VIDEO: Watch the Evil Genius trailer from the PC Gaming Show above. Also on YouTube.
It's been almost 16 years since Evil Genius, the base building sim where you basically play Dr. Evil from Austin Powers, first came out. But Rebellion is finally returning to make a sequel, and during the PC Gamer Show we got our first look at actual gameplay, including all kinds of new henchmen, spy-catching traps, and a giant machine I can only assume is a death laser.
For the most part, Evil Genius 2 doesn't look like a major departure from the ideas and features of the original. The trailer, which is set up like a step by step guide to world domination, shows off a lot of what you'd expect: carving out rooms in your underground lair, training henchmen, collecting evil relics—y'know, usual bad guy stuff.
What I do love, though, is the expressive animation and the new special unit types. One is basically Van Pelt, the hunter from the original Jumanji, while another is clearly just Samuel Jackson from Pulp Fiction. Don't get me wrong, though, I dig all the references.
One thing I'd still like to see, as hinted in the original reveal during E3 2019, is how drastically the other evil geniuses you can play will change up the campaign. The good news is that we probably won't have to wait too long to find out because Evil Genius 2 is slated for release later this year. If you want to know more, check out Evil Genius 2's Steam page.
