"Holy Invasion of Privacy Badman! What Did I Do to Deserve This?" Impressions

Hey everybody, Rob here, and just so you know, I'm not just rambling in the title to this post, that's actually the NAME of this game! It really is entitled "Holy Invasion of Privacy Badman! What Did I Do to Deserve This?", and it's for the PSP. For anybody who hasn't heard of this game, you're not alone. I just saw the debut trailer earlier, despite it being posted in May. Since then, I've got a chance to play the demo they've released in the Playstation Store.

So, let me tell you a bit about the game. Basically, you're the ever powerful god of destruction, who is apparently really into making stuff, much like how you're a god in games such as Sim City or Black & White. The twist is, you're making stuff for the side of evil, and you're trying to protect "Badman" who is the evil overlord of your dungeon. Now, this isn't the first time I've seen this concept, games like Dungeon Keeper and Evil Genius have both done similar things before. But, this game seems to have a nice little art style that I just can't get over... everything is so damn cute!

Now, the structure of the game seems to be similar to your typical tower defense game, however, it's a little different. You dig through your dungeon using a set amount of dig power, you make creatures by digging on special squares, and you try and make enough so the heroes that come into your dungeon get killed by them, and never get a chance to capture your overlord. The first stage has you kill one hero before you complete it, but eventually the trial there's two heroes coming after you, and they get healing spells, too. The overlord in the game even makes a small reference to the heroes being from a JRPG. The heroes even yell out Japanese phrases while they're fighting your monsters. It's these little things that make this game so appealing to me, all of the small little comedic touches spice it up and keep it from being dull. I don't know if I could play this game if it took itself super-seriously... thankfully, it doesn't.

At the end of each stage you get ranked on how quickly you beat it, how much dig power you have left, and how many creatures you had left in your army. Depending on these stats, you get a set amount of dig power for the next stage. You can also use your remaining dig power to upgrade your creatures, but this will lower your rank significantly. Also, there's a food-chain aspect in the game, where some creatures will eat other creatures in order to evolve into stronger creatures. It's a big balancing act of what kinds of creatures you should make, and how many, and it makes for some interesting gameplay.

Overall, I enjoyed the game, and it's definitely one I'd consider picking up, especially in this drought of good PSP games. If you're interested, definitely check out the demo in the Playstation Store, and Look for Holy Invasion of Privacy Badman! What Did I Do to Deserve This? on store shelves July 14th, 2009.