Darwinia
review by Mickey Juice

Now with video games making more money than Hollywood, the bottom line for a major distributor is how much more money they can make each year. As more and more small development houses are swallowed up by the big corporations, there is becoming less and less room for originality in the gaming world. The publishers only want what sells, so the marketing people tell the designers and they pump out whatever is the current trend e.g. WWII shooters. Notice how all the current popular games are sequels?

With the genres clearly defined there isn’t a whole lot of room for originality. Long gone are the days of the bedroom programmers and games like Ninja Golf, WizBall, Hovver Boover, and Revenge of the Mutant Camels. When was the last time you played an original game? And I mean *really* original?

I think video games are headed the same way as Hollywood, the major development houses will bring out the ‘blockbusters’ each year and follow the trends of the moment, whereas original and slightly different games will come from the independent scene.

Introversion software has seen this gap in the market place and self proclaimed as “the last of the bedroom programmers”. Their last game ‘Uplink’ was an underground hit for them, a simple looking game, but full of depth, all about the world of free-lance hacking. You would take jobs via bulletin boards which required you to do all sorts of tasks from stealing data from a rival business; to crippling networks. You could buy and upgrade software and hardware in an attempt to create better hacks and get more money and a greater rating. It was like a combination of ‘Sneakers’ and ‘War Games’ with plenty of realism.

Now Introversion Software has followed up Uplink with something a bit different again. Darwinia isn’t an easy game to explain, so the best bet would be for you to download the demo from their official site and find out for yourself. But if you did that, this wouldn’t be much of a review… So let’s start with some background story to the game.

Dr. Sepulveda is a disgraced computer programmer, last seen in the public eye in the 80’s. He was the inventor of the Protologic 68000 computer, which infamously sold zero units. That’s right, he didn’t sell one model. After his fall from grace, Dr. Sepulveda had 50,000 unshipped units in storage, which he ultimately networked them all together and created a supercomputer. Inside this computer he created a virtual theme park, similar to the environment seen in movie Tron. Somehow things started to evolve and the first shoots of digital life were created, these life forms were called ‘Darwinians’. Each Darwinian has been embedded with a strand of digital DNA, ultimately giving each Darwinian (which look like Blair Witch stick men) a soul. Over the years these Darwinians evolved by themselves, changing with each new generation.
When a Darwinian is killed, its soul floats upwards and returns to the centre of Darwinia where it will be becomes are new Darwinian.
The experiences of each Darwinian remain in their DNA, so when a soul is re-used, each new generation evolves, remembering it’s past experiences.
Dr Sepulveda was just about to start giving virtual tours for interested people, kind of like a virtual theme park ride, but then disaster struck. Somehow a virus has invaded the Darwinian landscape and started to corrupt the Darwinians, turning them into various types of virii. This is where you step into the game…

In a nutshell, your job is to contain the virus to sections of Darwinia and wipe them out. You also have to get the place running again. e.g. on the mine level, after wiping out the virus, you have to get the mine carts moving, and then start mining raw polygons from the mountains. These are then transported to another level via trunk ports (Which look like space gates) which will be used later on in the game.

To achieve all your goals, you don’t control things directly. The Darwinians usually just wander around aimlessly unless you run direct them. This is more of a God-like game, where you influence the Darwinians and get them to complete various tasks for you.

From the task manager you draw gestures (similar to ‘Black&White’, another God game) which will run certain programs. Programs include Engineers (who collect souls, repair infected incubators and other machinery), Squads (these guys have the guns and explosives, which you use to wipe out the virii) and officers (who direct the Darwinians where to go). There are other programs which are usually related to weapons e.g. if you want your squad to use rockets or grenades or call in an air strike you just draw the relevant gesture. All these programs can be upgraded throughout the game by the good doctor who will always be giving you handy tips and information via a pop up display.

The task manager and objectives and research menu are always hidden from view until you press the Alt button which brings it onscreen. So there is no annoying menu on screen all the time, so it gives you a chance to have a better look at the awesome landscape.
The best way to describe the gameplay is a mixture of Tron and Cannon Fodder. If you’re familiar with Cannon Fodder, you will recognize elements of the game i.e. leading your squad into battle. Darwinia is also a throw back to other RTS’ like Dune.

The guys at Introversion didn’t have a texture artist, so they created Darwinia in a retro style of wire frames and fractals. It is very reminiscent of Tron and convincingly gives the impression of being inside a PC (from the 80’s!). There are also touches of retro games from the 80’s. For example, the engineers look like the Randomizers from Tron, the air strike planes are Space Invaders, the snake-like virus is like the centipede from , well, Centipede!
The game can get a little ‘samey’ and a little repetitive, but the small surprises along the way keep your interest levels high. Plus the music, which is used sparingly throughout the game, is awesome and fits things perfectly. Even when starting the game there are random intros, with influences ranging from The Matrix to Amiga and Commodore 64 loading screens and demos.
There are also small touches in the games that are pretty cool, such as the box kites the Darwinians sometimes release after the death of one of their own. You’ll soon start getting attached to the little blighters, and hate to see them getting wiped out by an invading virus and you will do anything to save them as they run screaming from the viruses.
Replayability isn’t too high, but after completion of the game, all the mod tools are unlocked, so you can have a go at making your own levels. There are also a few sites popping up with new levels which will help the longevity of the game.

As I said earlier, I can only describe so much of what the game Darwinia is, you have to try it out for yourself. The demo provided on the website http://www.darwinia.co.uk is a full level and shows a lot of what Darwinia has to offer. I doubt you’ll find this game at your local Electronics Boutique so the game can be purchased directly from Introversions UK website and is only US$29.99. So this is a great price for such a great game.

Any of the older generation of gamers will appreciate this game, and it’s great to see something original in the world of games. So download the demo and give Darwinia a try, you won’t regret it.