Overlord II PC
User Score
7.8 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 81 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 65 out of 81
  2. Mixed: 6 out of 81
  3. Negative: 10 out of 81

Review this game

  1. Your Score
    0 out of 10
    Rate this:
  1. Submit
  2. Check Spelling
view
per page
  1. MichaelC
    Aug 31, 2009
    2
    *The minions are hilarious. They really make an otherwise weak game a bit of fun. *The aesthetics of the environments, including the Dark Tower are really well down. It's nice how the tower improves as you move along in your Overlording. *Music is good. Cons: *A lot of the controls and game play suck. The "sweep" command in the PC version, at least, is seriously, seriously flawed and makes for A LOT of frustration when things don't work as expected. This is a really awful flaw that takes the game from being fun and challenging to needlessly irritating. This combined with the inability to save as you go (only at spottily available spots) makes for a lot of wasted time and anger. *Bugs such as walking to close to an NPC and seeing his or her hair and eyeballs floating in front of you are rather stupid, but not so distracting. *Enslaved peasants and plebs follow you to the point of blocking your way. *Other than those two serious flaws the game is pretty fun. Just the usual amount of misogyny, homophobia, and racism that are in games made for psychosexually/sociologically retarded fanboys for psychosexually/sociologically retarded fan boys. Those with a brain could still enjoy the game while laughing AT the designers and the intended audience and rolling your eyes a lot. Well you could if the game was playable. Full of typical trite stereotypes such as environmentalists are gay, women are powerless whores and sex objects waiting for the man to come save them so they can be a spoiled mistress, and fat people are evil and funny at the time (how original!!).… Expand
  2. MikeN
    Jul 1, 2009
    3
    I don't recommend buying this game. A very poor and frustrating gameplay. Minions keep dying all the time, even your most trained/geared ones and often for no good reason. Yes you cen ressurect them, but it takes hours of tedius grinding in lower areas for the orbs. Controlling them is very difficult. Story is very thin, so dont expect anything deep or interesting. Besides the minions, other characters are very unfinished. Sounds also very poor. Speech is often too quiet and uncomprehensible, topped by poor acting.… Expand
  3. DanS
    Jul 1, 2009
    0
    Horrible game, the wit and charm other reviewers seem to enjoy was nowhere to be found! Stupid game mechanics and poor planning are abound though. Even if you like the first overlord I would avoid this one because of all the terrible incredibly boring and looooong 'mini-games' they force you into, mini-games that break the feel of the game in a weak attempt to copy some FF7 fad is pretty sad.… Expand
  4. ByronB.
    Jun 24, 2009
    0
    DO NOT INSTALL! The Steam installed demo FORCE INSTALLED an invalid DirectX that wasn't at all required, BREAKING MY ENTIRE SYSTEM. No option asking to install it, or even warning with a cancel button: Just "Hey, I'm installing DirectX now into your windows system directory and trashing your entire OS's ability to play any games whatsoever. Enjoy!" I have no idea if the game itself is any good...it really doesn't matter. This company's craptastic software engineers should be fired.... DO NOT FORCE INSTALL CORE *&%!ing LIBS YOU! "Codemasters" my arse, more like Codemonkeys!… Collapse
  5. BillM
    Jun 26, 2009
    2
    WARNING: Do NOT buy this game until it is patched. There are several instances in Overlord II of lazy game development that can make you unable to progress. Combined with the lack of any easy way to save (you have to travel all the back to your tower to do so), can make this game a complete waste of time if you are do something the developers didn't think of like exit game during a boss fight. As for the game itself, if you liked the first one then you will like part two. Just don't expect much in terms of new game play. I think IGN may have been the only review site that actually played the game and their critique is dead on. All the new features are solely superficial and none of the old problems of the first game have been address. In addition to these problems the game also lacks depths, content, and polish. It feels very rushed and unfinished as though the developers where under some unrealistic deadlines. A shame since at its core Overlord is a great concept with very high potential. I just wish Triumph Studios gave this title the love and attention it deserves.… Expand
  6. der_mape
    Oct 22, 2010
    4
    Overlord 2 is really not a bad game, but I didn't like it at all. Let me summarize what you should expect. If you think this does not bother you, go ahead.


