Evil Genius

1. WilliamM

   Dec 23, 2009

   10

   Evil Genius was a game that begged for a sequel and one was FINISHED, but the creators of Tropico shelved it when they acquired the rights.

   • 4 of 6 users found this helpful
2. TimS.

   Sep 16, 2006

   10

   This is a great game really fun and pretty funny at times.

   • 0 of 0 users found this helpful
4. MeritL

   Nov 30, 2009

   10

   With this game you're actually playing two games at once by switching back and forth via the tab button. Great music & humor, It's With this game you're actually playing two games at once by switching back and forth via the tab button. Great music & humor, It's still one of my very favorite games because of how unique and inovative it was for its time. It is bit old now though.. I only wish they made an Evil Genius 2 ;(… Expand

   • 0 of 0 users found this helpful
5. LuatiF.

   Jan 2, 2005

   8

   This is an extremely entertaining game, with very simple playability and addictive gameplay. Its only downside are some irritating bugs that This is an extremely entertaining game, with very simple playability and addictive gameplay. Its only downside are some irritating bugs that create some programming inconsistencies. Overall it is a very original and humurous game that will keep you entertained for hours!… Expand

   • 0 of 0 users found this helpful
6. Skulb

   Feb 13, 2014

   8

   Playing Evil Genius reminds me of why I stopped buying computer games. It came out at a time when the people who made them got their jolliesPlaying Evil Genius reminds me of why I stopped buying computer games. It came out at a time when the people who made them got their jollies from making things frustrating and then mocking the users after release if they complained. And I loved it! Games these days have all sorts of conveniences for the fluoride generation that has hijacked gaming. These are the people giving EG a low score here btw. Go back to CoD you wreckers!
   In the decade since it was released gaming has taken an amazing nosedive, with everything being "casual friendly", which is code for never frustrating anyone ever, which is code for making boring games.
   Anybody who wants a classic example of how PC games used to deliberately use frustration to make games fun should buy Evil Genius. It`s one of very few Dungeon Keeper derivatives released which is good, and the graphics and sound are still great after all this time. And so is the game play. Once you get the hang of base construction and learn how to use different traps, doors, cameras and guards for the best result it is amazingly addictive.
   As for the negatives it really is time consuming and occasionally little happens. But on the other hand you can control this yourself to a certain extent: By being active plotting and carrying out crimes on the world map you attract hordes of agents and you`ll never be bored. Of course you won`t be able to defend your base either, but finding the right balance between world map activity and base security is one of the joys of the game, although never easy.
   There is an exploit which is hard to resist at the end of the tutorial, when your task is to kidnap a maid. If you just don`t do this at all and instead send all your people off to plunder on the world map you can just go to bed or get drunk and you`ll have millions of gold when you wake up/come back. This neutralizes what would otherwise have been the hardest part of EG: getting enough gold while being harassed by super agents But since it`s an alternative that requires patience, which is what my enemies in the "casual" gaming community do not have at all, I am prepared to forgive this crutch.
   The only real negative is that not only is it hard and long winded, but it is almost a must to have played through the game before you can know what to do when, how much and in what order and so have a reasonable chance at finishing the campaign. If you haven`t you`ll aggro all five super agents to your island at the same time and die, place entrances, rooms and hotels in bad places, get the wrong henchmen or an endless number of other things you`re just not likely to get right the first time around.
   
   Other than that it`s great fun, and highly recommended foo anyone sick to death of "casual" gaming.… Expand

   • 0 of 3 users found this helpful
7. Babutto

   Mar 22, 2020

   6

   This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. It was really hard for me to give six instead of a high score. But here is my review with as many details as I can squeeze in it without making boring.
   
   Pros.:
   - Esthetics of the '60s.
   - Amazing world map with a more or less clear division of countries and economic blocks.
   - Missions and their descriptions.
   - Henchmen.
   - Humor (a lot of humor: training, interrogations, quotas, etc.).
   - Different choices during the game.
   
   Cons.:
   - Serious problems with the engine (glitches, minions stuck, etc.).
   - Complete imbalance of the game play (more below).
   - Closer to the end of the game it's more than boring.
   - Corpses stats decrease problem - they decrease them fast to zero, that makes the game almost unplayable without using the Evil Genius.
   - Moving from one island to another one glitch.
   - Tonn of small issues making the game almost impossible to beat without cheating or wasting much huge amounts of time playing.
   
