S.MARKSMAN:
could I ask you some questions now?

Paul:
Sure.Was just going to ask that.

S.MARKSMAN:
Cool thanks What is your role at MS?

Paul:
unemployed. I was a part of Ensemble Studios and was let go when the studio was closed. Before that … I was an artist on Halo Wars and Age of Empires III and the War Chiefs

S.MARKSMAN:
What was you role at MS

Paul:
On Halo Wars, I did the full pass of art development on the multiplayer maps.On half of the ones that shipped.

S.MARKSMAN:
Wow that is amazing

Paul:
On Age 3 I mostly worked on the Home city content, sort of an unofficial sub-lead for home cities.On the War Chiefs, I did a bit of everything except animation and cinematics.You can see my website and work history at http://www.jaquays.com/cv

S.MARKSMAN
Ok now would you know anything about the mmos coming to the PS3 and Xbox

Paul:
nothing.Any MMOs are not likely to be coming from MS for the Xbox.

S.MARKSMAN
ok so what was it like working at MS

Paul:
The Ensemble Studios version of MS was a great place to work. Interesting projects, good pay, great co-workers. I was shocked when they decided to close us down.

Paul:
We weren’t originally a part of that. We were “grandfathered in” later when MS announced the bitg layoff

S.MARKSMAN
I hear you That was a huge .

S.MARKSMAN
If you could work with anyone in the indstry who would it be and why

Paul:Let me think on that one.

S.MARKSMAN
ok

S.MARKSMAN
now is there any kind of inside info you might be able to put out there?

Paul:
MS is very sensitive about that sort of thing. So probably no. I like not being sued.

S.MARKSMAN:
Ok ok what game consol first got you in to gaming?

Paul:
First console I played was an Atari 2600. First console I worked on and owned was the ColecoVision.

S.MARKSMAN
Wow no doubt. What was the first game that got you started?

Paul:
making games? The original Dungeons & Dragons, in 1975. I did art work for a semi-pro game magazine in late 1975 and then I self-published my first D&D game adventure in 1976.

S.MARKSMAN:
OMG are you kiding me

Paul:
no

S.MARKSMAN:
Wow so what elts have you worked on and is there any plans for the next few years?

Paul:
Fairly complete list here: http://www.jaquays.com/cv/product.htm Recent projects: Halo Wars, Age of Empires 3, War Chiefs expansion, Quake III and Team Arena, Quake 2
Before that, Dragon Dice as an artist I designed the content for Lord of the Rings vol I for Interplay back in around 1990 or so. A lot of ColecoVision arcade titles.

S.MARKSMAN: Well I would Like thank you for your time and this opportunity

Paul: Thank you S. and thanks hiphopgamershow.com

Overlord II is the latest title from Triumph Studios and is a sequel to 2007’s predecessor Overlord. For those new to the series, Overlord II is essentially a fantasy themed third-person action game where players take control of a character classified as the Overlord who in turn controls small gremlin-like beings coined “Minions”.

Overlord II begins with the search for a new Overlord, since the first had mysteriously disappeared after the events of the first game. The Minions, needing a new leader, find a child to take over as the new Overlord so that their quest for evil domination over the empire can continue. The story that follows is a humorous one filled with lots of dark humour. Some examples are killing seals to harvest life force and attacking ‘Peter Pan’ like characters who come off as a bunch of prancing hippies with dreadlocks. The storytelling really shines through in the sense that everything is always in a funny sort of context to the evil charater portrayed. Even the so called ‘good guys’ have a convoluded dark side to them that shines through every now and then. Attacking gluttonous captains and power hungry emperors with little annoying Minions is exceedingly enjoyable.

On the note of attacking with Minions, the controls really do come to mind. Using the right stick, it’s possible to control and sweep little gremlins around and this enables them to knock down buildings and bludgeon fairies. However, using camera controls on the same stick does become quite a hinderance when sweeping Minions around. Most times it’s not too bad since the camera tends to follow the main action, but when there are enemies close to the Overlord, looking to see where they are becomes a difficult task. A lot of this frustration comes from a very complex control system. Since there are four types of Minions to use, there is an control scheme assigned entirely to the d-pad. It enables the player to switch between the different Minion types, which is crucial for puzzle like parts that require one colour of Minion. While there are some gripes, for the most part, the controls are reasonably well handled.

The nice thing about Overlord II is there are a lot of tasks available to do at any given time. There are always side quests ranging from choosing to destroy a village or enslave it, to exploring the mysterious past. Unfortunately there are some other things such as having mistresses that are seemingly pointless. Sure, they allow castle decoration, but it’s only banners and decorations for what is essentially a mission and upgrade hub. There’s also way too much wandering around pointlessly in the castle that isn’t really any fun.

Overlord II has some nice immersive sounds and even when there are a bunch of Minions running around on screen it doesn’t sound too overcrowded. The voice acting is also pretty funny and well varied with the main Minion characters. Townspeople and lesser Minions, however, can become pretty repetitive and annoying after a couple hours of gameplay. Hearing “For the Overlord!” yelled over and over can get quite frustrating.

As a whole though, Overlord II is a really fun, sadistic sort of game to play and is really enjoyable to come back to. Once the story is completed there isn’t a whole lot to do, but it’s such a long story mode that it’s not really upsetting when the end is reached. Plus with all the side missions, there’s about 30 plus hours of gameplay to be had here.

Conclusion
Overlord II is a really fun and unique game to play, and has a really grim sort of humour that is pretty rare to see in a lot of games. It works really well and is definitely something that’s unique about the game. With such a diverse amount of variation to the base gameplay, there is a lot of fun to be had with the Overlord and his sadistic little Minions. The length of the game is also a plus point, but there are some niggling issues to be had with the controls.

Due to a lack of funding for Atomic Games’s controversial game Six Days in Fallujah, it appears the developer has been forced to cut down their development staff.

Back in May, they secured a publishing agreement with Konami, only to have the company pull out soon after due to a backlash due to the game replicating an event that took place only a few years ago and was still fresh in people’s minds. The company had this to say about the layoffs:

Due to a mixture of fears about the edgy subject matter of Six Days in Fallujah, as well as low videogame sales this summer, we have been unable to secure full-scale funding from a major publisher for Six Days in Fallujah. This has caused us to reduce the size of our studio today.

In the words of Marine officer Chesty Puller, “We’re surrounded. That simplifies the problem.” Development at Atomic will continue with a smaller team that will be funded by our sister company, Destineer.
The company had 75 employees as of this week, although no word has been given on how many were let go. The developer has said they will be releasing more information at a later date.