The design of Evil Genius in the early 2000s was invented by the programmer and chess player Demis Hassabis, later the founder of the artificial intelligence company DeepMind. Despite its success, the game did not become a guide to the world of big money for Elixir Studios. The studio was closed in 2005, and a decade and a half later it was taken over by the publisher Rebellion.
The idea behind Evil Genius 2 is devilishly simple and taken from Dispel magic 5e. The player constructs a variation of the base from the Dungeon Keeper in the style of spy films from the 60s, with the help of which he will carry out criminal plans for global domination. A supervillain acts as the lord of the dungeons. On the one hand, we have the construction and arrangement of premises, financial management and the hiring of minions, and on the other hand, the management of events on the world map, divided into regions for the extraction of money and resources.
The game begins with the choice of one of four anti-heroes: the versatile maniac Maximilian, the general-enforcer Red Ivan, the genius of science Zalik and the scout Emma. Each has three abilities (two active and passive) and a separate biography. The playstyle differs in the specialization and the unique doomsday machine that you get to know in the campaign. In practice, the gameplay is similar.
Any self-respecting madman suffering from delusions of grandeur adores uninhabited islands. Our lair is located in a tropical paradise on several floors, including the underground sectors. It attracts tourists with the presence of a casino, but the core of the business is not tables and slot machines.
The basis of any base is the interior. Space is a scarce resource and is growing slowly. The main thing here is a vault with money, which should preferably be located away from the entrances. The control center with computerized consoles, equipped with satellite dishes and allowing access to more regions of the world to create a fraudulent network, is also important. Finally, all premises for personnel (barracks, dining room, recreation room, classroom, infirmary) should be equipped with special devices and, if desired, place decorative items.
The principles of management must meet not only the criteria of economic efficiency, but also safety. The base will eventually be attacked by agents, interrogators and soldiers, so it is important to provide a defense system with cameras, traps, narrow corridors and security posts.
You cannot directly control minions. They take on tasks on their own, but in return they demand the satisfaction of their meager needs for sleep, food and rest. Attention can be paid to devotion as well. The disloyal employee will quickly run away, but the trouble is not big – we will hire a new one.
Progress in lego piece 26047 is associated with the research tree, which opens up new opportunities on the strategic map, devices and empowers minions.
The world is divided into regions belonging to different factions. In each, you can create villainous branches, earn gold and complete different types of missions, irrevocably sending servants. Everything related to the tactical map is done with much less care. The minions are not doing anything interesting here, and the most exciting thing is to see the percentage of the manipulation performed.
The game cycle is a continuous transition from construction to strategic in order to achieve goals. There will be no shortage of tasks, their list is constantly updated.
The growth in the area of the premises and the abundance of units must be balanced with the number of minions. This means that the power generators increase at the same time as the technicians, the enforcers must be proportional to the frequency of attacks, and the number of repeaters increases the impact on the world. The two cards are closely related, and actions in one place are reflected in the other.
Evil Genius 2 has a user-friendly interface. At the bottom of the screen is the taskbar, where you can find everything you need in a couple of clicks and get comprehensive information about what is happening. A separate line with notifications and warnings is also encouraging – a quick click takes you to the place of the event. Despite the mass of events taking place on the screen, conducting a chaotic orchestra is easy. In addition, by clicking on a bachelor, you can get funny information about his hobbies and employment at a particular moment.
Finding fault with the soundtrack and difficult person test is almost impossible. The inspiration was clearly the music from the Sean Connery and Roger Moore Bond films.
The game has clear balance issues. For example, the original generators produce criminally low power, so you have to clog the room with devices that will soon be unnecessary. It is also strange to see things like mega safes worth 15 thousand and containing 10 thousand local money.
The length of play varies depending on your playstyle, but is unlikely to take less than 30 hours.
Evil Genius 2 cannot be avoided by comparison with the original. And it is largely not in favor of continuation. There is a small amount of innovation here, as Rebillion decided not to risk it and stick to the first part as much as possible. Simpler mechanics are also striking, as if the developers thought that the main audience was mobile gamers.
Diagnosis
Evil Genius 2 was conceived as an homage to the classic indirect control strategy game with more attractive graphics. But other innovations are more primitive in the gameplay.
This is a nice continuation of a good game with its own charm. It doesn’t try to break the formula of the original and tries to be fun with base development and scripted side quests. But the latter begin to quickly repeat and get bored, turning the game into a routine.
Fans of the first part would clearly be glad of more significant changes, and some will be enraged by stupid agents, fiddling with the world map, the uselessness of a number of improvements and traps, and, most importantly, slow gameplay. And the acceleration button does not save the broken formula.
Pro:
- Nice graphics and music
- Exciting base building
- Thoughtful interface
- What dinosaur has 500 teeth
Contra:
- Delayed gameplay
- Boring battles with stupid opponents
- Bad tactical part