Evil Genius - The Other Side Has Feelings Too

I've been eying this game for a long time so when it went on sale this weekend I had to snap it up.  Developed by the now defunct Elixir Studios, I honestly don't remember hearing anything about Evil Genius when it first came out in 2004.  Come to think about it, I don't remember hearing much about it since 2004 either.  Maybe I've been living under a rock?  That is a distinct possibility.

Classified by GOG as a RTS meets managerial gameplay, Evil Genius appears to center around building a mountain side lair, overtaking the world, foiling the plans of silly do-gooders, and constructing the ultimate doomsday device.  You know, all the stuff that any decent malevolent mastermind should be able to do in their sleep.  I haven't played it yet, but I'll probably blog about it when I do.  This summer is already looking pretty packed with RL and Mass Effect 1+2, so I'm putting this game on the "to-do if I miraculously find time" list.

Even though I have yet to play the game, I found a customer review by GOG user DMorrone to be quite intriguing.  Entitled Your mission, if you choose to accept it, is to ruin their mission - if they accepted it - of course, his review reads thusly:

Good Day Mastermind,

Congratulations on your recent promotion and the newly gained ability to be able to build that secret mountainside lair that all of us in the upper echelons of crime own.

Just a few items to note - please be sure to examine the whole range of rooms available to you and your minions. Remember - you cannot control you personnel directly - but you can influence what they do out of subtle reminders and pure stark terror. You have an assortment of ways to improve them - whether it's in the training room, the archive library or by simple experience within the base itself. Be sure to wander about often, glaring and pointing indiscriminately.

You will also have the ability to work your crime finesse on the big board of the world - and although you don't get the finer details that you do as you oversee your base, there is a certain sense of accomplishment in raiding the world's coffers bare to pad your own.

Do be careful - the do-gooders of the world will eventually put the pieces together and find your lair. Fortunately, we've worked hand in hand with WayAm Enterprises to provide an assortment of traps and weaponry that you configure as you see fit to defend your base.

Oh, and always make sure you have enough freezer space for your vanquished foes.

Good luck, enjoy the intricacies of managing your base and don't forget to come up with at least three synergistic action items for EvilCon in August. We're going to be holding it on Dr. Amalgamation's submarine in the Artic Circle - so dress appropriately.

Regards,

Overlord Quantum

Now how could I say "no" to a game with marketing like that?

Image: one of the wallpapers available, with purchase, from GOG