
Evil Genius - The OT

Evil Genius was a bit of a cult hit, it didn't shift huge numbers of units and its metacritic was only 75. The user score is 8.3 though which suggests that it built a bit of a fan base over time. Evil Genius was basically Dungeon Keeper with a classic Bond theme, presented rather tongue-in-cheek, no doubt with some influence from the Austin Powers movies the last of which came two years before the game. Elixir Studios developed it, with a strong Bullfrog thread running through the company, with Demis Hassabis having worked on Theme Park for instance, as well as working on the AI for Lionhead's Black & White. Sadly they only released the wildly ambitious Republic The Revolution and Evil Genius before the company was wound down, neither game having achieved the sales hoped for.
Evil Genius 2 is the sequel (obviously), released by Rebellion who bought the rights to Elixir's IPs. It's basically a modernised take on the original classic and aims to bring it to a new audience, with all the rough edges ironed out and all the modern quality of life improvements you'd expect.


Review: Evil Genius 2: World Domination
Evil Genius 2: World Domination comes across as a diabolical labor of love. The game is obviously made by people who cared for the property.

Destructoid 8.5 said:One of the best improvements is with the side objectives. Throughout the game, while you're keeping plates spinning both in your base and on the world stage, you're also able to challenge criminal masterminds for a chance to recruit them as henchmen, frustrate special agents to eventually be rid of them entirely, and gather a range of loot that has different benefits on your base.
The game does stumble over itself in a few places. The pacing is a bit off, especially when it comes to scientific development. Different advanced minions are unlocked as you proceed through the main objectives, which means tiers of research are locked until you reach that point, and the first recruitment options take a while to present themselves.
It comes across as a diabolical labor of love. The game is obviously made by people who cared for the property, as it conserves everything that was great about the original title while tightening the screws on the old doomsday device. Even without the multiple campaigns, it's a ridiculously long game. But the fact that I was rarely annoyed or bored, while continuously finding new elements to love, is a testament to how well-executed the sequel is. If the first game wasn't diabolical enough for you, this one should scratch that evil itch a bit better.

Screen Rant 4/5 said:While not too grating, scheme management has the potential to become a little annoying as it evokes a certain Cookie Clicker vibe. Each scheme requires a certain amount of minions, and takes real world time to carry out. In practice base management is constantly interrupted with a flick to the world map to assign new schemes, check heat levels, and scout new areas.
Thankfully, literally everything else is top notch in Evil Genius 2. The cutscenes, writing, and animations are amazing, giving off a playful mix between the best of Austin Powers and silly but straight-faced James Bond films. Each of the four main villains wonderfully fulfill the kind of quirky architypes one would expect from a 1960's spy flick.
There's a lot to like in Evil Genius 2 for both fans of the original and new aspiring super villains. For fans, Evil Genius 2 accurately recreates the feel of building up and defending a Bond villain's lair from the original, but with a host of quality of life changes that make it feel effortless. For the newly curious, Evil Genius 2: World Domination is a witty, stylish, and surprisingly deep base builder.

Evil Genius 2: World Domination review - Bad boys for life
Launching schemes and crushing dreams are the name of the game in Rebellion's revival of the cult secret lair simulation-strategy franchise. Our review.

Shack News 90% said:Your choice of mastermind has some determination on how the quest for world domination is achieved, as well as what kind of strengths and weaknesses your base will have. They each have special abilities that can increase productivity within your base or expedite the process of expanding your criminal enterprise around the globe. For the most part, the masterminds remain hands-off in regards to confrontations with infiltrators but can be micromanaged for those who need total control.
Some territories also play home to special crime lords. You can run schemes to recruit these special characters to become henchmen in your base. Like masterminds, they offer special abilities that can be deployed, though these abilities are geared towards the detection, distraction, detention, or death of investigators, saboteurs, or other ne'er do wells intent on foiling your plans for world domination. I tended to employ the skills of Eli Barracuda Jr., son of Eli Barracuda from the first game. His best trait is known as Silver Tongue and it allows him to sweet talk intruders to the island. In an event where that approach wasn't enough, he also carries a big pistol to end conflict permanently.
Evil Genius 2 really succeeds on the back of its personality and cohesive presentation. The art style perfectly captures the Atomic Age design aesthetic. The delightful soundtrack is full of brass and mid-60s surf guitar licks that help put you into the proper mindset for concocting mindless schemes. The occasional cutscenes are well animated and voice acted, each giving the masterminds some personality that helps to keep things engaging as you spend 50 hours staring at the same overhead views of your base layout.
Ultimately, Evil Genius 2 is a Dungeon Keeper clone in a different coat of paint. The surface has been well-prepped and the paint was applied with great expertise, though. If you consider yourself a fan of simulation-strategy games, this has to go on your must-play list for 2021.

