Page 1 (Jan 28, 2004 to May 14, 2004)
Page 2 (May 14, 2004 to Jul 25, 2004)
Page 3 (Jul 26, 2004 to Aug 26, 2004)
Page 4 (Aug 26, 2004 to Sep 20, 2004)
Page 5 (Sep 20, 2004 to Oct 10, 2004)
Page 6 (Oct 10, 2004 to Oct 30, 2004)
Page 7 (Oct 30, 2004 to Dec 29, 2004)
Page 8 (Dec 30, 2004 to Apr 13, 2005)
Page 9 (Apr 15, 2005 to Present)

EDIT: - Just been up for an hour, then down again. It was hit 5 times a second by you guys - which may be contributing, but major thumbs up for putting up with the site and sticking with Evil Planet. I expect it will continue to be up and down uptil the tech support sort the problems out, so please just bear with us and make the most of uptime!

UPDATE: - all fixed - been up all day. Yay!

UPDATE: I gave tech support a call as soon as their offices were open. Bingo - ten minutes later we have a forum back again.

• EuroGamer - 7/10. Solid score, and has lots of good stuff to say about the game, but doesn't shy away from the bad point either.

• Gamers Depot - 4/5. A review from someone who obviuosly likes the game and enthuses about the great bits. Well worth a read!

• 1up.com - apparantly they have given Evil Genius 7/10, although the site doesn't seem to be loading... I'll link later.

UPDATE: Still an issue with the polls on the site - this will be dealt with as soon as possible.

Anyway - good news is the hosting is back, so you can actually get to the forums. Bad news is there is an error in one of the php databases, so reading any messages is a no-no. And I'm on holiday. And the password to myphpadmin (controls the forums) is at work. So what should have been a 30 second "auto-fix" is turning into a bit of a major problem, as I can't get in to check things out, and as it's the weekend, no-one else is around to help out either! Man, forums are a pain in the ass sometimes!

Anyway - let's get back to the good news. This website is up and running for all your info needs. The official forums are also busy. Why not go and sign up at the official forums and do all your chatting there for now - I'll be answering questions where I can and you can get your fill of chatting goodness. Then, when these forums are back up (which, I'm sorry to say, may be any time until Monday morning), I'll email around. You are also welcome to check back regularly.

We have a great community here - easily the largest in "Evil Genius world", and I wanna keep that. The problems are frustrating, annoying - it's not really good enough. I know. But everything will be back working again soon!

UPDATE: We realise this isn't a great situation guys - believe me, we are seriously annoyed with the hosts to whom a lot fo money has been payed for an improved hosting package. Can I point out, however, that sending abusive messages or demands to "get the forums fixed" is bloody annoying and totally unfair. When the forums are working again, you can use them. Until then, we'll all just have to put up with it.

We have a bunch of cool prizes, including signed copies of the game and maybe even a trip to Elixir Studios (including lunch with some of the team) if you live in the UK. All other prizes (including maybe some bonus stuff!) are available to anyone around the world, so be sure to enter our easy-peasy competition which requires little more than 5 minutes and a bit of imagination to enter. Get going - and design me a henchman - you may win some really good stuff!

Update: - as a special extra, I have 15 copies of the awesom Republic: the Revolution CD which will be given out as bonus prizes. That means a total prize count of about 30 prizes (several of these prizes will be grouped together, as explained). Awesome!

If you have any problems in any of the missions, why not check out our Island 1 walkthrough.

• Game Revolution - B. A decent review from Game Revolution which comments on some reasonable issues and praises the good bits too. It loves the "awesome style" "and best music ever" but rues the lack of minion control.

• The Sun - 88%. UK tabloid, The Sun has got in on the review action with the shortest review in the history of the world. A decent score though!

• PC Gameplay - 81%. Print magazine from Belgium. Pros: - Very addictive, varied gameplay, atmosphere, graphics/humour. Cons: - No multiplayer and a steep learning curve. Thanks, Yves.

• Euro Gamer - 7/10. A slightly disappointing review from EuroGamer which likes to focus on the bas rather than good and makes a few errors (such as suggesting that every agent needs to be individually tagged, when SHIFT and CTRL short cut keys make this a lot easier). Nevertheless, it is still a solid score.

• Either I made a mistake, or they updated their scores, but IGN and VE3d are now both giving Evil Genius 7.8/10 rather than 7.3/10, which is positive news.

• It seems copies of Evil Genius really are making their way into stores now - most American outlets should have the game on the shelves today ready for you to run and grab it! It does seem, however, that the game is jumping off the shelves where it is already available, so get down there quick!

• Don't forget about the Evil Planet competition! You can win signed copies of the game, posters, and maybe even a trip to Elixir Studios! It's really easy to enter - all we want you to do is design a name, bio and special abilties for one of our henchmen. Click here for all the info.

