Delving greedily, but perhaps not deeply enough

The evil-base-defense-building genre isn't exactly novel, but it is rare, and Dungeons 2 is an encouraging example of what this kind of game can offer. If only it was less of a pain to play.

Going well beyond tower defense tactics, Dungeons 2 missions include RTS-style resource management and tech-tree growth. Actually, those mechanics are more prominent than laying traps or creating mazes; and it's a real delight to expand the Absolute Evil's power base, literally by digging out rooms or figuratively by investing in upgrades.

The "evil" premise is also mostly-well-delivered, although I'd argue that the narrator's fourth-wall-breaking sometimes tries too hard. At least his sense of humor is endearing, if imperfect.

But what holds Dungeons 2 back is confusing and seemingly broken controls. Like, it's bad enough that unit management significantly changes when you switch between "underworld" and "overworld" parts of the map -- missing drag-to-select in the underworld is a real hassle when you need to move defenders against intruders. The worst part, though, is how moving units between maps will change the camera to the destination map ... after a few seconds, stymying bulk-movement while also protracting one-by-one movement.

I'm tempted to complain about low unit limits and slow base-building, but my most recent mission suggested these might get resolved later; I finally saw a tech upgrade that'd allow more units at once, and hence more grunt workers to keep maintaining my dungeon. But that's speculative.

Much as I admire the simultaneous underworld-management and overworld-exploration elements, Dungeons 2 makes controlling those elements a frustrating chore.

Better than: ehh, I barely played Evil Genius, which is also more than 15 years old, but... yeah?
Not as good as: Overlord
Maybe, possibly, better than: Brütal Legend, but only if you ignore that game's voice cast (which is one of Brütal Legend's greatest features).

Progress: Finished campaign mission 4 / met the Nagas.