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Hands on with the Overlord II Xbox 360 demo

    The first game in what is becoming a new franchise cast the gamer in the mold of the evil Overlord – an arch villain bent on comical destruction. This new installation picks up where the Overlord DLC “Raising Hell” left off in a way and has the player as the son of the player’s first character.   The newly available Xbox 360 demo (available through Xbox Live) and released video has revealed some of the attractive features of the upcoming Overlord II title. 

    In Overlord II, the game play keeps most of the original features of the first title – simultaneous control of Minions and Overlord in a half RPG / half RTS environment.   One of the new abilities is improved Minions – Minions can now do such things as crew sailing ships, manning catapults,  and destroy buildings and features (only available for select terrain in the original). More importantly your Minions can now ride such things as wolves – this allows them better speed, attack power, and increased jumping ability. The compensating factor of riding is that the minion can no longer pick things up or act as crew. There is also a new source of Minions now as the player may now enslave the common folk he has met in order to have additional cannon fodder (and hopefully provide more chances for evil deeds).   One thing badly lacking in the first game was the lack of a simple mapping system to help the player navigate (something frustrating especially for younger players).   A final appealing feature is improved trappings for your tower of evil, including more choices for the evil mistress and the option to have multiple evil mistresses.   This feature is definitely in keeping with the tongue in cheek humor of the franchise.

    Overlord II is due to be released  June 23, 2009 for the Xbox 360, PS3, and PC and will be accompanied by two companion releases “Overlord: Dark Legend” (for the Wii) and “Overlord:Minions” (for the Nintendo DS). If you are looking for a very fun way to beat the Tampa summer melt-the-pavement heat, this game is a great way to do it.

For more info:  Check out the humorous Overlord home page and the "Overlord Show" or Codemasters' home page.