• Once again, thanks to all who are sending in news and information regarding places to buy Evil Genius. There are so many useful emails that I really cannot answer every one, but I can say thanks here instead. Cheers!

• 100,000 unique visitors (250,000 seperate visits [not hits]) since opening, and 1,500,000 forum hits in a week... thanks to everyone who visits!

• ActionTrip - 84%. A fun and chatty review from ActionTrip which shows bluntly what I've being asking for - a reviewer that actually played the game all the way through. Sure, he finds gameplay issues to fault, but applauds the fun characters, huge gameplay and addictive nature of the game.

• UGO - A-. UGO have come up with the goods and delivered a decent article which weighs heavily on the good areas of the game, and this comes through in the score. Giving and A+ for presentation, and a B+ for gameplay, this is one of the best scores so far given. Good stuff!

• Next Level Gaming - 82/100. A chatty and slightly amaturish review from Next Level Gaming which certainly doesn't review the game methodically, but I'm not arguing really. The last paragraph sums it up - "who cares about presentation - it's just fun!"

• Games Domain - 7/10. A short and "matter of fact" review from Yahoo Games Domain on a horrible coloured background. It has some decent points, although I must disagree with their comments about a "clunky interface" and "little replayability" which is not true in my view. There are also misconceptions - they complain about agents using trapdoors, when in fact that is only a gameplay mechanic to ensure you can't lock agents in a room without doors. They do, however, comment on the fun ideas and polish the game has.

• PC Team - 87%. This review, from French magazine PC team seems to echo all the other French press who love Evil Genius. I'm afraid I don't have a link for you though!

• Armchair Empire - 8/10. A positive review from ArmChair Empire which makes a good point - get off on the right foot with the game and it's a lot easier! Besides admiring the attention to detail and the music, it says "There’s some trial and error early on that could have sunk the whole game, but the depth and style overcome that stumbling block."

I expect that the delays were simply due to shipping, but if you manage to pick up a copy of Evil Genius in your local store, could you tell us? Thanks!

Update: - My greatest thanks to the many, many people who emailed me news regarding Evil Genius' release today. Several people registered their disappointment (news of slow shipping was mentioned more than once). Three people have got their copies from various stores, more have been promised theirs tomorrow. Seems that there is nothing you can do but wait (and get in quick - what is around is selling fast). THANKS to all who emailed.

• Don't forget about the Evil Planet competition where you have a chance to win some awesome prizes. There have been some decent entries already - so check out the details and get involved!

• Shen Yu has released his sales pitch for the ongoing Evil Genius Ultimate Poll! YOu may have got the details through in an email - if not, then don't worry - you can read all the press releases and vote for your favourite right here.

• GameSpot have apologised for their error in their original review regarding saving, and have posted not only an edited review but an edited video review.

• The forums have been updated here at Evil Planet - there is now a Help me! section and a full game modding section, both of which look very new and lonely compared to the rest of the forums, so get posting in there!

• Many forum members here and on the official forums have noted their problems in getting Evil Genius yesterday, which was technically the release date. It is expacted, however, that the game will be available around the US today (yesterday may have actually been a shipping day). Keep looking!

• Update: WorthPlaying are linking to a 1 minute movie showing interrogation. For anyone who has played the demo, this will be nothing new (it's using the chair), but if you haven't played, then go check it out. Pity it doesn't include the cool MJ impersonations though...

• IGN - 7.8/10: IGN's article is an interesting read with many good points to say about the game. It laments the gameplay rather, but is knocked over by the presentation, graphics and sound. A decent review.

• VoodooExtreme - 7.8/10: Voodoo Extreme is a branch of IGN and gives the same score, but it's a completely different review from a different person, hence this link. It's fairly short, but gives good comment on the game in much the same way as the IGN review.

• GameZone - 8.7/10: In a change to most other reviews, Game Zone marks Evil Genius up for exciting and fun gameplay, giving slightly fewer marks for graphics and music. Overall, however, it's the second highest score so far and is a well written review.

• Armchair General - 4/5: In probably the most interesting review so far, Armchair General notches up a great little read. It obviously loves the game, giving 5/5 for graphics, 4/5 for all other sections (with only AI coming in at a lowly 2/5). I even get a link! Check it out.

• A 4 page modding guide written by the lead programmer, Alex, with tips on how to start modding the final game.
• A 6 page guide to Island 1 objectives written by myself to ease you into the first island in the game, complete with general gameplay hints and explanations on how to complete objectives and missions.
• A guide to research giving a huge and fully comprehensive list detailing how to get every item in the game without cheating.
• An updated cheats page giving official and unofficial cheats for the full game to allow you to enjoy desiging bases without pesky agents!
• Update: Loads more henchmen and minion bios posted on the characters page (thanks Dennis for the images). This completes this section (aside from a very few missing characters). Traps page has been updated with names of all traps - a few new pictures to come.
• Update: The trap page has been updated with pictures of three new (and rather awesome) traps.