    ||-> The controls are awful. After sending minions or sweeping them, the games sometimes does not recognize that you stopped pressing the mouse buttons. So the camera follows the minions (if you're lucky! Sometimes the camera just fac    es a wall) and the recall buttons does not work. This can easily kill you or your minions. Those flawed controls made me sometimes loose over 30 minutes of playing (because I like to explore a lot), and you can only save at check points(!).

    ||-> While the cursor moves precisely on the interface, the focus is not always on the item you're pointing at. Double-clicking sometimes works, but sometimes you choose the wrong item. Also, there are no tool tips.

    ||-> Overlord 1 had a really nice black humorous charm. DO NOT expect the same in Overlord 2. The new Overlord IS EVIL. You cannot be a good-natured evil ruler anymore. Also, don't expect funny stereotypes like a gluttonous halfling or an arrogant paladin. The characters in Overlord 2 are embarrassing at best (gay elven stoners) and flat as they come. The story, and especially the ending, is an insult to the audience.

    ||-> As in Overlord 1, you can forge items, but unfortunately now the recipes are fixed. Also, the game tells you how many resources you need to forge it, but completely omits info on how much damage the weapon does or how much protection the new armor gives you. This is especially annoying, because there is no arena anymore, where you could test your gear, or farm new life force. Since the powerful items also need "Dark crystals" (which is a finite resource), you cannot really experiment with your equipment anymore. Same goes for minion upgrades. Maybe it was in the manual (which I did not read, of course), but apart from "Your minions are now stronger" I found no info on what they do.

    ||-> Well, and there are lots of frustrating rough edges. If you let your minions carry two items at once, they might get stuck and trap you in a dead end. In the missions where you have to kill/subdue all 100 villagers, they might get stuck in their houses. In one of these missions, some of the villagers are hostile (and placed among other enemies) making it _very_ hard to subdue them. After a cut-scene, the game tends to place you and your minions in the worst possible spot, even if you were somewhere safe before. Sometimes your minions attack an enemy, but don't actually hit it (you can see this with barrels) and consequently get slaughtered. This is very annoying if you had to sweep mounted minions to take out an officer who was out of your reach. Or stupid things like: as soon as you get mounts for the reds which allow them to move AND shoot, you have to fight against a new kind of archers who ALWAYS hit their target, even if it moves, completely defeating the new ability of your reds.


    I decided to finish the game to keep my future self from trying again in a couple of months. But I can tell you now that if you started playing and at some point have to force yourself to continue playing: don't. The game is not for you, and it does not get better towards the end. On the other hand, if you don't mind the above, Overlord 2 is a nice sequel with improved graphics (though I preferred the cartoon look of Overlord 1) and a bunch of nice new ideas, like mounts, catapults, boats, and being able to possess your minions. A a few of the jokes are actually really hilarious.    … Expand

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
79 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 32 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 28 out of 32
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 32
  3. Negative: 0 out of 32
  1. 1UP
    91
    Overlord 2 offers a lot of options for customization, be it in the form of minion upgrades, spell specializations, and purely aesthetic options like how to decorate your fortress and which of your mistresses you choose to favor.
    Read full review
  2. Gamers.at
    82
    Overlord II could do many things better, but its delightfully malicious humor is without compare. Do yourself a favor and buy this game.
    Read full review
  3. Meristation
    80
    Overlord 2 is a solid sequel of the first one, a game that surprised many people thanks to its charm and originality. Now, the surprise factor is gone, but Triumph Games has made wise improvements over the weakest elements of their previous work, which makes this an enjoyable experience and a recommended title.
    Read full review
See all critic reviews »