Evil Genome is a sci-fi, post-apocalyptic Metroidvania-style action game developed by Hong Kong's Crystal Depths Studio and published by Fenghuang Games.
Set After the End where an unspecified apocalypse turns the world into a wasteland, Lachesis, the Player Character is a pilot whose ship crashed on earth's desert en route to a nearby space station. After surviving an attack from giant scorpions infesting the surface, making her way to an underground human outpost, Lachesis must explore the labyrinthe tunnels to find a way back - and along the way, find out what caused the earth's downfall in the first place.
We know we're not exactly welcomed here...
- Action Bomb: There's a weak, spider-like enemy in the caves with a bloated, glowing abdomen. While they die rather easily in just a few slashes, upon being killed their abdomens will inflate and explode, dealing damage to Lachesis if she's caught in it's proximity - and even if she dodged the toxic blast, it still leaves behind a noxious green cloud that can hurt her on contact.
- Air-Dashing: Lachesis can dash in mid-air, thanks to her suit's built-in boosters.
- Archaic Weapon for an Advanced Age: The game is set in a future where space travel is possible, and yet Lachesis' default weapon is still her trusty energized sword.
- Attack Drone:
- One of Lachesis' available upgrades, a hovering robotic probe that sprays gunfire that damages only her enemies. It automatically flies offscreen after firing for a few seconds, regardless if it's targets are killed or not.
- On the enemy side, there's a hovering probe-like enemy in the industrial city who attacks Lachesis when directly above her by firing a thick laser beam downwards.
- Beneath the Earth: After scouring part of earth's surface in the first stage, Lachesis enters an underground human outpost via elevator which still have scarce pockets of survivors in the entrance areas (who promptly ignores her and can't be interacted with). Expectedly, Lachesis needs to explore the deeper, restricted areas which are filled with monsters.
- Big Creepy-Crawlies: Owing to the post-apocalyptic setting, earth's surface is now filled with oversized insects, from giant scorpions to oversized grubs and wasps, which Lachesis kills aplenty throughout.
- Critical Annoyance: Alfa's warning when Lachesis' health is down to a fraction.Your vital signs are in danger. You require medical treatment...
- Danger Deadpan: Lachesis have her moments, especially when conversing with her AI Mission Control Alfa post-boss battles.Lachesis: [after fighting off a massive worm monster that tried to devour her seconds ago] There was a bug on my face and you didn't tell me. Help me out here.
- Dash Attack: Lachesis can pull this off with her forward-slash or sliding-kick, that deals twice the damage compared to slashing when she's standing still can even knock over more than one enemy in a line.
- Defeat Equals Explosion: Averted by most of the boss, save for the last one, Hugo - the moment he's slain, the following cutscene have him boasting his evolution is complete, as he rises into the stratosphere... and explodes gloriously in the skies, Planar Shockwave-style.
- Disaster Scavengers: In a post-apocalyptic world otherweise filled with giant insects and robotic enemies, there are human mooks who attacks Lachesis for her equipment in a few areas.
- Double Weapon: Joseph, one of the human-based bosses, wields a double-sided laser BFS. In his third and final boss fight his weapon becomes a two-sided Flaming Sword.
- Dual Boss: The Prism Sisters, a pair of genetically-modified humans who attacks Lachesis together as the second-to-last boss, by sending bouncing projectiles with each sister either flanking the arena's left and right, or top and bottom. They use a Shared Life-Meter however - Lachesis only needs to concentrate her attacks on one of them.
- Earth That Was: The entire game takes place on a desert wasteland which used to be earth, now crawling with monsters which Lachesis needs to explore.
- Failure Is the Only Option: The industrial city stage, like every other level, has plenty of routes, but all of them leads to Lachesis getting cornered by a zero-energy field and knocked unconscious, before she's captured alive by Joseph and reprogrammed into one of his Reapers, with no way of getting around her fate.
- Fiery Redhead: Lachesis, the red-haired protagonist who kicks ass like no tomorrow.
- Gem Tissue: The wolf-like creatures in underground levels appears to have crystal shards adorning their backs and joints. With more crystal growing in their bodies as well, considering the loud audible clanging whenever Lachesis scores a hit on them.
- Gun And Sword: Halfway into the game, Lachesis obtains a high-tech shotgun that fires laser shells and can be wielded in one hand. She still continues using her sword, while players can perform execution moves where she suddenly whips out her firearm and blast away in the middle of slicing and dicing mooks.
- Jet Pack: Joseph has a hover-pack which he use in all his boss fights, hovering all over the place while attacking Lachesis. The last stage have human enemies using similar packs, annoyingly in areas with platforming elements.
- Justified Save Point: The Memorizers are artificial memory banks which record the users' Identity Key, serving as Lachesis's save-points.
- Killer Gorilla: Scarlet Storm is a robot gorilla that attacks Lachesis on sight, whose introduction cutscene have it doing a Primal Chest-Pound trying to intimidate Lachesis. When fought as a boss it moves by lumbering behind Lachesis like an actual gorilla, and sometimes tries Goomba stomping her by jumping all over the place.
- Mirror Boss: All the human-based bosses which weren't giant insects or humungous machines, who fights with high-tech weaponry like Lachesis herself. Including the Silent Assassin Mini-Boss, Joseph (all of them), Kevin, Sophia (an Evil Counterpart to Lachesis) and others.
- Mission Control: Lachesis' AI-controlled partner, Alfa, who radios in details and clues during gameplay.
- Multi-Armed and Dangerous: The four-armed Final Boss, Hugo, carries a BFS in each and is as deadly as he looks.
- Recurring Boss: Joseph is fought thrice, the first few encounters ending with him teleporting away in a cutscene.
- Sand Worm: The Mother Predator is a centipede-like tunneling monster who tunnels in and out the desert ground while trying to attack Lachesis, and sometimes spawns smaller worms as backup.
- Sapient Ship: The Grey Rifling Aircraft is an automated, unmanned robotic ship showing up as a boss in the industrial city.
- Scarf of Asskicking: In the opening stage, Lachesis wears one made of Hard Light. Which flows behind her even as she's kicking all sorts of ass.
- Scary Scorpions: Lachesis battles gigantic, human-sized scorpions as one of her first enemies faced upon crashing on earth.
- Sword Fight: Lachesis against her Evil Counterpart, Sophia, both of them being expert swordswomen and duking it out with their blades. Unlike Lachesis' heavy sabre, Sophia prefers Dual Wielding lightblades and can release a ranged Sword Beam projectile attack - and in the last phase, control her blade to fly in circles around her.
- Top-Heavy Guy: Scarlet Storm, the mecha-gorilla, whose upper body is already huge, even without taking into account it's power fists and gigantic shoulder cannons. It's legs and lower body however are disproportionately small.
- Wave-Motion Gun:
- There's a human enemy wielding a particle cannon as large as himself, whose beam can cover more than half the screen for several seconds, requiring Lachesis to either attack them before they can charge and fire, or use her Air-Dashing ability to get behind those enemies.
- The Zeus Cannon boss itself is a building-sized photon laser turret who covers the boss arena with it's beams.
- Hugo, the last boss - be wary and get ready to slide when he's twirling his sword at one side, for he's about to unleash a thick, purple blast that can cover the screen.
