World Domination is only a click away. If strategy is to your liking, if you have thought about being an Evil Genius and taking over the world, then Evil Genius 2 is up your ally. You are the head of an evil operation where you command scientists, body guards, body bag disposers, and more. Play in 4 unique campaigns as you guide your chosen evil genius through their own story-based campaign as they inflict their vision upon an unsuspecting globe. The game has incredible depth and a freedom to build and create that is both fun and addicting. Already released on PC, GWW was given a PlayStation code for review purposes.
Publisher/Developer: Rebellion
https://evilgeniusgame.com/en
Release Date: November 30, 2021
Visuals/Sound
Despicable Me meets Team Fortress 2. With cartoon like visuals the game is easy on the eyes. Further to that though, are the bright colors and ever expanding palette. Different rooms have different colors and different tasks have different rewards. Use those rewards to decorate your lair with traps, security stations and more. Make your lair look the way you want. In doing so, the visuals and scale of the lair you inhabit is yours to realize. It helps when creating so many different rooms, that the colors are aligned to those rooms. Prisons, Vaults and Staff Rooms all are color coded and make for easy traversing of the lair.
Character designs are fun and expressive. Scientists and biologists wear white coats, Guards are big and bulky. Each character has a purpose and all look there role. Each mad genius is distinct in their own way. As well the designs of the items that inhabit the lair are right out of every evil lair in your mind. To go along with the visuals is the expressive sounds that each room in your lair will have. The power station room has the gentle hum of the generators. The distraction area (a casino) explodes with the sounds of slot machines. The hustle and bustle of the corridors that surround your lair are a busy cacophony of excitement. The visual and sound design are all simple, yet effective. The game isn’t trying to be a true to tale story of world domination. Its a cartoon. Its fun to look at and explore.
Gameplay
There is so much to do. By the time you are a few hours into the game, the game explodes with missions, goals, money loss, power failures, security issues, and the ever fun fire that burns your entire lair to the ground. All of this annoying and exciting features makes for an absolute great game to play. There is always something to do, and always something to build. Send your minions out on schemes to lower your heat (so your lair isn’t attacked), collect money or complete side missions that progress the story. It’s all about how the lair is built and how everything inside the lair is run. Checking to make sure the minions have an assigned job so that the lair is running at peak performance is an ongoing task.
There at times can be to much to do, and other times where you are waiting for research to finish or the vault to replenish. It’s in the down time, when traps and schemes can be thought out, as well the regaining of the money you will so desperately need. Protecting the lair is always top of mind. The menu is easy to access. I just wish that there was more hand holding when it comes to where to go next and how to traverse the scheme and mission maps. The more you play the more you will learn. The first 5-10 hours are a bit fly by the seat of your pants though.
Final Thoughts
I found myself getting lost in the game. Hours would pass by. I would be building and building, trying to expand. A fire would start and I would have to re-build again. The amount of joy that comes from building something from the ground up is unmeasurable. The game is addicting but in a good way. I became invested in the minions I control. I want to make sure they have the right food, training, and bed. If I take care of them they will take care of my lair. With 4 separate campaigns the length of the game and the different styles that the game can be played is well worth it, and one of the best console games of 2021.
Rating: 8.5