Overlord II (0)

Overview

Overlord II is a action-adventure game developed by and published by for the , and Overlord II is the sequel to the original Overlord and was released in June 2009.

Plot

Overlord II follows the events of the Raising Hell from the first game. Shortly after the old disappearance, the Tower Heart was broken causing the Cataclysm, which in turn destroyed the locations of the first game and started a . The survivors fled to new lands where the Glorious Empire comes into being, and begins to take control of the new lands while purging all magical creatures. The Glorious Empire mimics many features of the ancient Roman empire.

As shown in Raising Hell, the previous Overlord's mistress, , gives birth to his child. This child is both the new Overlord and the player character. He is taken to the mountain village of Nordberg and left there. In the village, he is treated as an outcast and all of the villagers refer to him as -Boy.

find him during his childhood and, believing that he has the potential to become their new master, help him escape when the Glorious Empire attack Nordberg. The villagers on the other hand to save the town. The reason behind the attack is that the empire senses the growing magical energy in the overlord child. A , freed by the Overlord during his escape over an ice-covered , causes the ice sheet to break, freezing the Overlord until his Minions take him to the . The player character is then raised by and the Minions as the new Overlord.

Upon coming-of-age and passing Gnarl's tests, the player scouts the Nordberg countryside, encountering a band of lead by Florian Greenheart. The Elves try and prevent him from baby seals, and take in the yeti. The Overlord then heads to one of the Elves' nearby and proceeds to destroy it, an act that earns him the of the Elf Queen Fay. During this time the observed actions of the Glorious Empire leads Gnarl to classify it as a threat, and the Overlord heads out to and destroy the Empire.

He begins by capturing Nordberg and taking Kelda, the only girl in the village who was not afraid of him as a child, as his mistress, and choosing to either or destroy the village. The Overlord and his horde of minions soon travel to the flooded Everlight Reef to gain access into the Elven lands of Everlight.

Upon arriving, the Overlord finds that Everlight has already been captured by the Empire. Its nobles use the area as a , where they have all become lazy and due to the round the clock service by former elf residents, who the Empire enslaved. The Overlord gains control of Everlight and takes Juno, a accused of being a witch by other Empire women, as a mistress. He then kills or enslaves the town's inhabitants. Juno tells the Overlord how to access the Empire's main city, but while attempting to sneak in, the Overlord falls into the . Exploring the slums results in the Overlord being captured and sent to the , a large Coliseum-like structure where magical beings are killed in . The Overlord beats all opponents, and when the yeti is brought out to face him the player has the option of either weakening and capturing the yeti, or killing it.

Back at the Netherworld tower, the Overlord is visited by a mysterious woman who Gnarl vaguely recognizes. The Overlord travels to the Wastelands, where the old tower resided. Gnarl tasks him with finding the shards of the Tower Heart. After encountering the Elves in their main sanctuary, Queen Fay and Florian help the Overlord to reassemble the Tower Heart. Florian is by the Empire after leading the Overlord to the shards, and Fay regretfully allows the Overlord to drain four shrines to power up the Tower Heart. The Tower Heart still needs more power, so the Overlord also drains Fay of her magical energy, her and taking her as his third mistress.

With the Tower Heart restored, the Overlord to the Empire’s capital by catapulting the Heart itself into the city’s anti-magic barrier. While laying waste to the city's , the Overlord is confronted once again by the mysterious woman who reveals herself as Rose, the old Overlord’s mistress and current Overlord’s mother. She discloses that the Empire was to bring order to the land for balance between , but Solarius let the power go to his head. Upon storming the palace, Florian appears, and reveals that he is Solarius. Because he was a non-magical Elf, he attempted to harness the power of the abandoned Tower Heart, but instead caused the Cataclysm and spawned the fear of magic. From this hatred, he created the Empire and gathered the magic of the inhabitants for his own use. The raw magical energy drained from the captured magical creatures was collected in a , which Solarius dives into. The result is that he becomes a giant, leech-like monster, which is hailed as the Devourer by Marius. The Overlord battles and destroys the Devourer and Solarius.

Depending on the player’s actions during the game, plays: one for pure , one for pure Destruction, and one for all other points on the scale. The Overlord either destroys the land or enslaves the populace, with the minions throwing huge parties. Either way, Gnarl reveals that even the Overlord’s power might wane (with the implication that he is biding his time), finishing once again with "Evil always finds a way".

Minion Types

The minions act as the main battle force for the Overlord. They soldier on at the command of the Overlord, leading the charge and taking the brunt of most of the enemy attacks. The game offers four different types of minions for the Overlord to control.

Brown Minions

The brown minions are the first type gained and act as the main fighting force. Due to this they have the highest strength, defense and . Upgrade their stats by having them pick up armor and weapons from defeated enemies. Brown minions also ride mounts. On wolves, the browns gain a charge ability allowing them to both jump over gaps and more easily break through Empire formations.

Red Minions

Red minions are the ranged unit of the game. Typically they take position and aim at their foes, until they set fire to enemy forces. Reds are not only immune to , but they also absorb fire to help clear the path for the Overlord and the other minion types. Red minions ride mounts. Being mounted boosts their attacks and allows them to shoot fire while moving. Salamanders also easily traverse very steep slopes.

Green Minions

Green minions act as the units. When set on a target they turn , ready to pounce on larger foes. The sneak attack gives greens a greater potential for damage than the brown minions. Green minions are immune to , and absorb it into their bodies. Green minions ride mounts, allowing them to traverse in order to access new areas.

Blue Minions

Blue minions have little to no combat ability, but make up for it with the ability to . Blues are also the only minions with the ability to in the game. Unlike other minions, they are not able to ride a mount but instead can dispel magic, which becomes of great importance both in the wasteland and in the final battle of the game.

Multi player

Slaughter

This mode pits two Overlords against each other where each player must kill as many enemies on the map as possible in exchange for points. It is also possible to kill the other player for a large bonus in points.

Pillage

This mode is similar to slaughter, but this time players must collect as much as possible, by either opening the numerous or collecting scattered across the map. Players can kill each other for a chance to some of their opponents gold.

Players work together to fend of increasingly difficult waves of enemies and fight to last as long as possible.

Protect Your Power

This mode is similar to survival, but instead the players must defend an object from being destroyed from the never-ending tide of monsters.

Development

The game allows players to control a new Overlord as the playable character, as was hinted near the end of the expansion pack, Overlord: Raising Hell. This new is the son of the original Overlord who arrives at a time when the Glorious Empire, the dominant world society, is on a to destroy anything to do with magic, including the remnants of the Overlords realm. The Glorious Empire is Overlord II's take on the Roman Empire and the developer hopes the setting will provide an avenue for and a cultural touchstone.

The new theme in this sequel is domination versus destructive evil continually presenting the player with the to either destroy his enemies, or enslave and exploit them. Each will have its benefits and will change the player's path through the game. Other new features include both the introduction of siege machines that you can order your minions to control, and different mounts that grant the minions extra abilities. Controlling the the Overlord in the remains much the same, but the scope of the battles increases with bigger battlefields and more enemies on-screen at one time. The improved visuals also reflect the new Roman theme.

returns as lead writer for the game as well as Overlord: Dark Legend and .

PC System Requirements