Yes. Once upon a time, way back in the darkness of 2004, a British game studio by the name of Elixir, originating out of Lionhead, made a game by the name of Evil Genius.

This game was based on the idea that you were the leader of a villainous organization, as seen in early Bond movies, Our Man Flint, The Man From UNCLE, etc. One of three different Geniuses could be played, either the German Blofeld-copy Max(imillian), the Fu Manchu-expy Shen Yu, or the female heiress Alexis, based on Cruella de Vil. You come complete with the beginnings of an in-mountain secret base, minions of differing types, and henchmen, and your goal is to build a complete base, commit acts of infamy in order to increase your status as an Evil Genius, avoid the soldiers and agents of the world super-powered, and culminates in the construction of a doomsday device with which to threaten the world into submission.

I loved, and love, this game and play it at least once a year, despite it being over a decade and a half old. It's gloriously campy. Characters that appear include the Chinese crime boss Lei-Ying Lo, you can "torture" opponents into submission by putting them in a huge bread maker bowl and giving them a spin, and missions range from grinding the Rosetta stone flat to stealing the Eiffel tower to razing Nashville(doing the occasional good thing makes the next evil so much more evil).

OK, so why am I telling you this? Well, because while Elixir sadly closed down in 2005, the IP was bought by Rebellion Games, and they are making a, much awaited, sequel. While the graphics are updated, and the base building is apparently taking advantage of improved tech, the "feel" of the game is similar as best as I can tell from videos and blog-posts. There are four Geniuses in the new version. Max returns, and is joined by the outer-space looking Zalika, Emma who just shouts "Thatcher" to me, and Red Ivan. Or, probably, RED IVAN, as he is voiced by BRIAN BLESSED!

Evil Genius 2 releases on March 30, and I cannot wait. From what I can tell, this'll be one of those games I'll spend months on and return to again and again, like the original.

...!
Stoke Mandeville, Esq & The Victorian Ballsmiths
"Nobody Want Verdigris-Covered Balls!"