Evil Genius 2: World Dominationis an upcoming “lair builder” that encourages players to exercise their nefarious tendencies by building a secret base and taking over the world with a doomsday machine. There is a lot of depth to this strategy/base-building game, with multiple evil masterminds to play as, various specialty tech trees to work through, well-rounded building mechanics, and swarms of minions to train.Evil Genius 2’s lead developer Rich Edwards explained how to take over the worldpreviously in this Game Rant interview, but we were also curious about the setting and style that makesEvil Geniusso charming.
Evil Genius 2has a cartoony style that hearkens back to the classic era of swanky spy films, which is accompanied well by game systems that allow for fine tuning but don’t force micromanagement. The setting is quite unique, clearly reminiscent of Sean ConneryBondmovies, but with the tables turned so that players see the perspective of maniacal fiend bent on world conquest. Edwards was happy to detail all of the different sources of inspiration forEvil Genius 2’s iconic theme.
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I think it’s fair to say that if it’s 1960s' “spy-fi” we’ve watched it or read it. There’s things likeMission Impossibleor the originalAvengers, with all those international espionage antics. So absolutely, all those things have played different influences on us as a dev team. I could list films all day. Sometimes we sit down and talk about films that we’ve seen just to share ideas. One thing that I was thinking a lot about recently wasThe Man from U.N.C.L.E.because that does hit a nice line between- it was that original style, but the modern film has updated that and managed to maintain some of that fun.
Whether it’s monocled Max, burly Red Ivan, or any of the otherplayable geniuses or unique henchmen, there are countless references and callbacks to an era of spy thrillers that doesn’t see much attention these days. There’s a clear mix of nostalgia and love for lighthearted camp inEvil Genius 2, all in the hopes that players will find the fun in cackling with malicious glee as their cartoonishly evil schemes unfold. Although not many details have been shared, there will be a narrative story for each playable genius. In light of that, we asked whether players would get their own Bond, a super agent capable of undoing all their hard-earned machinations.
Edwards: A good villain will always attempt to keep their plans under wraps until the last minute when they start gloating, so I can’t reveal everything yet. What I can say is that there are going to be super agents, and there may be particularly problematic agents who keep coming back for you time and time again.
Along with nostalgia for classic spy movies, there is also clear nostalgia for theoriginalEvil Genius, which released in 2004. When asked what his favorite part of the new game is, Edwards explained that as a fan of the original he is over the moon that Red Ivan is back, and now as a playable villain in his own right. Even for players who haven’t touched the original though, Evil Genius 2 may be worth keeping an eye on for fans of base building or just some fun spy-thriller antics.
Evil Genius 2is scheduled to launch in the first half of 2021.
