I recently got access to a short demo of Holy Invasion of Privacy, Badman! What Did I Do to Deserve This? for the PSP, and I must say I'm impressed, thus far. Firstly though, let's catch up really quick. NIS America announced earlier this year that they would be releasing a very unique title for the PSP –- now known as Badman. What makes this game so unique? Badman is a strategy game of sorts, but not in the sense you have become accustomed to over the years. If I had to compare it to other strategic titles, I'd say it closely resembles a tower defense title, but it's more of a distant cousin than a close relative.

At first glance you will find yourself comparing this game to DigDug. Everything takes place underground and enemies will filter through the tunnels to take the Demon Overlord away. Aside from sharing a cosmetic look with DigDug, there aren't many similarities to be found. Instead, the game is an entirely fresh look at strategy games and tower defense based titles. Badman delivers this fresh style by utilizing truly unique gameplay elements. Gamers will have to use the underground word in a number of ways. Firstly, they'll need to carve an underworld dungeon in which they'll hide the Demon Overlord from danger. Secondly, and most importantly, they'll need to use the materials of the world to create demonic minions to protect the Overlord and to defend the tunnels.



The levels are designed with little soil cubes. Each soil block can be chipped away at and it'll either just provide an empty space or it'll release a demonic goop. This greenish goop is actually one of your demonic minions and they will suck away the nutrients of surrounding soil blocks, too. As they gather more strength, the blocks they suck of life will also unlock other minions for you to dig out of their underground prison. You'll be able to tell when the soil begins to change color. Every color will represent a different creature. Every monster that can be enrolled to your army will be found in these sand tombs. However, you'll have to move quickly to build up a worthwhile army before the heroes are released into the underworld. Naturally, the larger your labyrinth of evil is, the more time you'll be able to get new recruits for your army.

You don't have direct control over the individual monsters in your monster military. They'll move around the tunnels by themselves and once a threat nears them they'll attack it. This may be bothersome for some because you don't have total control over their movements or attack patterns. However, in my experiences, they seem quite capable for defending for themselves and attacking any incoming threats. At the end of each stage, you'll get points based on time, amount of spots dug, and how massive your army is. You'll use these points to level up each monster class you unlocked. Most of these have level caps that are relatively low, but the upgrades will prove to be worthwhile.



I found the controls of the title to be seamless. It's simple to move the pickax cursor through the massive level and break apart the soil. You can also zoom out to get a larger view as your rapidly degrade the earth below you and make a more complex and dangerous dungeon to seek solace in. At first it may all seem overbearing to you. After a few minutes of play and a quick run through the tutorial training, you'll find yourself feeling quite comfortable with the game.

Holy Invasion of Privacy, Badman! What Did I Do to Deserve This? is a very unique PSP title and should be one of this summers biggest PSP hits. Mixing old-school gameplay style and visuals, Badman will intrigue the retro gamer in you, but will keep you coming back for more with its unique gameplay style. I'm excited about the full release and so should you! Badman will be released on July 13.