Overlord II Hands-on
Return to your devilish ways.
May 20, 2009 - The original Overlord hit store shelves in 2007 and brought with it a host of mischievous, multi-colored minions. In Overlord, players were given the opportunity to play as the villain -- a dark Overlord bent on bringing evil and destruction to the world. But the Overlord wasn't expected to do this on his own... certainly not. What made Overlord special was the player's control over the aforementioned group of gremlin-like creatures that did all the heavy lifting with smiling subservience. Although the game was riddled with bugs, some of the design concepts were quite appetizing.
And now evil is on the rise again. Overlord II, developed by Triumph Studios and published by Codemasters, is launching on the PS3, 360 and PC this June. I had the pleasure of sitting down with Triumph Studios Director Lennart Sas who demonstrated several sections scattered throughout the Overlord II campaign. I also went hands-on with the fiendish adventure game's opening segments.
[ign]14273774&downloadURL=http://ps3movies.ign.com/ps3/video/article/985/985147/overlord2_gmp_spoilingchristmas_52009_flvlowwide.flv[/ign]
This can actually happen.
Overlord II picks up where the original Overlord (expansion pack) left off. The Overlord is gone and the minion army has been without a guiding hand for quite some time. However, the darkly adorable creatures search high and low for signs of a new master. Their quest takes them to the quiet, icy lights of Nordberg, a town nestled deep in snow-capped mountains and trees. There, a small child is found and he's quite unlike the other boys. After all, his eyes are always glowing in an evil manner and you can't see his entire face. Go figure.
Turns out this little troublemaker is the Overlord's son.
The minions struggle to help the new Overlord escape from Nordberg, as the town is suddenly besieged by warriors of the Glorious Empire, a Roman-esque legion of soldiers and sorcerers. This entire beginning section serves as a tutorial for the player. Before the town is actually attacked, you have a while to acquaint yourself with the controls and chase a bunch of meddling children in the process. As I played the PS3 version, I can only speak on how that console version controlled. The left stick moves the Overlord around the environment, while the right stick rotates the camera. X is used for attacks and Square casts a lightning spell.
As for the triggers, L1 reorients the camera behind the Overlord while L2 is used to lock-on to different targets. The remaining two triggers give you control over your minions. R1 is used for minion selection and R2 orders your minions to attack/interact with whatever is in front of you (or whatever you're locked on to). Furthermore, pushing the right stick forward will sweep your minions forward and they can be guided left and right after having the initial sweeping order assigned to them. So like the original Overlord, Overlord II is all about giving commands to your minions while simultaneously controlling your character.
Ultimately, having so much control over your character and his followers seems like an impossible feat on a controller, but it works fairly well. My primary hesitation comes with mapping both horizontal camera control and minion commands to the right stick. I wonder if this is going to be a precise enough method down the line when the enemies are more voracious. Of course, this could just be a matter of "getting used to the controls" after an hour or two is spent sweeping minions about.
Speaking of minions, the four minion types return in Overlord II, along with a host of new moves. The browns still function as your main soldiers, while the fire-throwing reds cover the long-range battle plan. Green minions are your stealth units and the blues are once again your support creatures, as they possess the ability to heal their comrades. Although only brown minions were available during my hands-on time, the strategic potential that comes from managing a group of four different unit types is definitely high.
![[IMG]](http://ps3media.ign.com/ps3/image/article/985/985118/overlord-ii-20090520031328977-000.jpg)
That minion on the left looks serious.
But during the introductory section of Overlord II, your minions stumble upon a pack of wolves, or "wolvies," that they immediately take to riding. In Overlord II, there are three different mount types that your minions can enjoy. Brown minions get wolves, green minions get giant spiders (which can climb walls) and red minions can hop atop salamanders. This will also play heavily into the game's battle mechanics because your minions are much more powerful when riding mounts. This was clearly demonstrated when the wolf-riding demons charged through a pack of Glorious Empire soldiers like a hot knife through butter.
Sas also showed me several portions of Overlord II that occur much later in the game's timeline. Players will eventually trek through a luscious, green fairy realm populated by some... heavier fairy women. Your evil warrior will also strike the Glorious Empire directly.
I was told that there will be some key differences between the first Overlord and its sequel. Your character will once again have a tower to control, but this time the evil keep is tucked away in the Netherworld and is designed directly into a massive cavern stalactite, fully equipped with dramatic falling lava. Your minions will also be greatly improved. Besides the new moves, minions can earn specific titles based on their in-game achievements and they can be resurrected at your tower graveyard if they're defeated in battle.
Your Overlord hasn't been left out of the fun, either. Sas noted that Overlord control has been dramatically tightened and weapons handle differently depending on their size. Perhaps most surprising is that, at certain points in the game, your Overlord can enter the body of a minion and carry out "Minion Impossible Missions." Did you see the wordplay there? Or, for more treacherous actions, your Overlord can use dark magic to subdue human NPCs, forcing them to act according to your will. Devious indeed.
If the framerate can be ironed out and the mechanics tightened, Overlord II could be a noble sequel to its predecessor. You can check out a taste of this 20-hour experience yourself, as a demo is planned for the PS3 and 360 in early June.
Meer filmpjes:
[ign]14273774&downloadURL=http://ps3movies.ign.com/ps3/video/article/985/985147/overlord2_gmp_causingmischief_52009_flvlowwide.flv[/ign]
[ign]14273774&downloadURL=http://ps3movies.ign.com/ps3/video/article/985/985147/overlord2_gmp_beingevilmontage_52009_flvlowwide.flv[/ign]
[ign]14273774&downloadURL=http://ps3movies.ign.com/ps3/video/article/985/985147/overlord2_gmp_awakening_52009_flvlowwide.flv[/ign]
[ign]14273774&downloadURL=http://ps3movies.ign.com/ps3/video/article/985/985147/overlord2_gmp_thefairyrealm_52009_flvlowwide.flv[/ign]
|
