New Year’s Resolution: Be More Evil
Posted on December 31, 2004 @ 7:47 am
Instead of making a New Year’s resolution to be a better person or some nonsense like that, join me this year in resolving to be more evil in ‘05. After the jump, I’ve reviewed a few PC games that should help you get started. Muhahahaha!
Vampire: Bloodlines
What’s more evil than a vampire? How about one of those sexy, Anne Rice vampires living in modern-day Los Angeles? In the RPG Bloodlines, you take on the role of a newly-minted creature of the night caught in the middle of a struggle for supremacy among several powerful vampire clans. Using your vampiric powers (don’t forget to stock up on fresh blood!), you’ll fight foes both earthly and supernatural, solve puzzles, learn new skills, and complete quests as the rich storyline unfolds. Meanwhile, the neo-gothic setting of nocturnal Los Angeles looks gorgeous thanks to the Half-Life 2 engine.
Evil Genius
The Sims meets Risk meets Austin Powers. In Evil Genius, you assume the role of (what else?) an evil genius bent on world domination. The majority of the gameplay consists of building your secret island lair and filling it with everything you need to carry out your devious schemes: high-tech research equipment, diversions to keep your minions happy, and some rather nasty traps — just in case any 007 types start snooping around. Meanwhile, you can place your minions around the globe to plot, steal money, and commit various acts of infamy (for instance, miniaturizing and stealing the Eiffel Tower). Add in a generous dose of humor and a swinging sixties motif, and Evil Genius should have you laughing maniacally into the wee hours of the morn.
Tropico
If you can imagine playing a game called SimCastro or Banana Republic Tycoon, then you’ll be right at home in Tropico. You’ve recently risen to power as El Presidente of a small Caribbean island circa 1950, and it’s your job to see that its people flourish under your benevolent rule. You can choose to focus your economy on farming, mining, industry, or even hotels and resorts, in hopes of luring rich Yanqui tourists to your sunny shores. Politically, you’ll need to keep the various factions on Tropico content (or at least afraid) in order to prevent a rebellion, while also currying favor with the United States and the Soviet Union to avoid an invasion. The real fun, however, comes in issuing edicts, which range from the benign (throwing a Mardi Gras or establishing a social security system for your people) to the somewhat more sinister (declaring martial law, ordering an inquisition, or holding a “book BBQ”). Like Evil Genius, Tropico also takes a somewhat tongue-in-cheek approach to its subject matter, which helps make it a fun, yet surprisingly intricate political/economic simulation. Best of all, a bargain edition of Tropico is now available for the cheap-as-free price of ten bucks.
Posted by Jess | Filed Under Geek |
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Cool. By owning copies of Evil Genius and Tropico, I just scored 66% on this… blog… test… result gatherage listing… thing. Whatever. The games are well cool.
I put pretzels in my friend’s bed last night during the bash at his house. That should score me a few points.
I don’t think Tropico is even worth 10 $. It’s a boring game, just don’t have high expectations.