes right in front of them or setting fires. The soundtrack is not bad at all but it’s the sound effects that do sound good enough that you’ll definitely play the game with the volume up.

Overlord II for the Xbox 360 has its share of problems but despite its glaring flaws, this second outing is undeniably and wickedly entertaining. With a few additional changes that make for a bigger and funnier game than the original, it’s great to be bad again and even more so when you have a lot more to do in this game. If you haven’t played the original then I highly suggest you skip that one and buy this one instead … unless you’re a member of PETA, of course.

Gameplay: 7.5
Despite an irritating camera that you can’t really rotate and minions that aren’t at all very bright (thank God you can spawn more), causing as much mayhem and destruction is still downright addictive. The single-player campaign is longer now and that’s very good news of evildoers everywhere.

Graphics: 8.5
The visual improvement over the original is very noticeable thanks to some gorgeous and wonderfully detailed environments and visual effects. While the humans don’t look as great during the in-game action, the magical creatures of this realm do stand out.

Sound: 8.5
The score is wonderfully cinematic and has that fantasy movie feel to it and the sound effects are nicely detailed. The best part of the sound, however, is the voice acting and the funny dialogue that you might catch if you’re really listening during the action. Even the minions are hilarious to listen to in this game.

Difficulty: Medium
Most of the game’s challenges will have you thinking while the others are very obvious. Combat can be a bit frustrating at times but not to the point that you will be cursing the game.

Concept: 8.0
Commanding the minions with new abilities as well as making use of runes and other magical items that can call up more minions or even take control of one is great stuff. You can enslave those wretched humans or slay them for a different ending narration. There’s also multiplayer co-op and competitive online action.

Multiplayer: 7.5
Online there are a few dips in the framerate but otherwise it runs smoothly enough to participate in some competitive game modes against a friend in Dominate and Pillage or co-op in game modes like Survival and Invasion.

Overall: 8.0
While the flaws from the original are back and the game doesn‘t break any new ground, Overlord II is still a delightfully enticing and addictive game about being evil. The new content might not be enough to lure in gamers who own the original but those who missed it should definitely pick this one up instead.