Hi everyone!
Before we get started, I want to say how incredible it is to see a new legion of masterminds joining us in our quest for world domination – Evil Genius 2: World Domination is now available with Xbox Game Pass. Please make yourself at home and help yourself to a Doomsday Device. I’m sure you’ll find them delightfully destructive.
Now, conquering the world isn’t easy. There’re all sorts of do-gooders out there looking to stop you, and you just know they have a training program to prepare their new recruits. So, let’s get you up to speed so you can start carving out your own criminal empire…
Choosing Your Genius
At the start any campaign, you’ll be faced with a choice: what flavour of evil are you? Each Genius comes with their own unique campaign, but they all favour different playstyles. Maximillian makes for an excellent Genius for first time players, with a strong focus on bringing in enough gold to dabble in everything.
If you’re interested in meeting your enemies head on with a wall of firepower, then ex-Mercenary Red Ivan, rules his Lair with a very literal Iron Fist.
Zalika, on the other hand, favours brains over brawn, heavily funding her research department and racing through the tech tree. Ideal if you want to automate your Lair’s defences with a large network of traps.
And finally, lurking in the shadows, is Ex-Spymaster Emma, who seeks to deceive her enemies into believing there’s no threat… right until it’s too late to stop her.
Organise your Lair
Early in the game you’ll have a lot to build, and not very many places to put things. It’s perfectly fine to put a Power Station next to your Mess Hall, but as you expand, you’ll want to reconfigure your Lair.
Putting your Vault far away from the main entrance is a great way of protecting your ill-gotten gains. Less suspicious rooms, such as the Barracks, can go anywhere – and in fact, it can pay to have facilities for your minions scattered throughout the Lair. The less time they spend walking to and from their beds, the more time they spend working, after all…
On that note, while you could build a single large room filled to the brim with generators consider splitting that room up into lots of smaller rooms and hiding them throughout your Lair. All it takes is one determined agent with a bomb, and that enormous room of precious items will burn down before you know it. If you want to mitigate the damage any single wave of Agents can do, planning and dividing your Lairs rooms into smaller areas is an excellent way of achieving this.
Nothing To See Here, Officer. Just Your Average Casino.
The Investigators sent to your Lair are all looking for the same thing: evidence of your misdeeds. If they make it into your Lair, they’ll run rampant, snapping shots of anything suspicious. You could kill them, but people get suspicious when their highly trained operatives never report in. Dispose of enough Agents and eventually you’ll find yourself dealing with heavily armed soldiers.
The Casino offers a nice solution to this. Kit it out with enough distractions, staff it with minions trained in Deception, and Investigators will spend more time there, slowly losing their Determination. If you keep them trapped there long enough, they’ll eventually return home and report their findings: Which is that you’re a perfectly legitimate Casino.
It won’t keep them at bay forever – nothing ever does – but it will stop them from sending their more highly trained agents.
Must I do Everything Myself?
Short answer? No.
But let’s face it: You’re the only Genius here. And yes, that means you’re surrounded by buffoons. Your Workers try their hardest but they’re an inherently trusting bunch and will often fall for the pathetic disguises worn by your enemies.
You and your Henchmen, however, are far more astute, and won’t fall for any such tricks. Take some time now and then to scan your Lair for suspicious characters, and if you find any, dispatch a Henchman to deal with them.
Of course, eventually you’ll be able to train your minions to do a lot of this for you, especially if you provide them with a camera network.
You Have Failed Me for The Last Time. So have you. And you. And…
While your minions will try their very best to please you, you might find their Morale or Smarts dropping while working for long periods of time. Your Genius can make a very motivating… example… of another minion to get the rest of them back on track. Just be ready to deal with the body bag.
Traps
Minions can die – they can sleep – they can decide that this ‘Evil’ thing isn’t for them and desert your organisation.
Traps are cold, unfeeling machines, and they suffer from no such weakness.
Early traps, such as the Boxing Glove, are simple things, designed with a single purpose in mind. But as you advance through the tech tree, you’ll unlock more traps and be able to improve your trap network in all sorts of ways. Combining traps is an excellent way of making sure no Agent makes it out of your Lair alive.
A great combo to get you started: The Fan Trap will blow Agents a large distance, triggering any other trap they hit on their way. Combine this with a series of boxing gloves and you’ll deliver a devastating one-two (-three-four-five-six) punch.
Is It Hot In Here?
Justice never sleeps. Their Agents are always watching your Criminal Networks across the globe, building their case against you. This is represented by Heat, and the more of it you have, the more dangerous the Agents will be when they visit your Lair. Your activities on the World Map will generate Heat.
Do your best to keep your Heat low – or prepare your defences for a fight!
Good luck!
Hopefully, after all that, you’re feeling more prepared to take on the world. There’s a huge swathe of content in Evil Genius 2: World Domination, so take the time to explore. I particularly recommend going after a few tasty pieces of Loot. They’re powerful artefacts, but obtaining them may be something of a challenge…
Just remember: The world is yours for the taking.
Evil Genius 2: World Domination
Rebellion
☆☆☆☆☆
29
★★★★★
$39.99
PC Game Pass
Xbox Game Pass
Evil Genius 2 is a satirical spy-fi lair builder, where players take control of an Evil Genius and set their plans for world domination in motion. When it feels this good to be bad, the Forces of Justice don’t stand a chance!
Build your own unique evil lair and cover operation, Train a force of criminal minions, Defend your Lair from the Forces of Justice, and Dominate the world with a Doomsday Device in this direct sequel to the 2004 cult classic!
Cruel Constructions!
Every villain needs an island lair, so pick your paradise and put your own sinister stamp on it! Shape the internal structure of your hazardous hideaway to fit your play-style, and construct wonderfully wicked devices for your minions to put to use.
Atrocious Anti-Heroes!
Competence isn’t going to cut it when you’re running an evil operation. As you expand and train your minion workforce, you can create new specialists to help further your evil plans! Need something a little more…intimidating? Recruit powerful Henchmen that complement your play style; every mastermind needs a right hand…or several, in fact!
Dastardly Devices!
The Forces of Justice are annoyingly punctual, so supplement your brute force by researching and developing a series of trap networks! Send those do-gooders spinning with a Pinball Bumper, or put the chomp on them with the Venus Spy-Trap. While one trap is good, more is…evil-er. Combo your traps to banish intruders for good!
Nefarious Plots!
Carry out evil schemes to further your plot to build a Doomsday Device and dominate the world! Sell the British Royal Family, Kidnap the Governor of Maine, and literally BAKE ALASKA. With hundreds of potential objectives, variety is the spice of strife.