It's odd how 2 games into the series, and still it can be considered a sleeper hit (in my opinion), or at the very least, hidden gold. Game is based around the new Overlord, a large, brooding character that controls evil little minions. The game is about being evil. Simple. You have two options of being evil: Destructive evil, or controlling evil. Both feel like you're evil as far as I can tell, so it's not like the first game where it's "Do you want to be evil, or MORE evil?" sort of thing. Decisions now come from you sitting on your throne. You'll have citizens come and ask for you to come take their town over and erm, well, erm give them mayorship...maybe? For a day a week? Sundays? Sunday afternoon? That's the first example you get. You can choose to help him by liberating the land from the Empire (the new baddies in this game, where as before it was Lord of the Rings knock off heroes gone corrupt), or to throw the pathetic peasant into a giant firey pit. I chose the latter.
The game is played a lot like Pikmin, only you're less useless this time around. In fact, I feel like I actually can get up close and personal without getting my ass handed to me over and over again. So to that extent, it's easier. The minions are divided into 4 groups. Browns (your brawler class/the first class you get), Reds (long range damage creatures that shoot fire at enemies), Greens (a rogue type class that do massive damage if you sweep them in after the browns have their attention/if an enemy walks near their stealthed hideout), and Blues (healers and water dwellers. They can resurrect the other minions if they should die, or rather when they die.) Each class feels better this time, and you actually start to feel a small attachment to a select few, as they now have names and stats that you can see from your minion cave. You can also pay with the souls of newly born Browns, Reds, Greens or Blues to recover your more powerful minions that died in battle. I haven't used it yet, but I know if my beloved Lobe or Frack died I would certainly resurrect them.
The controls also feel more fluid this time. I don't feel like it's a big deal to go from my reds, set them up to some archery type play, then switch to my browns to sweep the area/prevent people from attacking my browns. I'll have to see if it still feels fluid once I get Greens and blues in the mix, but for now, it feels great. It should be noted that the controls for the PC don't feel great for me, so I use a 360 USB controller, which works great for it. Browns are mapped to Y, Reds to B, Blues to X, and Greens to A. The game was made around this controller, basically. I can also controller the Overlord while sweeping the minions a bit more easily.
The other thing I'd like to note for now is the tower. The tower is a lot different than the first game, however it still has the basic premise. You have the main chamber, your chambers, the minion caves, and the forge. One thing that I am disappointed about is the lack of an arena within your tower, but oh well. Hopefully it will come in an expansion pack sometime this fall, and hopefully it'll be for the PC. The appearance of the tower is much different than it used to be. It's now in the "Netherworld", which is essentially hell. Lava flows everywhere, rocks are spinning around your tower as if it were a planet, and the tower itself is floating above the ground. Inside, it looks much less grand than the last one, but a lot more open and inviting... in a dark way, at least. When you get down there, if you walk straight towards your throne you're greeted with 6 or so minions saluting you as you walk. This is also where the 360 controller comes in handy, as you can walk to your throne and feel all sorts of badass. What's the point of an RPG if I can't RP?
I haven't got that far into the game, but so far it gives the same feeling of bliss and all around good fun that the first game gave. It's a light, humorous title that really gives a feeling of being a kid playing your first video game. Just a dammed good time all around.
The demo. Seriously give it a shot. It has the clubbing of baby seals. WHAT IS NOT TO LOVE YES?
