Evil Genius

respond quickly, while other times a room will remain unbuilt (or captured spy uninterrogated) for what seems like forever. It’s maddening to watch obviously unoccupied minions wander around while they could be filling orders. The only units you have complete control over is your evil genius and any henchmen that might be in your employ. (And even then, your henchmen will wander around on their own.) While control over these units is useful for attacking enemies it doesn’t help when it comes to construction.

Although the minions all have five stat bars akin to The Sims, since you don’t have direct control over them you’ll have to build objects and perform certain diabolical acts to keep up the health, loyalty, stamina, etc. so that they stay in top form. In that way, it’s kind of like the classic Lemmings.

To keep the funds flowing you must order your underlings to take up positions around the globe by accessing the world map. At first, it seems at odds to the base building aspect of the game but after a short while it becomes apparent how important the world map actually is.

The world map is reminiscent of the board game Risk. As you position your minions you have three options: hiding, plotting and stealing. Actively stealing will bring more attention to your minions and crank up your “heat” level. Heat brings more attention to your evil doings and the chances some goody-goody will be sent to infiltrate your island lair. Stealing is the best way to bring in the cash. When the minions are in hiding, it’s probably because you’ve gathered too much heat and want some of it to dissipate. When set to plotting, your minions can uncover Acts of Infamy.

A successful Act of Infamy relies on the number and type of minions you have attempting the Act (once again relating back to what kind of minions you’ve been able to churn out at your base) and the kind of resistance in that region. A successful Act of Infamy usually results in a new item (or minion type) available to you at your base, which in turn will help you produce better units and more successes on future Acts of Infamy.

There are objectives to achieve to push the game forward - this is no ambiguous SimCity game (even though some of EG's objectives seem to get lost in the constant battle against the good guys that continually infiltrate your lair). The game alerts you to specific objectives via a easily accessible menu and tells you when the objectives have been fulfilled. The objectives range from the simple to more complex objectives that include some strategic moves on the world map. On my first play through, about half way I got completely stymied - progress seemed impossible. Without foreknowledge of how the economics and architecture work, EG can be incredibly tough and the objectives nearly impossible later on.

On the one hand, you always know what you’re supposed to do (or at least have a clue), but on the other if you got stopped on one objective it can become very frustrating, very quickly. Most often, the problem can be traced back to your money management skills. (Did you expand too quickly? Do you have enough minions plotting and stealing on the world map?)  Loading a previously saved game is usually the only route to correct the problem.  (It should also be noted that EG has an autosave function besides the manual save option.)

EG doesn’t lack in the challenge department, and it pulls through in fine shape on the presentation front as well.

EG makes some obvious stylistic nods to Monolith’s No One Lives Forever series and the Austin Powers movies. It’s a good choice. It keeps the proceedings light and comical - the even the nefarious interrogation techniques and the many booby traps are good for a laugh. The camera shows off the animation very well and you can get close enough to the surf to see schools of fish! It’s attention to detail like that that should indicate just how much depth the rest of the game has. The music gets the same treatment - the radio announcements giving the results of Act of Infamy never get old and the music has a certain groove to it.

The Producer on Evil Genius, Peter Gilbert, told the Armchair Empire that the basic premise behind the game was, “Be Dr. No.” For the large part, Evil Genius gets it right. There’s some trial and error early on that could have sunk the whole game, but the depth and style overcome that stumbling block. It still sticks in my craw that minions can’t be given direct orders, but strategy gamers should be smiling… with an evil, throaty laugh.

- Omni

(September 29, 2004)