Overlord II is a unique game in the FPS dominated landscape that is PS3 games library. Too bad that its flaws overshadow the uniqueness, and make this game a chore – if not torment – to play.
To start with, the framerate on PS3 is rock solid 10 frames per second. At least it seems so. I'm not typically one to complain or even notice framerate problems, but this was my first note of Overlord. You get used to it, eventually, but playing is never smooth. And not only because of this.
Another problem is camera. You can rotate it freely, but since the right thumbstick is also used for sending your minions for more precise tasks, you occasionally send your minions out instead of turning your view. Also, contolling minions this way is far from accurate. When trying to grab a sack of gold, you might find you weakest underling running into a fight with an enemy and dying before you can do anything about it.
You could go on and on about linear maps, illogical behavior of obstacles (you never know, how you'll be able to break through the one in front of you now), unrewarding side quests, and loading screens that become far too familiar, but where Overlord II really fails is the saving mechanic.
There are no actual checkpoints. Instead, the game's progress in automatically saved at certain points, but not all of your progress is saved. You might have killed some enemies and opened some gates, and then you go to your home tower, which is the sole means of forcing an autosave. But when you return to the map, the same enemies are still standing, the same obstacles are still there. Save mechanic is erratic and confusing. You never feel entirely confident leaving the game, because you don't know how much replaying there will be waiting, when you come back.
Overlord II is a game that I would have loved to like. The premise in promising, humor is twisted and genuinely funny, minions are detailed and fun to observe, but ultimately the game is designed to make you suffer instead of enjoy. You'll get your money's worth in terms of hours spent, but when it comes to joy of gaming, Overlord II just doesn't deliver.
