Evil Genius

[Spino]

Most of the reviews are favorable but from what I have read Evil Genius suffers from some of the same faults as the disastrous game 'Republic' (another game from Dennis Hassabis' crew). Evil Genius forces you to do alot of micromanaging, much moreso than the Dungeon Keeper games which Hassabis helped to create. The game's user interface is also somewhat counter-intuitive and lacks polish. For example, what appears to be a fairly simply task in EG can take an unusual number of mouseclicks to perform.

The good news is the trap system in EG is supposed to be a real hoot. You can make some really twisted mouse traps for invading agents. The little things like funny animations and whatnot are also top notch, apparently the game is chock full of little details.

Anyway, I recommend waiting to see what the patch fixes before picking it up.

Check out the numerous review links listed at www.gamerankings.com

http://www.gamerankings.com/htmlpages2/915014.asp

[Bob the Insane]

I have only seen one issue in the game (having a UK edition) and that is with the animation for Stan's Chimney getting stuck... So I have found it remarkable bug free in comparision to the normal for new releases these days...

Game play is a blast, the only real issue is the lack of documentation... If you want to get the most out of the game you really need to read all the in game glossary stuff and watch the in game movies... Even then some things are not obvious...

I was getting a bit bored and find the game repetative until I discovered you have to do loads more plotting on the world map than I was... Then the game really speeds up a bit..

Another critisim is the timing... Some times events in the game go at a mad pace (like a vist from some Super Agents and Soldiers) and some times thing are really slow (like after a visit by those agents which has left your base trashed and you low on minions). It costs money to replace you stuff and minion recruitment is at one man every 60 seconds unless you have a significant amount of cash to boost it. That does not sound much but if you are low on money and men in the game you may find yourself having to let the game run for 30 mins or so before you can really start doing things again.

You can avoid the above situation by playing the game well, but it is a learning experience to get to that point....

The game is fun when you understand what is happening and due to the lack of instructions it can take a bit of pain and fustration to get to the point of understanding how the game is supposed to work...