Evil Genius 2: World Domination [PlayStation 5] | REVIEW

I’ve already played a lot of Evil Genius 2: World Domination on PC this year, and I really enjoyed it – so much so that I gave it a 9/10 when I reviewed it (you can check out that review through this link). Well, nine months on from its initial release on PC, it has finally made its way to consoles too. Of course, there’s no denying that games like this are normally best played with a keyboard and mouse, so how well does Evil Genius 2: World Domination hold up for those playing with a controller?

I’m happy to report that it’s actually pretty solid throughout, even if there can be some minor hiccups along the way. It was already a great game on PC, but Evil Genius 2: World Domination is also great on the PlayStation 5.

Check out a gallery of screenshots down below:

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I’ve already covered the ins-and-outs of the general gameplay in my previous review, so I won’t go into it in too much depth here. Basically, players take control of one of four evil geniuses, with each bringing with them their own unique campaign and specialist abilities to help them take over the world. This involves building a base, upgrading it with all sorts of creative and dastardly rooms, ensuring you’ve got plentiful resources, and then putting your evil plans in place across the world. It’s a really satisfying gameplay loop that’ll find players constantly tinkering with their base, whilst taking down the secret agents who try to infiltrate it is always rewarding too. That’s right, you’ll take down Bond-like spies, with each requiring a fair bit of work to handle – it all adds to the fun though, whilst unleashing your minions and henchmen upon them is always a treat.

One of the key features of the game revolves around the World Stage, which offers an overview map of the planet that’s divided into territories. This is where you’ll find resources or make cash in-game, with the player setting up crime networks or initiating Schemes across the globe. The Schemes themselves come with varying levels, requirements, and objectives, with each one bringing something a little different that will challenge players in a variety of ways.

Evil Genius 2: World Domination is a game that rewards efficiency and clever thinking from the player, and it makes playing through the campaign really enjoyable. However, those who prefer a more easy-going experience with less goals to meet can instead play in the Sandbox mode, where there are less expectations in place for your villainy. It’s ideal for those who just want to unleash their creativity and even I found myself returning to it for a good few hours of playtime.

“Evil Genius 2: World Domination is a game that rewards efficiency and clever thinking from the player, and it makes playing through the campaign really enjoyable.”

I said it in my previous review and I’ll say it again: Evil Genius 2: World Domination is a heck of a lot of fun to play. However, my experience with it before was with a mouse and keyboard, which is ideal for these kinds of games. Playing with a controller was quite different.

One thing that’s worth mentioning from the get-go is that you’re getting the full experience here. Nothing has been cut from the PC release, so it’s not as if sacrifices have been made to make it work on console. However, with a lot of menus remaining the same as the PC version (albeit with a few things modified here and there), it can be a little fiddly to navigate them at first.

You’ll move the cursor around with the left stick to select the objects you want to interact with, with the D-Pad allowing you to flick through the different options – simple. You’ll also be able to access the main menu and the build menu with a quick button press, though these bring with them more complicated options that can take getting used to with a controller. Switching between menus, lining objects up, dragging and dropping… it’s the sort of thing that’s easy enough to do with a mouse and keyboard, but is a bit more hindersome here.

“It all felt pretty natural after a few hours play; sure, the controls weren’t as intuitive as using a mouse and keyboard, but some of the earlier issues I had were forgotten about.”

I do have to emphasise that it’s certainly not bad and you will get used to it after a short while, so it’s not a game-breaker. In fact, it all felt pretty natural after a few hours play; sure, the controls weren’t as intuitive as using a mouse and keyboard, but some of the earlier issues I had were forgotten about. There is a hurdle to begin with though, especially if you have been previously used to playing the game on PC, and you might find your fingers all over the place as you work out how to do simple tasks with the controller.

Performance-wise, I didn’t find anything big to complain about with Evil Genius 2: World Domination. It looks as colourful and charming on the PlayStation 5 as it does on PC, whilst I didn’t notice any frame rate issues when playing either. I did have a few smaller glitches occur and the game did crash on one occasion, but there weren’t any frequent issues that caused any real problems.

Developer: Rebellion
Publisher: Rebellion
Platform(s): PlayStation 5 (Reviewed), PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PC
Website: https://evilgeniusgame.com/en