Review by: Danielle Riendeau

Overlord II is kind of like the brilliant but underachieving kid in class – he’s got all sorts of awesome ideas, and more than enough ability to make good on them, but when it comes to test day, it becomes obvious that he was beating up kids for their milk money instead of studying. However, the game is so charming in its roguish, blatantly evil way that it (mostly) makes up for the lack of polish.

The core gameplay is much like Pikmin, only evil and twisted. You control an overlord (he looks like one of the Nazgul from Lord of the Rings), who builds and controls an army of little creepy color-coded dudes, known as minions. Browns are the brawlers, Reds are fire-spreading archers, Greens are stealthy assassins, and Blues act as healers with resurrection powers. You control your little guys directly by aiming and throwing them at targets, or “sweeping” them with the right stick, while you control the Overlord himself with the left stick. You also have access to magic spells and a few hack n’ slash moves, so you can turn the tide in battles yourself.

The writing is consistently amusing, if a little ham-handed. Your goal is to raise impressive minion armies and conquer the world from the fruity, bourgeoisie “Empire” that has outlawed magical creatures like yourself. In general, you’ll fight everyone from fatty Roman-looking centurions and their legions of wimpy soldiers to other magical folks who occupy the “light side”. They’re all hippies – especially the fruity elves, who speak like stoners and scream like little girls. When a game’s first mission has you clubbing baby seals to steal their life force, you know you’re in for something special.

Blending action with RTS with RPG elements (whew), you need to collect life force (each downed enemy yields some, which is colored in accordance with minion type) and money to level up your armies and your own weaponry. Minions increase strength by finding dropped helmets and arms after battles, and you can select from an impressive variety of blades, maces, etc. for yourself by visiting your own personal forge back home. Your wealth and power is reflected in your netherworld digs – where you can also keep a few mistresses cozy.

There’s more – vehicle sections that actually play out with impressive variety, environmental puzzles al la Pikmin, possession sections that allow you direct control over minions, and so on. There’s so much to see and do in this game that it’s almost impossible to complain about content.