Evil Genius 2 Review | TheSixthAxis
Another totally normal volcanic island casino.
www.thesixthaxis.com
TheSixthAxis 8/10 said:Playing the game on Medium difficulty, there's a decent balance that regularly puts you under pressure with agent incursions. It could probably go a little easier on you in the opening hour – it was quite a surprise when five investigators showed up all at once when I'd barely had an opportunity to unlock, let alone train any valets or guards – and you'll be forced to micromanage the world stage when Super Spies turn up and start snooping around your operations. Symmetry was a constant thorn in my side if I completed a scheme she chose to watch, suddenly spawning right in my vaults and causing me huge amounts of trouble to deal with through her high-powered accomplices. Only micromanaging my Genius and henchmen, going into full alert and reloading a save or two let me deal with her. I suspect this element will be tweaked and rebalanced after launch, but you can customise the difficulty in a number of ways.
Evil Genius 2 is a worthy return to the world stage for the classic lair builder formula. While there's certain areas that could be improved in the presentation or the game balance, building up your 60s spy villain lair and defeating the seemingly endless string of agents trying to foil your plans is immensely satisfying and engaging.

GameByte Review - Evil Genius 2: World Domination
Evil Genius 2 is simply trying to be a good sequel to a classic, well-loved game and at that it more than succeeds.

GameByte 8/10 said:Evil Genius 2, fundamentally, is just fun. It's not trying to be anything grandiose or life-changing and it doesn't need to be. It's the kind of game that you can easily sink hours into and that's great to play when you're looking to relax. You can easily come back to it after a break without feeling completely lost or overwhelmed. You won't be so confused that you need to start over, instead you can easily just drop in and out as the mood strikes you. The game has a more-ish tendency when you're in the height of a playthrough, there's always just one more task you can do.
Evil Genius 2 has no delusions about what it's trying to do. It's simply trying to be a good sequel to a classic, well-loved game and at that it more than succeeds. Its simplicity or lack of innovations aren't shortcomings. Instead, it allows the game to do what it does best without trying to be something it isn't. It's just plain and simple good fun.

Evil Genius 2 review - exactly the sequel fans have been waiting for
Evil Genius was a cult classic for a reason - and so its sequel plays it safe to deliver a familiar but very fun belate…

VG247 4/5 said:In truth I wish Evil Genius 2 got a little more varied in the late game, but I also can't complain too much. Between the review period and the earlier preview, I've played over eighty hours of this game – there's clearly more than enough to keep one entertained. Ultimately, you can't beat the feeling of when everything is going well – or the sense of panic when you pan across your lair and see one of your precious power plant rooms ablaze, with the saboteurs that lit the flame now sneaking to another precious room. It's the good kind of panic, and hitting the red alert button to bathe the lair in red light and set alarms blaring always feels satisfying.
Everything that made that original game special, and ultimately a cult classic, is faithfully and lovingly reproduced here. It's a safe reimagining, but simply on merit of all the small modernizing touches, which add up to a lot, it's also pretty clearly a better game than the original – and considering how much I loved that game, that's no small feat. I can see many more hours in my lair ahead – and with potential updates and DLC down the line to address some issues, true world domination could still be ahead.

