Overlord II

''Overlord II'' is a 2009 action role-playing game and sequel to the 2007 video game '' Overlord''. It was developed by Triumph Studios and published by Codemasters for Linux, Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3. All versions were released in North America on 23 June 2009, in Europe on 26 June and Australia on 9 July 2009, alongside two spin-offs; '' Overlord: Dark Legend'' and '' Overlord: Minions'' for the Wii and the Nintendo DS, respectively. A Linux version was released on 26 July 2016.

Continuing the style of the series, players take the role of the Overlord, a mysterious warrior whose goal is to destroy or conquer the land by commanding hordes of small creatures known as "Minions". The story directly follows the events of the first ''Overlord'' game, with the succeeding Overlord rising to power opposing a Roman-styled military power known as the "Glorious Empire". The story was written by Rhianna Pratchett and maintains a satirical tone and dark humour towards the fantasy setting and genre.

Gameplay

The core gameplay from the previous ''Overlord'' game remains intact in the sequel, with the player controlling the ''Overlord'' character in a third-person perspective who has command over hordes of small goblin-like creatures known as minions to travel the landscape and defeat various civilisations with the Roman-style "Glorious Empire" being the prime foe. Initially only the brown minions are available but eventually the Overlord will regain command of the others that are essential in overcoming obstacles that obstruct further progression of the story. With up to four kinds, each minion type is suited for different purposes such as browns for fighting and blues for healing fallen minions.

While the Overlord himself can fight in combat with various weapons and armour types that gradually become available and the ability to cast spells to either help minions or hinder opponents, the majority of tasks are performed by the minion hordes. While minions retain many abilities including using scattered items as weaponry and armour, carry large objects in a group, turning cranks and finding treasure, minions can now also operate siege weapons, ships/boats and other war machines and, once captured, can mount and ride wild animals to help in combat and overcome obstacles. The Overlord also has the ability to occasionally take direct control over the current strongest minion to lead the rest through the use of the "Possession Stone".

The Overlord and his minions reside in a dark tower in a dimension known as the "Netherworld", where the Overlord builds up his minion forces by harvesting life-force from fallen creatures that, when gathered, can be brought back into the real world as a minion by summoning them through Minion Gates scattered across the landscape and through the Overlord himself in the less common Netherworld Gates. Treasure accumulated over time can be spent on upgrades for the tower, whether they're upgrades for gameplay or just decorative, along with large contraptions and magical objects that the minions can be ordered to return to gates, thus the tower. The choice system returns once more in ''Overlord II'', where at certain points during quests that can be taken providing two paths; the Destruction Overlord that focuses on destroying towns and killing all in his path and the Domination Overlord that rather focuses on enslaving defeated foes or neutral parties to worship and work for him. The choice themselves not only affect the story and interactive with non-player characters, but can alter the look of the Overlord and allow certain powers to become available. Other choices such as choosing a mistress allow the Overlord to have multiple mistresses and can (re)designate any to be the primary mistress at any time.

Besides the single-player campaign, players can play various multiplayer modes online and local, both competitive and cooperative. Competitive modes includes Dominate, where rival player Overlords attempt to capture sections of the map, and Pillage where they must capture large portions of treasure. Cooperative, on the other hand, sees player Overlords working together to either defend against a constant onslaught in Survival or attack powerful foes in Invasion.

Story

Characters

The silent protagonist Overlord from the first game is not present in ''Overlord II'', as he was trapped in the Abyss dimension at the end of the expansion, '' Overlord: Raising Hell''. Instead, the role of the Overlord is taken up by his child, who was removed from the original Tower to live in a mountain village, but is thrown out by the villagers to appease the Glorious Empire and, on his escape, taken in by the Minions.

Gnarl, the aged Minion advisor from the previous games, is the main recurring character in ''Overlord II''. As an adviser and initial tutor, Gnarl engages in most of the game's dialogue, including narration, outlining objectives, dropping hints and even making jokes. Other Characters returning from ''Overlord'' include Forge Master Giblet, the minion minstrel Quaver, and the human Rose, mistress of the previous Overlord.

With the new Overlord comes the familiar gaggle of minions, grouped into four different sects that have different abilities and strengths: Browns; Reds; Greens; Blues. The Browns are the first sect that the Overlord has at his disposal, and frequently the most useful in any direct combat; they are more robust and can take much more damage than any other minion group, though they are susceptible to fire and poison and they drown in water higher than the Overlord's knee. Reds are the ranged attackers, hurling fireballs at enemies, combustibles and explosives; they have the added ability to remove flame from obstacles and can traverse through fiery obstacles without harm. The Greens are stealth attackers that become invisible if they are stationary, and while close to useless in a direct confrontation (without Browns), they are devastating if planted along a patrols path or if directed to attack an enemy from behind; they are also regarded as the least hygienic group, which somehow makes them immune to poison, allowing them to remove toxic obstacles and walk through toxic clouds. The Blues are medics, virtually non-combative entities that cannot participate in a melee situation alone without sustaining severe casualties, but their ability to resurrect fallen minions makes them valuable; their additional abilities include "blinking," removing magical ooze, swimming and an immunity to magic attacks.

Characters new to the series include the Overlord's three mistresses: Kelda, a strong willed village girl and the only childhood friend to the Overlord; Juno, a seductive and spoiled Empire maiden; and Queen Fay, leader of the Elves of Everlight before being corrupted by the Overlord. Two new minion masters are also introduced: Mortis, who watches over the minion hives and has the ability to resurrect fallen minion heroes; the hooded keeper of Battle Rock, who organises events in the Overlord's personal arena (though this may be the same minion that stood before the dungeon in the first Overlord). The story's central antagonist is the reclusive Emperor Solarius, ruler of the Glorious Empire, who is committed to conquering the world and removing all magical creatures. While Solarius appears reclusive, he has a number of henchmen who govern the various conquered lands. His second-in-command, Marius, acts as his spokesperson. A secondary antagonist is Florian Greenheart, leader of a band of fanatical environmentalist elves.

Plot

A generation has passed since the events of the first ''Overlord'', with that game's Overlord now the ruler of the Abyss after being trapped following the events of ''Raising Hell''. The Tower Heart was broken shortly after the old Overlord's disappearance, causing a cataclysm, which destroyed much of the old land and started a magical plague. When the survivors fled to new lands, the Glorious Empire came into being and it began to take control of the new lands, while purging all magical creatures. The old Overlord's mistress gives birth to his child, the "Overlad". The Mistress then takes the child to the mountain village of Nordberg and leaves him to grow up there, where all of the villagers (except a girl named Kelda, the Overlad's only friend) fear him, referring to him as "Witch-Boy". The brown minions find him and help cause local havoc. When the Glorious Empire besieges Nordberg, the villagers offer him up to save the town. A yeti

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