Evil Genius 2: World Domination

 PC
Metascore
75

Generally favorable reviews - based on 57 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 37 out of 57
  2. Mixed: 20 out of 57
  3. Negative: 0 out of 57
  1. PCWorld
    Mar 30, 2021
    If you dig base management sims or simply want to fulfill your wildest Bond villain fantasies, Evil Genius 2 is worth picking up. It’s clearly a labor of love from developers who hold the original cult classic deep in their hearts—and I could spend hours setting up diabolical corridors stuffed with traps.
  2. Rock, Paper, Shotgun
    Mar 29, 2021
    Evil Genius 2 is at its best when you're building freely, designing perilous Rube Goldberg machines. Speaking as a very large child, the cartoonish art style, theme, and even flavour text, speaks to me. I'm not so fond of the timers and the economic drain pipes that slurp up your minions like bath water. Too much of the game resides in the world map and not enough on the floor of the lair. Sandbox mode feels like a soothing ointment after going through the bee gauntlet of normal mode, and although it lacks challenge, questy threads and basic storytelling, it is far more playful, cheeky and enjoyable. If you're picking this up, that's where to go. It might feel like cheating to give yourself infinite cash, but isn't that what an Evil Genius would do?

Awards & Rankings

77
#77 Most Discussed PC Game of 2021

User Reviews

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User Score
4.8

Generally unfavorable reviews- based on 57 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 14 out of 57
  2. Mixed: 21 out of 57
  3. Negative: 22 out of 57
  1. HotRod312
    Apr 7, 2021
    3
    If you play a mobile game you'll notice a lot of the features are very familiar. The basebuilding is fun at the start but once you're finishedIf you play a mobile game you'll notice a lot of the features are very familiar. The basebuilding is fun at the start but once you're finished with that it becomes an idle game just waiting for timers to finish. The game even has a stamina system like most mobile games do to limit how much you can do at a time.

    There are many ways to softlock yourself as well due to how the missions are done. One side mission at a time, can't cancel it. Need to do side missions to progress but can't due to mission needing something locked later in the story. Oh and the preorder / deluxe content never made it into my game. So basically I was missold the deluxe version... if it was a physical good I'd be entitled to a refund.

    Honestly, would not buy. Wasn't worth my time invested, let alone the money.    … Full Review »
  2. Frontal
    Apr 15, 2021
    3
    So here we are

    EG2 finally came out A whole bunch of socially awkward gamers awaited this ever since, the first one was a masterpiece!!!    So here we are

    EG2 finally came out

    A whole bunch of socially awkward gamers awaited this ever since, the first one was a masterpiece!!!
    This one here does not live up to its legacy however.

    Pro:
    - Nicely overhauled building system allows you to preplan your entire base (if you want) and allows you to fix smaller parts of your lair by adding material,
    - Recruitment system is easy to understand. Nothing to master here.
    - Fancy new "Protocols" allow you to deal with invaders quick
    - Different Armaments for your Minions allow you to focus on certain tasks, either capturing, or killing them
    - Corpse disposal has become much easier, unlike back in the days, where you had to wait for "years" until the freezers were free again
    - Looks nice

    Cons:
    - It lacks the kind of humor of the old one - EG1 was funny, but in a serious way. EG2 is TRYING to be funny, but in a childish, really not funny way, e.g. you only have the one chair for questioning, unlike EG1 where you could extract intel by putting your enemies into the bowl at the mess hall...
    - Minions are portrayed as incompetent fools, rather than actually pros
    - The Dialogue scenes ridicul your avatar in many ways, making it lose the seriousness of the entire thing overall
    - Making money ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ sucks, passive income is low, and you just grind schemes to make cash
    - They removed the reknown system
    - Super agents are not a real threat since there is only one entry, and you just place all your guard tables there, and it's GG
    - There is no outside world anymore
    - "MORE POWER NEEDED"
    - The AI voice is annoying
    -...

    Tl;Dr
    Overall, it did not live up to the expectations. Some parts included quality of life changes, but it is overall simplified in ways that are just a letdown for old veterans like me.
    The Cons overweigh the pros on so many ways. Hands off this game, as much as it hurts.    … Full Review »
  3. Nullimus
    Mar 31, 2021
    8
    Being a big fan of Evil Genius I was early on the bandwagon but skeptical that the lightning could be put back in the bottle for the sequel. IBeing a big fan of Evil Genius I was early on the bandwagon but skeptical that the lightning could be put back in the bottle for the sequel. I am glad to say that after my first 10 hours playing the game I am not disappointed.

    Getting into the visuals:
    The visual style is updated but true to the original. I enjoy the cleaner asset design that adds to the satirical flare and creates a very readable visual for your base. The updates to the visuals of the world map are again spot on with the vibe of the original while updating it to fit with the modern aesthetics.

    Getting into the mechanics:
    My favorite aspect of building my base in the original was the creation of diabolical trap combinations that made it nearly impossible for the Forces of Justice to penetrate my defenses. I would say my greatest disappointment is the fact that traps are not as customizable and therefore less effective than they were in the original. I would have loved to be able to control the placement of trap triggers like I used to. The traps in Evil Genius 2 are more engaging as a bit of comedic relief than they are truly deadly for the Agents of Justice. Perhaps as I unlock more advanced traps I will find a way to kill an entire team of enemy agents with a diabolical chain reaction, but I am not optimistic.

    Missions in Evil Genius were always a bit cumbersome. Having to remember exactly which minions needed to be sent on each mission when that information would disappear when you started to select the minions to deploy was a hassle. This problem has been elegantly addressed in Evil Genius 2. Simply click on the mission icon and select "Deploy". I also like the fact that the requirements for a mission are always clearly listed in the mission description. In Evil Genius the triggers to make a mission appear on the map were not always clear. It is very possible that there are missions that I never even saw on the world map and I have no way of knowing what I missed.
    One big problem with the missions in Evil Genius 2 is the fact that minions do not give mission deployment top priority. They seem to deploy only after they have maxed out all of their stats. This is frustrating because it can take 15 minutes for a minion to go to the helipad and many missions have a limited mission availability. On top of that, the missions are always one way trips, so there is no reason to require that the minions are at max on all stats before deploying.
    In Evil Genius the effectiveness of your command center was always ambiguous. This has been cleared up in Evil Genius 2 by listing clearly what resources are produced by the command center and what is needed to establish a criminal network and the passive income that is generated is far more manageable than having to deploy minions to territories whenever more income is needed. This is probably one of the greatest improvements over Evil Genius, from a mechanics perspective.
    Research is much clearer to understand in Evil Genius 2 than it was in Evil Genius, but the tech tree approach is very expensive in resources and time. In Evil Genius research was essentially flat and it could evolve organically. That simply is not possible with the tech tree. It is also frustrating to have to spend time and resources on tech that I would prefer not to research, to get to the tech that I want.

    Final Appraisal:
    Being a fan of Evil Genius it is very difficult not to see this game through the lense of comparison. I have spent hundreds of hours on Evil Genius and based on what I have seen so far, I will spend hundreds of hours on Evil Genius 2 as well. It is enjoyable and stays true to it's roots. While there are some changes that are net minuses, the majority of the changes are positive and it is just as enjoyable for me as it's predecessor.    … Full Review »
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