Snap Judgment: Overlord 2

by Justin McElroy { Jun 24th 2009 at 5:00PM }

With limited time in the day to review all the games we want to tell you about, some have a habit of falling through the cracks before we've been able to get our thoughts onto the site. In the hopes of remedying that, we've created a new feature we're calling Snap Judgment. Here's the gist: We'll play enough of the game to get the lay of the land -- what we liked, what we didn't, etc. -- and then pass our opinions on to you. It's not a full "review" in the traditional sense, but we're hoping you'll scroll away just a bit more informed.

So, shall we?

Gallery: Overlord II

Game: Overlord 2
Time spent: Approx. 3 hours

So, no great surprise here: Overlord 2 is, at its heart, a lot like the first Overlord. You're a huge, evil armored dude with equally evil impish minions at your command. Together, you cause as much heartache and chaos as possible in a gorgeous fairytale land filled with dullard inhabitants.

How, precisely, you'll be wrecking shop hasn't changed so much either. You've still got melee and magic at your disposal, with your battalion of minions being controlled by the right analog stick. Sweeping an army of little monsters at an unsuspecting soldier is as fun as it's ever been, made even better by the presence of mounts for your crew (the only one I saw were wolves, though there may be others).

There's still tons of upgradeability for your armor, weapons and foot soldiers, plus loads of wicked humor courtesy of the returning talents of Rhianna Pratchett.

What changes have been made all seem to be bigger-and-better-type improvements. The world is really, really gorgeous, like a slightly dingier version of Fable 2's Albion. Minions have more character too, and you can resuscitate your favorites when they're prematurely offed.

If I had a complaint, it's that I occasionally wasn't sure of where to go or what to do next. Sure, I typically figured it out with a little trial-and-error, but still, annoying.

No, Overlord 2 isn't presenting many new ideas, but there's still nothing else in the landscape that feels quite like it. I'm happy to welcome a second helping.

Tags: codemasters, overlord, overlord-2, snap-judgment, triumph-studios

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

mikecjenkins @ Jun 24th 2009 5:11PM

Do want. Loved the first Overlord, love the Pikmin series.

Foetoid @ Jul 4th 2009 9:41PM

Did play the first one, love Pikmin to the point where i sold my GC originals to get the Wiimakes (and love every minute of them) and will buy Overlord: Dark Legend.

watchthatman @ Jun 24th 2009 5:12PM

So isn't this just an "I'll probably keep playing this" version of Joystiquitter?

Stix Remix @ Jun 24th 2009 5:26PM

That's what I was thinking...

N3M3515 @ Jun 24th 2009 5:12PM

FOR DA OVERLORD!

Demo was pretty cool. Essentially the same game as the first but that's not at all a bad thing.

Jimmy @ Jun 24th 2009 5:19PM

So Joystiq doing the IGN approach now?

Girugamuk (Moptimus Slimed) @ Jun 24th 2009 5:22PM

when did Jim Sterling start working for IGN?

SnowSoldier vGv @ Jun 24th 2009 5:21PM

OMW to pick this up:)

SnowSoldier vGv @ Jun 24th 2009 8:13PM

Got it!!! Now to turn it on...

paul eastwood @ Jun 24th 2009 5:26PM

There's a website, .firsthour.net, that reviews only the first hour of games. Partly on the assumption that the first hour is an indicator of the rest of the game, and partly just cause it's cool. He gives a minute-by-minute walkthrough of the first hour.

Girugamuk (Moptimus Slimed) @ Jun 24th 2009 5:28PM

that actually sounds cool

rambodude72 @ Jun 24th 2009 6:54PM

are the average reviews long or not because i dont have a long attention span when it comes to reading

paul eastwood @ Jun 24th 2009 7:46PM

If you read the minute by minute stuff they can get long but he has a summary that does a good job in a short time. I sometimes skip to that. the site is http://firsthour.net

tmacairjordan87 @ Jun 24th 2009 5:31PM

Gotta give you guys credit for admitting beforehand you didn't play through the whole game. Usually it's too easy to spot people doing that in their reviews, but they act like they did play through.

tmacairjordan87 @ Jun 24th 2009 5:32PM

Also, something offtopic for a second. How the hell did we beat Spain in soccer? That's pretty embarrassing

Xav de Matos @ Jun 24th 2009 5:38PM

Not that this has any reason to be here, but... A lot of the European powerhouses are playing poorly right now -- Italy, Portugal and Spain.

Sly @ Jun 24th 2009 5:40PM

we beat egypt too. strange.

Trevor @ Jun 24th 2009 6:47PM

Xav, Spain was 35-0 in their past 35 matches before losing to the US. Spain has been doing anything but playing poorly lately. Italy on the other hand...I wonder how Rossi is feeling now?

Bubbameister33 @ Jun 24th 2009 6:50PM

Really? Go us!!!

rambodude72 @ Jun 24th 2009 6:56PM

what channel usually has soccer games on in us espn?

tmacairjordan87 @ Jun 24th 2009 6:58PM

Soccer isn't normally aired in the US on main stations, but for special events like this it's either on ESPN or ESPN 2 in the dead hours of the day (like 1pm-4pm)

PSN:Eprim @ Jun 24th 2009 8:22PM

mmm i didnt knew jostiq comments was a soccer team

Girugamuk (Moptimus Slimed) @ Jun 24th 2009 8:21PM

actually ESPN 2 usually plays 1-2 MLS games a week, and if its something big like UEFA or anything with the World Cup then they'll carry those games as well

Arcaria @ Jul 4th 2009 7:29AM

Voted you down just because your name is stupid.

Rebecca @ Jun 24th 2009 5:41PM

Love the idea for a mini-review of sorts. I think it would be good if you guys could conclude with a comment like: "Worth picking up" or "For Hardcore fans only" or some other indication of your overall impression so far in a couple words.

Fausk @ Jun 24th 2009 5:41PM

This review format might as well be "just go play the demo" since it sounds like it covers about the same amount of ground.

I know that comes off a bit harsh, but I'm just honestly trying to give a bit of critique, this review told me nothing that the demo didn't already tell me.

Furthermore, the tags are off, this game's on PS3 too.

Shagittarius @ Jun 24th 2009 5:59PM

Yeah when are we going to get a PC tag also?

Shagittarius @ Jun 24th 2009 5:43PM

After having played through the first 30 mins or so I'm very excited to continue the adventure as well.

TangoEchoXray @ Jun 24th 2009 6:12PM

Hey, it's Megatron.

Professor Lario @ Jun 24th 2009 6:15PM

After five seconds I made a SNAP JUDGMENT, of this article. I give it an 8.4 and might come back to it once I finish the articles with flashier pics and more promotional talent behind them.

Justin McElroy @ Jun 24th 2009 6:31PM

After five letters I made a snap judgment of your comment. Two vowels in the FIRST WORD? Lay-z. 5.4.

Girugamuk (Moptimus Slimed) @ Jun 24th 2009 8:07PM

after glancing at your avatar I made a snap judgement on you as a human being. Why would someone wear a hat that big? You're obviously overcompensating for something

Professor Lario @ Jun 24th 2009 8:09PM

Oh SNAP!

kentuckyfried @ Jun 24th 2009 6:57PM

This is a good idea, as I'd like to hear more input from joystiq on certain games, but the reviews (like practically every other website) barely seem to make it in time for the game's release. But even a soft green, yellow, or red light spot review would help to make those impulse buy decisions.