Evil Genius 2: World Domination review
Simulates both the devious delights and fiendish frustrations of being a frothing megalomaniac.
PC Gamer 75% said:But there's no getting away from the fact that the game's feedback loops are too stretched out. It feels it could offer a tight 20-hour game—more than enough considering there are four different Geniuses to play as. But this is stretched to 30 or 40 hours by overlong missions and a whole lot of waiting for stuff to happen.
Despite taking a roundabout route to get there, however, in the end I think Evil Genius 2 successfully replicates the cat-stroking, moustache-twirling, mad-cackling fun of being a calculating supervillain. On the scale of criminal masterminds, I'd rate it a Dr Evil. It's funny and it's got all the right equipment, but it's not quite the full Blofeld.
Game Informer 7/10 said:For all of my complaints about the experience, Evil Genius 2 still taps into a simple vein of diabolical entertainment. It features a funny, cartoonish representation of evil. I cackled as agents triggered traps, cheered on my robotic assistant as she interrogated intruders, and steepled my fingers as I activated my doomsday device. The thrill of optimizing your layout and allocating your workforce is enjoyable; it's often just buried under inconvenience. For that reason, I'd especially recommend starting up a game in sandbox mode after you finish the main tutorial. This mode gives you unlimited resources and unlocks various options that you'd normally have to play for hours to obtain. Though sandbox mode also lacks the clear structure to propel you forward, it at least lets you enjoy the fun of base-building without several of the annoyances that hold the campaign back.
While playing Evil Genius 2, I couldn't stop thinking about the movie Austin Powers. That probably seems natural at first; in terms of their characters and general aesthetic, both of them lampoon the early era James Bond films. But that wasn't what I was dwelling on. At one point in Austin Powers, Dr. Evil (who was cryogenically frozen for many years) suggests a paltry ransom of "one million dollars." His henchman needs to explain to him how times have changed, and such a demand doesn't really meet villainous standards anymore. Just like Dr. Evil, the Evil Genius name has been on ice a long time, and despite being full of nefarious intent, this sequel's methods feel outdated on the current world stage

Evil Genius 2: World Domination Review
Evil Genius 2 makes good on its spy-movie supervillain concept with a challenging management sim that requires cunning and patience.
Gamespot 7/10 said:Evil Genius 2 is an intricate game of spinning plates and building, building, building to make the numbers go up smoothly, which manages to capture the spirit of its Bond villain simulator conceit. Though its management gameplay creates momentary frustrations, the tight rapport among all the different elements of the Genius' organization make for a challenging, long-term management puzzle that requires you to both move quickly and take your time. Plus, you can use a giant magnet to drag your enemies into a flamethrower, which is pretty damn whimsical. You know, in an evil way.

Evil Genius 2 review: An entertaining sim let down by dopey henchmen | VGC
Rebellion’s sequel retains a lot of the cult original’s charm but still has its issues…

Video Games Chronicle 3/5 said:The most frustrating aspect of the game is the relative lack of control you have over your minions, which given you're supposed to be an evil genius in charge of them is a bit frustrating. You can't click on a minion and specifically tell them to do something, so you have to hope for the best and this often isn't good enough, because they're generally a bit dim.
We know that the game is based on evil villains, but when Dr Evil says "why must I be surrounded by frickin' idiots" in the first Austin Powers movie, that probably shouldn't have been added to the design brief.
Despite these drawbacks, there's still a fun management sim here, with a great sense of humour and some inventively amusing room designs. Unfortunately, the general lack of control you have over your minions, and the game's occasional decision to arbitrarily not let you build things in certain places, can make the experience more frustrating than it needed to be.

Evil Genius 2: World Domination Review - IGN
A fiddly world map and confusing objectives foil the plans of this stylish, gleeful villain simulator.
IGN 6/10 said:While the art, voice acting, and overall theme harmonize so beautifully that I want to steeple my fingers and practice my evil laugh, almost every moment of playing Evil Genius 2 is plagued by a clunky, needy world map layer and confusing, poorly communicated objectives. It's the kind of problem that playtesting usually brings out during development, and this game could've used more of that. Once I eventually stumbled blindly onto the solutions to some of these frustrating problems through brute force trial and error, I could see the promise of a dastardly good time of laying traps and spinning plates hiding underneath. But being constantly surrounded by fools wasn't quite worth the reward, at the end of the doomsday.