Overlord 2
| Overlord 2 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio | Triumph Studios | ||
| Publisher | Codemasters | ||
| Erstveröffent- lichung |
 June 26, 2009 |
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| platform | PlayStation 3 , Windows , Xbox 360 | ||
| genre | Action adventure | ||
| Subject | Fantasy | ||
| Game mode | Single player , multiplayer | ||
| control | Mouse , keyboard or gamepad | ||
| medium | Blu-ray Disc , DVD , Download | ||
| language | Multilingual (German, English, French, Italian, Spanish) | ||
| Age rating |
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Overlord 2 (also Overlord II ) is an action-adventure developed by Triumph Studios , which was published in June 2009 by Codemasters for Microsoft Windows , Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 . It is the sequel to Overlord , whose plot it ties in and whose style of play it continues. After the old overlord disappears, the player slips into the role of his son and gathers strength in order to survive against the seemingly Roman army of the “glorious empire” that wants to exterminate all magical beings. The story was written by Rhianna Pratchett as before and brings a satirical tone and black humor to the fantasy setting .
The game appeared in the same year as the series offshoots developed by Climax Studios , Overlord: Dark Legend ( Wii ) and Overlord: Minions ( Nintendo DS ).
action
Overlord 2 takes place one generation after the first Overlord game. Much has happened in the meantime: The old overlord has disappeared in an infernal underworld, the Dark Tower and the surrounding land were affected by "The Great Destruction" and the land was struck by a magical plague. The henchmen have scattered in all directions and only the brown ones have stayed with Gnarl and are looking for the son of the old overlord, who lives in the snow-covered mountain town of Nordberg and is feared by all residents as a "witch boy".
This is where the game starts and you have to help the young overlord, who is repeatedly terrorized by the village children, to punish them. You are only supported by Kelda, a young girl who is in love with the young Overlord. During the punishment tour, the minions appear and help the player to flee through the ranks of the attacking imperial army and bring him to the underworld . There he is tutored by Gnarl and learns to be an overlord. After the training is almost complete, the game starts again and the player is entrusted with the final mission of killing a Yeti . He flees to the area around Nordberg, where fanatical environmental protection elves under the leadership of Florian try to protect the baby seal pups living there and, when they fail, ship the Yeti to their ship and flee with him to their local sanctuary. The overlord pursues them and finds the reds there again, with whose help he burns the sanctuary for the first time.
The overlord then begins his tour of world conquest by being the first to conquer Nordberg, which is now ruled by the empire under Emperor Solarius, and by making Kelda his mistress . Then the player sails to the land of the elves, Immerlicht, which is also ruled by the empire that uses the elves who live there as slaves and in which one meets many rich imperial citizens who spend their holidays there. The overlord also conquers everlight and also gets the greens back and takes Juno, an imperial beauty accused by the jealous, overweight women, as his second mistress.
This reveals a back door to the empire, which first takes him into the slums , which lead to a gigantic arena in which the magical beings captured by the empire are hounded against each other. Here the overlord finds the last missing minions, the blue ones, but is captured by Marius, Solarius' adviser and sent into battle as an arena attraction. The overlord wins every round and in the last one meets the yeti again, who throws exploding barrels at the overlord and destroys the emperor's box, who then flees. The overlord takes control of the Blue's Nest and returns to the Dark Tower.
Back home, the Overlord is visited by a mysterious stranger who warns him that his own power will lead him to the wasteland, the land of the old Overlord, which, after the tower heart exploded, is now plagued by a magical plague. There the overlord finds the last sanctuary of the elves. The elf queen Feja and Florian help the overlord to put the tower heart back together, as they see the empire as a greater threat. There is not enough energy in the sanctuary to fully charge the tower heart, and Florian is captured by the empire that is besieging the sanctuary. Feja then lets the overlord transfer her own energy to the tower heart, which leads to her becoming evil and his third mistress.
The overlord uses the charged tower heart to destroy the imperial city's anti-magic barrier and invades it. There he is gradually reducing the "sanctuaries" built by Solarius to rubble and ashes. The mysterious stranger reappears, who, as it turns out, is Rose, the mistress of the previous overlord and the mother of the current overlord, revealing that the Empire was originally supposed to strike a balance between good and evil, but Solarius went to head is. Upon entering the palace of Solarius, Florian Grünherz suddenly appears and it turns out that he is Solarius himself and has gathered all the magical energy to make himself a god. When he jumps into the vessel with the magic, a worm-like, magic secreting monster emerges, which is worshiped as a devourer by Marius, who is eaten by the same shortly afterwards. In the further course, the overlord fights and defeats the devourer and Solarius, who leaves a trail of devastation through the city. The following sequence depends on how the player played and shows either that the overlord is destroying the land or that the population is enslaved and the minions are throwing parties. And this game also ends with Gnarl's saying: Evil always finds a way.