All we want you to do is to think up a cool name, background bio and special abilities for one of the two new henchmen Elixir have sent me. Want more details and a chance to enter? It's all here!

• For those who haven't got the game and want to find out more about the henchmen in the game, check out The Butcher at IGN. There is also a short video of him (use top link to view for free).

• The Prima Guide for Evil Genius is now out. At around 250 pages long it's incredibly detailed with more stats, explanation, lists, guides and pictures than you can ever need. Check it out if you wish to delve into the very depths of the game but it's by no means an essential purchase as this site has loads of info too!

• Update: Total Video Games, who did a series of excellant diaries with the team in the months building up to release have released a final Q and A session with the team. The three page article with some of the top guys in the Evil Genius team includes detailed info on traps, the gameplay and choices about the style of game. Well worth a read.

• Update: www.softxchange.dk, a Dutch store, are selling Evil Genius already, according to sources on the forums who claim to have the game already. The website also has the first view of the back of the box.

• Update: Gamespot have corrected the error they had on their review regarding saving, with an apology at the end. WarCry have also updated their score for the sound from a 5/10 to 7.5/10, but like Gamespot, have not adjusted their final score.

• Gamespot: 7.3/10. Whilst a slightly dissapointing review from a major online source, the Gamespot review is certainly worth a look. Be warned, however, that it has totally incorrect facts such as its comment that manual saves are impossible (when in reality you can save as often as you like). Along with the review is a movie page which has streamable versions of their video review and five new gameplay videos.

• Gamespy: 4/5. A solid review from Gamespy. It lists the pros as "Art and character design, good game encyclopedia, deep strategy that creates that "just one more turn" sensation" and the cons as "Early mission text can easily frustrate players, problems relaying information, too much micromanagement". An interesting review.

• Worthplaying: 9/10. An excellant score from WorthPlaying commenting on the excellant music, graphics, depth of gameplay as well as fun. For once, this is a review which doesn't focus on the bad - it focuses on the good points, of which he finds many. Take a look!

• WarCry: 7.5/10. A slightly disappointing score from WarCry in an otherwise positive and generally well written article. It marks the game down for "not keeping the excellant menu music in the main game" but has reasonably high scores for gameplay, controls, graphics and entertainment.

• Edge: 7/10. Edge is a UK print magazine, popular with people who like gaming but don't like the comic and colour explosion feel to standard mags. Their reviews are always short but interesting - this being no exception. It comments that the game is a big step up for Elixir and is generally really good fun (aside from a "tacked on" hotel feature and slightly dull mission play style). Positive.

Sadly, this is something we are still seeing. Our forums are busy, for sure, but the traffic is not so great that a normal server coud not handle it. I have complained several times to the new hosting company (now I am paying, I can hopefully demand a better service) but it is still in their hands to get the server back up and running. In the mean time, please accept my apologies for any downtime you may experience, and continue to enjoy the rest of the site.

Anyway, we'll be having a celebration and I'll be posting a whole raft of cool new stuff about the game, including all the remaining henchmen bios, guides to the game, a essay on modding, a full guide to researching and much more. The forums will also be updated with new places to chat and no doubt the place will be buzzing. Roll on Tuesday!

Evil Genius may not define any new genre but it is incredibly entertaining with its brilliant satirical wit. I personally couldn’t help drinking a martini after despite the fact that it was the good guy who always got to enjoy those… perhaps its just my predilection for martinis but it felt awfully spy-ish to me. So to summarize it is nothing new or groundbreaking, yet it’s terribly entertaining and as I think I have said many, many times… hilarious (has it been pounded into your brain yet that this game made me laugh?). If I’ve not been clear enough let me put it this way…Evil Genius brings a fresh breathe of life into the RTS realm leaving the gaming industry ‘shaken, not stirred’!

"While the game isn’t set for release until the start of October, an expansion pack is almost a certainty and Evil Genius 2 seems to be a possibility, depending on sales. At the moment the game is PC only, but we were told that the game is running on Xbox hardware. It appears that the games visual interface is the big problem when considering a port to a console. If the developers can port this successfully to the limited Xbox controller, an Xbox version of the game is very likely."

• Playable demo (almost identical to downloadable version)
• Extra content for the game (1 extra henchman, 1 extra object, 1 extra trap)
• A video with bonus content previewed
• An Evil Genius screensaver
• A bunch of new screenshots
• A comic featuring the new (and rather cool) henchman
• A huge (and utterly stylish) "poster" of the new henchman