OVERLORD 2

It's fun to be a bit naughty every once in a while. After Peter Jackson gave us three Lord of Rings films, I think we all wanted to give a village full of hobbits a good kicking.

Codemasters' 2007 hit game, Overlord, gave us just that opportunity. As the evil Overlord we got to wreak havoc on hobbits, heroes and all sorts of goody-goody fantasy folk, and score points for doing it. It seems that Overlord appealed to the nefarious nature  of enough gamers to justify a fiendish follow-up, the creatively titled Overlord 2.

The story continues with the plight of the goblinlike minions who are without an Overlord. You start the game  as a demonic-looking child, the son of the original Overlord, who must impress the minions and win their  adoration. You get to unleash your minions on the unsuspecting villagers of Nordberg, who have, rather  naively, taken you into their care.

The leader of the Glorious Empire, an Asterix-inspired version of the Romans, requests that the villagers hand over all magical beings, as they are to be destroyed. The villagers,  happy to be rid of you, toss you to the Empire's mercy, thus beginning your quest to either dominate or decimate  on the path to evilness.

As with the first game, it is all very tongue-in-cheek. Using the destructive talents of your ever grateful minions you must solve puzzles and carry out evil deeds as you take on the might of the Glorious Empire. In this sequel,  minions also have the ability to ride creatures. It was great to watch the minions fool around and interact with  dropped objects in the first game and it's even funnier to watch them descend on a pack of wolves and come away riding them like lunatics.

The graphics are as stunning as the first game and the environments seem even bigger than before. With a story  by Rhianna Pratchett, daughter of Discworld author Terry Pratchett, the game plot is in good hands. I could say  the game looks to be more of the same, but that's not necessarily always a bad thing.