Gameplay
Single player
The core gameplay of the first part remained unchanged: the player controls the overlord from the third-person perspective , who has control over the so-called minions that he can send out to explore areas, enemies (in addition to the empire , which is the main opponent, also different creatures, elves and non-imperial people) to fight and collect items . Initially, only brown minions are available; one after the other, the reds, greens and blues are also unlocked by the overlord bringing their nest back into his tower. Each species has its own strengths and weaknesses that must be combined to defeat the increasingly stronger opponents. There are also obstacles that only one type of minion can clear at a time.
Although the overlord can take part in the fight with a variety of weapons and multiple spells, the majority of the fights are fought by the minions who use dropped items and can also carry large items in groups, as well as operate war machines and ships, which are different in this part Mounts are made available to support them in battle or help them overcome obstacles: wolves for the browns, salamanders for the reds and spiders for the green. Furthermore, there is the possibility that the overlord takes control of the strongest minions at certain points, who then leads the other minions and thus explores areas inaccessible to the overlord and makes them accessible.
The overlord and the minions reside in the dark tower of the overlord, which initially looks pretty broken, but can be expanded during the course of the game, in the underworld, where the overlord builds his army of minions by collecting life energy in the "normal world". This becomes free when you smash some vessels or when creatures die and they come in the four colors of the minions. This is immediately available as a new henchman after it has been collected and can be called up at nesting caves all over the country.
Treasures accumulated over time can be invested in visual upgrades of the tower as well as in upgrades and new weapons / armor, for which minions must also be sacrificed. There are also magical objects that increase life force, magical power or the maximum number of minions available at the same time, and magical catalysts that affect the strength of spells. These objects can be found everywhere and can be brought by a group of minions to the nearest underworld portal and are then available in the Dark Tower. A further expansion compared to the first part is the possibility of paying death with soul energy in the dark tower on the river of souls so that it resuscitates individual henchmen and their equipment.
In Overlord 2 , too , the dark ruler can again tread two paths: that of destruction and that of domination, which replace the good / bad system of the predecessor. The overlord gets the points that lead to destruction by wiping out, points that lead to domination by submitting. After conquering Nordberg and Immerlicht, the overlord can enslave the population living there so that they work for him, or kill them, this only affects the behavior of NPCs through their statements, but has no influence on the story. However, the cities then produce for the overlord and so it is at least easier to subjugate the cities.
Multiplayer
In addition to the single player mode, there are various cooperative and competitive multiplayer modes.
- Competitive:
- In Dominate mode, the rival Overlords try to conquer map sectors
- Pillage is about collecting the most treasures
- Cooperative
- In Survival, the players have to stand together against ever new hordes of opponents
- In Invasion, on the other hand, players have to compete against difficult opponents together
Extensions
A paid download extension (DLC) entitled Kampfarena des Verderbens ( Battle Rock Nemesis ) was released in July 2009 for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. The player competes as an overlord in arena battles against various opponents from the game. A publication for PC was suggested, but ultimately not implemented.
reception
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As with its predecessor, the Xbox 360 and Windows versions of Overlord 2 were mostly rated positively ( Metacritic : 75 and 79 out of 100, respectively), the PlayStation 3 version received mixed reviews (Metacritic: 72 out of 100).
"There was more in it for the henchmen: In 2007 they won gold [note: a magazine award], now they are in the mediocre - what a shame!"
Web links
- Overlord 2 at MobyGames (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Overlord 2: DLC brings new challenges
- ↑ a b Metacritic: Overlord 2 (PS3)
- ↑ a b Metacritic: Overlord 2 (Win)
- ↑ a b Metacritic: Overlord 2 (X360)
- ↑ a b c d 4players.de : Overlord-2-Review
- ↑ GameStar : Overlord 2 Review
- ↑ a b c Erik Brudvig: Overlord II Review: More frustrating than fun . In: IGN . June 25, 2008. Retrieved June 26, 2008.