Game Review: Darwinia+

Darwinia is an unusual game, with characters rendered in abstract geometrical shapes, and sprites. It has an intentional "retro" look to it, that works really well. In spite of the relative simplicity of the graphics, parts of the game are quite beautiful. Tronesque, in a way.

 

The game is focused on creatures called Darwinians. These are intelligent beings, programs living in a computer environment. A virus has invaded their world, and has nearly wiped them out. It is at this time that you, a hacker, enter. You are asked by their creator to help protect the Darwinians and eliminate the infection.

 

From that point on, you follow one game objective to the next, on a variety of different gaming fields. The gameplay is straightforward, if somewhat lacking in depth. Conrols are easy. The game plays somewhat like an RTS combined with an action game. Most of the time you are focused on controlling one or more squads of soldiers as you eradicate the virus. You also build other units to help, such as "Engineers" that look suspiciously like the Recognizers from Tron.

 

As you play, the story grows and develops. It is philosophical, almost religious in nature. Combined with the music, it makes for nice atmosphere.

 

The "+" indicates the sequel to the game, also included. This is called "Multiwinia". Unlike Darwinia, this game focuses on a multiplayer component. Instead of controlling squads, you are more focused on commanding troop movements, as well as finding upgrades. Most of the gameplay revolves around capturing spawn points.

 

The multiplayer is fun, if a bit simplistic for the die-hard RTS fun. In any case, good luck finding human opponents online. I have been successful a few times, but it is few and far between. The one thing that really helps here is a weekly leaderboard, which you can use in a backhanded way to invite other players, so long as they are online.

 

All in all, a good game. A bit expensive, but worth it.

 

 

Vix's Rating: 11 out of 13 cups of Awesomesauce

 

Cost: 1,200 Points