Darwinia – PC – Review

Many people always gripe
and complain about the lack of unique and innovative games. Yet when one does
arrive, people laud it as the next best but no one seems to purchase it so it
fails in retail and is soon gone forever. This has happened time and time again,
and when the developers see this they are afraid to make anything out of the
ordinary, due to poor sales which will cause them not to have a job. Well one
developer by the name of Introversion Software was not afraid and they have
released one of the most unique games I have played in a while entitled Darwinia.

The first question you
might have on your mind is what in the world is Darwinia, well the developers at
Introversion Software have made a very interesting and in depth story about what
it is. Darwinia is a virtual theme park that is created by Dr. Sepulveda made
out of malfunctioning Protologic 68000s. The Protologic 68000s is a computer
that tried to take dominance when the computer industry started but it failed
miserably.

Since that time Dr. Sepulveda went into seclusion
and it was during this time that he stumbled upon quantum computing which lead
to the creation of a new type of AI
he dubbed Darwinians because
they learned, grew, and adapted with each new generation. This was accomplished
because after each Darwin died they were taken to a certain hub where its data
was distributed among the new Darwin’s. Dr. Sepulveda has found peace and hopes
that these new creatures will find happiness and live life without him directly
helping out. One day a virus infected the world of the Darwinian’s and it is
destroying their very existence. It is up to you to help Dr. Sepulveda protect
the Darwinian’s or else they will be utterly obliterated. Are you up to this
challenge?

When you first load the
game you are taken right into the fray of the action trying to help the
Darwinian’s fight off this virus plague. The first few missions act as a kind of
tutorial mode to where it gently lets players get the hang of all the controls
and how to create new units to help fight back. I really enjoyed the interface
that the players must use in order to create new units. Players need to hit the
ALT key which takes you to the “Task Manager” and then draw the symbol of the
unit type you want. After drawing the symbol and the computer recognizes it,
your unit will be placed in the world.

What is really nice is how
you can take direct control of the fighting in this game. Once you draw a Squad,
you can move them to do battle against the malicious virus. You will have to
actually hit the mouse button for them to fire at the enemy’s because they are
not smart enough to do that yet. This gives players a great deal of control in
the battle and makes you care more for your Squad because the more you have the
faster you can take out the enemy, but once a few of them get picked off your
last man will not stand very long, which makes players want to make sure that
they will stay alive so you can defeat your enemies. As players progress in the
game they will find new upgrades which give them better and more efficient
weapons.

Besides the Squads, there
are other unit types that you can create and they each have a purpose in the
game. Engineers will recapture infected buildings and collect the souls of the
dead viruses and make them back into Darwinian’s. Officer’s are used to control
nearby Darwinian’s such as telling them to go a certain direction. Armour’s are
used to transport large numbers of Darwinian’s around the game’s world, and
under extreme circumstances players can use it as a stationary Battle Cannon.

The only bad thing that I
can say about this game is path finding for the computer AI, and this is
particularly true for the squads. It seems like you have to baby step them
especially when it comes to going around a corner. They will continue to try to
get around that corner by drowning in the water or they give up and just sit
there. This can be a killer if you are trying to coordinate an attack against an
enemy if your troops can not get to the destination.

The graphics for Darwinia
are really unique and yet very simple at the same time. The game has a very
“retro” look and feel to it. The units have a very different look to each of
them so you will never be confused at which unit you are using at the time. The
environments are really interesting to look at as well as you are going through
this virtual world.

The music and sound
effects for this game also fit perfectly into the entire world in which it
inhabits. The music is sort of an upbeat “techno” score which fits right in with
the graphical style of the game. The sound effects also have a very “futuristic”
sound to them especially when you are in the middle of a battle.

System Requirements:
Pentium 3 – 600 MHz
128 MB of RAM
Windows 98/ME/2000/XP
32X CD-ROM
DirectX 9.0
GeForce 2
60 MB of Hard Drive Space
Keyboard and Mouse.

Gameplay:
9.2
The game is a blast to play and the learning
curve is not that steep. One thing
that was really interesting about this game is that players will take direct
control of the squads while they are in battle against the malicious viruses.

Graphics: 9.0
The art style of Darwinia is really unique and nothing short of
awesome. Players who always crave the latest eye bleeding graphics will not be
impressed, but this game has a very unique “retroish” style to it that is very
appealing to the eyes.

Sound: 8.9
The soundtrack to the game fits the entire atmosphere you will be put
in.

Difficulty: Medium
It might take players a while to get adjusted to how Darwinia is
played, but once they do they will find it to be a blast. The game isn’t that
hard but it can get sticky in certain situations.

Concept: 9.0
This game is a mix of almost every genre you can imagine and it is
accomplished very nicely.

Overall: 9.0
Darwinia is one of the most unique games that I have played in a while.
If you are looking for a unique game that isn’t just a “cookie cutter” of the
most popular game out there, then look no further than this game. You will not
regret it.