New Villain Games This Week: Evil Empires, Bridge Tolls and Other Career Opportunities
If you've spent the last twenty years saving princesses, defending humanity and rescuing villages populated by people incapable of finding their own pants, this week's indie releases offer several welcome career alternatives.
You can become a Demon Lord, breed an army of orcs, extort travellers from beneath a bridge or run a criminal organisation dedicated to ruining James Bond's afternoon. There's even a game about becoming a tornado, which isn't technically a criminal occupation, although flattening someone's house without planning permission would presumably attract a substantial fine.
Here's what's worth investigating, what looks promising and what can safely remain on Steam's increasingly overcrowded shelves.
Can't decide which villain deserves your evening? See the 10 most-played villain games, where murderous sharks, criminal masterminds and one spectacularly unpleasant office worker are competing for the crown.
The Big Suck: Property Damage on a Budget
You begin as a pathetic little tornado, destroy things, earn money and buy upgrades until you become a catastrophic weather event with absolutely no respect for property values. It's incremental destruction in its purest form, and early player reception looks encouraging despite a small review sample. Nobody asks whether your tornado had a difficult childhood. You're a tornado. Your contribution to society is removing bits of it.
Against Heroes: Kill the Chosen One Early
Fantasy games insist on allowing teenage farmers to develop into unstoppable heroes through increasingly ridiculous sword collections. Against Heroes proposes killing them before they become a problem. As the Demon Lord, you recruit monster armies and hunt emerging heroes in a roguelite auto-battler. Why wait forty hours for someone to become the Chosen One when six skeletons could visit his house on Tuesday?
Breeding Pit: Congratulations, It's an Orc
Breeding Pit puts you in charge of an orc dynasty, combining inherited genetic traits, managing a stronghold and sending your offspring into turn-based battles. Somewhere in the gaming industry, somebody looked at selective breeding and decided what it desperately needed was more axes. The genetics system could produce fascinating strategic decisions, or an elaborate medieval spreadsheet involving increasingly unattractive relatives.
Da Bridge Troll: Highway Robbery, Finally
At last, a fantasy game that considers the troll's perspective. In Da Bridge Troll, travellers approach your bridge and you decide whether they pay, receive mercy or become lunch. Hunger, greed and faction relationships influence the outcome. It's a refreshing change from heroes expecting free infrastructure while slaughtering everyone responsible for maintaining it. Frankly, I've encountered motorway toll operators with less reasonable policies.
Thinking of building your own evil empire? Our Evil Genius 2 review investigates secret lairs, deadly traps and the horrifying discovery that world domination apparently requires a Human Resources department.
There's Always a Madman: V.I.C.T.O.R.
For decades, secret agents have invaded underground headquarters, destroyed millions in equipment and murdered employees who were probably only responsible for maintaining the ventilation system. V.I.C.T.O.R. finally lets the villainous organisation fight back. This interactive spy adventure puts you opposite a seemingly unstoppable secret agent, with the criminal mastermind perspective taking centre stage. Whether the writing and choices fulfil that promise remains to be seen.
The Offering Hour: Spend Your Life Wisely
The Offering Hour revolves around rituals, monster summoning and spending your remaining lifetime to pursue demonic power. It's the sort of resource management that would give a pension adviser a nervous breakdown. The premise is intriguing.
No One Came Back: Heroic Pest Control
Instead of waiting for adventurers to discover your dungeon, No One Came Back lets you spread rumours to attract particular heroes, prepare an appropriate reception and personally handle whoever survives. It's an appealing reversal of the usual dungeon-crawling arrangement, although the tiny early audience makes judging its execution difficult.
Dead March: Dark Lord Rising
Another Dark Lord, another monster army, another collection of settlements desperately wishing they'd invested in better walls. Dead March promises raids, military management and consequences for failed campaigns.
Malignus: An Evil Empire Worth Watching
Malignus promises dungeon construction, monster management, traps, raids and heroic invasions. Essentially, you get to operate an evil empire while dealing with heroes who apparently believe breaking into private property and murdering the occupants constitutes public service. It's one of the week's most ambitious prospects, but its previously advertised November 12 launch date appears to have been withdrawn.
Still haven't satisfied your appetite for villainy? Enter CRIMENET's Villain HQ for more games featuring monsters, criminal masterminds and people who regard saving humanity as somebody else's problem.
Which Villain Deserves Your Money?
V.I.C.T.O.R. gets our first investigation, followed by Breeding Pit and Da Bridge Troll. The Big Suck looks like the safest inexpensive distraction, while Malignus could become the most substantial game of the bunch once it's actually available.
For now, the villain industry appears to be thriving. Demon lords are recruiting monsters, trolls are collecting tolls and criminal masterminds are plotting against secret agents.
Meanwhile, the heroes are still rescuing farmers from rats. Perhaps they've chosen the wrong profession.
Comments