Darwinia - 504 Words

Darwinia is the newest game from Introversion, creators of hack-em-up Uplink. However this game is a very big departure from the static screens and mostly text based game play of Uplink. With Darwinia, think Command and Conquer meets Tron and you’re almost there. Will such a drastic change of gaming style alienate the Introversion fan base? Taking such a huge leap in the way they have done with Darwinia is certainly a risky move but thankfully the game’s charm and simplicity should win over new fans for the indie games developer.

Darwinia takes a very distinct style, the game takes place on three dimensional, abstract looking maps, but most of your units are two dimensional shapes. Helpfully there can be no confusion between whether units or friendly or foe, your units, known as Darwinians, are bright green whereas the enemy are coloured bright red. Although you may initially think that this lack of detail on the models is a bad thing, it really isn’t. The style of the units and the way they are shown on screen fits in perfectly with the style of Darwinia and the surroundings of the game.

The game itself is extremely easy to dive into and get playing. You are helped along by Dr Sepulveda, the creator of the Darwinians, who will give you advice on what to do and tell you about your units and their strengths and weaknesses. As you would expect, the amount of help you are given is slowly reduced as the game progresses, enabling you to complete the levels without the game holding your hand every step of the way.

There is a good mix of strategy and action to be found in Darwinia as you have to create the unit best equipped to counter the evil red virus. You can create a variety of programs such as the bog standard squad, which can be used to fight most enemies. There are also engineer units which can read bits of research code found in the levels and convert them to weapons to help your fighter units. The combat is fun yet still challenging in Darwinia. You simply move your units within range and unleash everything you have on the enemy, be it lasers, grenades or even rockets.

In conclusion I was very impressed with Darwinia. The game features an original style and setting and despite the fact your units are nothing more then 2D green shapes you can feel a certain attachment to them as you strive to get through the level without losing any of them. The scenery is full of nice effects that add to the atmosphere, such as the souls of fallen units slowly rising into the sky and then gradually fading away. Introversion are certainly building up a reputation as one of the finest independent games developer and Darwinia should be another feather in their cap as the game is unlike anything you will have played before. Darwinia is Addictive, unique, abstract, challenging and fun. A must play.

9/10