I’ll be honest, I was sold at the faux Spectrum loading gag and the retrospective typeface – and whilst naturally you can’t judge a game purely on whether or not it makes you feel five years old again, the smashing chaps at Introversion certainly know how to press the right (rubber) buttons. Darwinia+ is unashamably old school, visually especially, and seems to rejoice in the knowledge that the graphics, beacons to function over form that they are, sort out the men from the boys from the very first second.
There’s no excuse not to try Darwinia+, of course, because there’s a demo. But unless you’ve been hiding under your proverbial motion blurred, post processed rock for the last five years you’ll have already played the game (albeit in a more rudimentary-still form) with a mouse on your PC. Regardless, the continued development, refinement and evolution of Darwinia has meant that the Xbox 360 version (which comes complete with multiplayer options to justify the eponymous plus) is the studio’s finest moment.
Gushing over its indie charm is easy, but explaining the game is less so. It’s part real-time-strategy, part third-person-blaster but unlike anything else – moulded perfectly to the 360 controller, switching between the various units as your soldiers battle and your mechanics capture is simplicity itself, with macro-level adjustments a breeze if you’re so inclined. For the most part you’ll be issuing commands from afar whilst keeping a keen eye on the oddly inanimate Darwinians that must be saved from an omnipresent virus.
Your mechanics harvesting the souls of the dead as your soldiers battle the encroaching virtual disease is an alien concept at first but before long the game’s distinct roles become second nature – even the gentle nudging of the Darwinians towards their ever changing destinations all falls into place before you’re even past the introduction. Governed by a simple few face buttons, all tied to their normal, instinctive uses, Darwinia+ plays well, with only the slightly messy gun-equipped squads falling short of perfection.
And then there’s those visuals – confidently Tron-like, with proud vector lines and refreshingly low poly counts. The wise would suggest this is Introversion concentrating on the gameplay but it’s reasonable to assume that Darwinia+ – especially given the pretext of why the player is doing what he’s doing – doesn’t really need anything more fancy in terms of aesthetics. You’ve hacked into this dystopia accidentally, so why would you want anything other than a disjointed, angular window on the world?
Which is almost precisely what you’ve got. Whilst the drifting residents aren’t entirely under your control everything else is and the interface is smart enough to ensure that you’re always aware of what’s happening in the level below you. But it’s a stylised, exaggerated world with bright red viruses and glowing signposts and often a little garish for it. Still, whilst Darwinia+ certainly isn’t for everyone, anyone on the fence can give that trial version a spin and see if there’s enough of a hook. For the brave, though, it’s 1200 points well spent.
Pros:
- A lengthy single player mode, plus an endless multiplayer section
- Controls have been tweaked to perfection
Cons:
- The genre mashup means a little focus is lost
- The retro throwbacks won’t set well with everyone
Darwinia+ is a solid game, that plus signalling the apex of a game’s perpetual refinement and one that no longer needs a PC to run with the Xbox 360 controller seemingly a perfect fit for the snappy navigation and swift inputs required on later levels. Sure, it’s not for everyone, but gamers looking for something a little bit different from the Marketplace won’t find anything else as deeply involving and visually unique as this.