   Detailed glitches:
   1. Tourists sometimes come to the island. They are suppoed to relax, not wander around, visit tourist buildings you make for them. Maybe even make money on them. However, only American tourists come, sometimes Chinese. That's an obvious glitch. Hammer countries were banned from travelling (mostly), but what about others?
   One more thing is the construction of the hotels, etc. When SWAT veterans come, they just blow and kill every valet or recreation minion and destroy everything. What's the point of building it? All recreation buildings should be immune to veterans actions. Like they sneak around, and only if they find loot, see the henchmen murdering something, shoot to kill. Or if they reach the main base.
   
   2, Glitch with the veterans. When they come, they just start killing everyone. I can understand the killing of the military minions, but any random stuff and these folks walk around, carry corpses. Means you MUST kill veterans all the time; otherwise you are risking losing half of your minions or even all of them. It's ridiculous.
   
   3. When you move to the new island and have tonnes of money (like me), minions keep running and running, attracting more agents and completely blowing the experience of building a new base. The agents should be banned of coming to the new island for some time or until you start some mission. It is obvious they need to obtain some data where the Evil Genius is now and then come there. Also, it may be shown that the Evil Genius made a trap on the old island; that's why countries didn't have a chance to track him down to the new island. It makes sense and can be balanced making all countries 1/4 or 1/3 of Heat at the beginning forcing to wait until it cools down.
   
   4. That's my favorite.
   Super agents can come to your island all at once. Or one by one. Especially when you are very vulnerable. So, it requires a HUGE amount of time to micromanage everything: world map, minions, corpses, henchmen, agents, super agents. All at the same f****ing time. Super agents cannot come more than two at once. And if they meet they should kind of kill each other. That happens rarely.
   The second problem is that any agent knows where your base is and just FOLLOW THERE, walk-in, and walk without anyone noticing and fighting them.
   Even when you build a work station that prevents agents from coming too often, they come more often. Again, they cannot just come straight to the base. The minions always walk around and bring them in. It's ridiculous. The traps do not work properly, because then your minions carrying corpses will be vulnerable too. To manually switch on and off - it's just stupid. Make a new entrance just with traps? And what's next? Separate freezer? And minions getting dumb after 5 minutes of taking care of trap victims? It's all just a piece of crap.
   
   5. Sometimes it takes forever to train a diplomat. The stamina of the diplomat or the trainee runs out too fast. The artifacts sometimes do not work. Need to demolish and then cancel demolishing.
   
   6. Minions can be stuck in the corridor for a long time. Especially carrying many corpses.
   
   7. Second island. Quicksave glitch. Cannot save. The game just crashes. Need to wait for the autosave. Sometimes it also doesn't work. You cannot save manually. That is stupid.
   
   Resume:
   1. There should be simple buttons to "all minions remain on the base". Done.
   2. Next - you don't need to bring all the corpses to the freezer. It's stupid. If the agents see the corpse and go back, it increases the heat slightly. So, then you don't need to carry tens of them closer to the end of the game.
   3. Fix agents balance and their arrivals. Sometimes they just arrive straight to your entrance. Especially veterans.
   
   The game looked cool as an idea. But there is no QC closer to the end. Not at all! It's full of **** and the last mission experience just destroys the whole impression.… Expand

   • 0 of 0 users found this helpful
8. Broyax

   Sep 19, 2021

   0

   Une espèce de jeu de stratégie très inspiré d’un Dungeon Keeper mais à l’ambiance volontiers bouffonne : le vague humour dispensé ici est trèsUne espèce de jeu de stratégie très inspiré d’un Dungeon Keeper mais à l’ambiance volontiers bouffonne : le vague humour dispensé ici est très bête et porte vite sur les nerfs, de même que l’interface très mal faite et ceci touche d’ailleurs tous les compartiments de la présentation et de l’injouabilité très générale.
   
   Les graphismes sont évidemment à l’avenant et dignes d’un dessin animé à nette tendance triso-mongolienne, augmentant ainsi la bouffonnerie de l’ensemble. Il faut également mentionner la lenteur omniprésente de la moindre des actions effectuées ou ordres donnés. Il n’y a pas 36 façons de tenter de jouer à ce truc, sinon celle prévue par quelques développeurs incapables…
   
   Ce qui conduit trop souvent à l’échec des missions alors que l’on se débat avec l’inetrface déficiente, la lenteur générale et l’ennui de plus en plus envahissant : un jeu de merde à la fois soporifique, très con et particulièrement énervant. Un génie de la daube, assurément !… Expand

   • 0 of 1 users found this helpful

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