Xbox 360

Darwinia+

Darwinia+ is a combination of both of these games at a budget price that can be acquired and played without the inconvenience of getting off the couch. The multiplayer component may not be to everyone's taste, but the original game is nothing short of brilliant. Meanwhile, very much like the XBLA version of Rez, it's a game that doesn't show it's age on account of the fact that it was deliberately, stylishly dated to begin with. It's one of those games that's been praised to hell and back over the last few years. Now that it's on XBLA for $15 I can't help hoping that a whole new audience will pick it up and find out why.

You won't believe such a huge game has been released on XBLA. This will take ages to play through and is fun throughout.

As a package Darwinia+ is darned near perfect. It packages addictive original gameplay in a charmingly retro aesthetic, making me both wonder why the game took so long to make it to XBLA and glad that Introversion took the time to make it work the way it does.

To sum it all up, I will reiterate the point I made in my introductory paragraph. While there are some flaws, I think you would be hard pressed to find a game with a larger fun to value ratio. Darwinia by itself would have been worth the price of admission but you also get the fantastic Multiwinia thrown in which makes this a great deal.

Darwinia+ is the wine and cheese of video gaming. The palatable mix of genres might turn off some players and delight others, and the art style probably won't fly for gamers who need next-gen graphics. Despite that, Darwinia+ offers a ton of gameplay for the moderate price of 1200 Microsoft Points (or $15 in non-funny-money). That might spell the death of many XBLA games, but Darwinia+ is a real gamer's game that won't disappoint the core looking for something new and fresh.

Darwinia+ does run 1200 Microsoft Points — that 1200 Microsoft Points is increasingly becoming the standard for Xbox Live Arcade games is definitely worthy of some derision — but given the amount of content the game packs in, it’s not much of an issue. Multiwinia and Darwinia are both solid games individually, borrowing from a variety of genres to produce something engaging and interesting. Having both bundled into a single package makes Darwinia+ a ridiculously solid proposition.

Innovative, extremely slick and thoroughly enjoyable. If you fancy something that feels like a gamer’s game, and are tired of disappointingly shallow XBLA releases, then Darwinia + should be on the top of your purchase list.

Darwinia+ is one of the most impressive packages available on Xbox Live Arcade. For $15 you get two complete games set in a fascinating virtual reality. There are some minor issues that bog the game down from time to time, but they are easy to overlook considering how much care and thought went into the overall package. Everything from the music to the intro bootloaders to the Darwinian's culture has been meticulously crafted for an experience unlike any other game out there. You'll definitely want to invite these little guys onto your hard drive.

These are the times where Darwinia+ justifies its considerable 1,200 point cost, which isn’t so bad when you consider the PC versions are being sold together at the same price point over Steam, in spite of both games being out for a while on the PC. My main concern with recommending Darwinia+ are the Xbox Live matches. I’ve only played a handful and the ones I have tried have been fun, but took forever to find. Even with all the replay value that comes with Multiwinia, I still have reservations recommending Darwinia+, which I admittedly found to be inaccessible to the point of frustration, playing Darwinia’s campaign. Nonetheless, if you’re looking for a fair value and a unique take on two stagnant genres, you can’t do much better than Darwinia+.

Don't expect an incredibly deep experience. Darwinia+ boils away the nonsense of typical RTS and leaves just the ones and zeroes. Introversion put a massive amount of heart into the Xbox Live port of their beloved RTS, and it shows. There are few flaws in the conversion, and there's no doubt that it's one of the better games in the genre to make its way to consoles. Some might find problems with the game's lackluster tutorials or simplistic style, but for a game as uncomplicated as Darwinia+, it really shouldn't kill anyone's enthusiasm for the unique game. It's a strong title, easily worth the price for anyone interested, and should earn a download for anyone looking for something a little different on the Xbox Live Arcade.

When you've got a title that stylistically rolls Rez into Halo Wars and doubles up the gameplay with both single and multiplayer games Darwinia+ ends up being an engaging title that's one of the better console strategy games around. Not bad for just over a tenner.

Owners of the PC version won’t find anything in the XBLA port to convince them to part with their money a second time unless they’re desperately looking to experience the game from the comfort of a sofa. The team at Introversion have added nothing new to their games, but Darwinia+ is a well-handled port, with a competent re-imagining of the control scheme, of a game that’s comfortably stood the test of time. There’s nothing else out there quite like it, and Darwinia+ will absolutely delight anyone who fondly remembers the arcade games of the seventies and eighties.

The only sane recommendation we can give you for Darwinia+ is play it. It's esoteric in the extreme, it's nostalgic to a fault and its sentimental nature will not appeal to everyone. Plus, it'll probably take you two hours just to figure out if you really like it. There really is nothing else quite like it though, and everyone should give it a couple hours just to experience it. If it does get its hooks into you, you'll probably have a new favourite XBLA title and be pestering your friends to download it as soon as possible.

Darwinia+ combines two fantastic indie games into one package that is well worth the Microsoft Points. The campaign may be limited to a single playthrough but differs enough from the multiplayer modes to ensure it never feels like you’re revisiting old material. Ideal for any mood, it is a perfect title to either dip into when time is short or one to stay up through the night playing to watch your profile climb the leaderboards. While Darwinia+ may not be perfect, it’s great to see a game that’s not afraid to defy convention succeed so convincingly and remind us that it doesn’t take triple-A budgets and big name developers to produce a true gem.

Even arriving five years late for the party, Darwinia+ remains the sort of game that grows from an idle curiosity into a full-blown obsession before your eyes. It's cute, offbeat, and crazy addictive--at least after you get accustomed to the sheer strangeness of everything.

Inevitably, it’s the game’s vision as much as its content that makes it great – and, in this sense, Darwinia’s theme park plotline remains entirely appropriate. Just as with a wander around Anaheim or Isla Nublar, it’s never what you do as much as where you are that really matters here. The details of each individual victory may fade with time, but you’ll never forget the fractal patchwork rippling beneath you, or the stormy static of the clouds that clash overhead.

Those who already enjoyed Darwinia and Multiwinia on the PC won't find anything new here to justify a 1200 Microsoft Points purchase. These are the exact same games with a mostly agreeable interface upgrade for the console crowd. Multiwinia is the very definition of an acquired taste, so there's little doubt that it's the single-player campaign, with its oddball mix of arcade, strategy and adventure influences, that provides the most compelling bait for newcomers.

Darwinia+ is one of the most unique looking games on XBLA and with Multiwinia, is one of the most fun. However, the plodding pace, dumb AI, pathfinding and camera issues of Darwinia drags the package down, especially if the attention-deficit console crowd is not willing to invest the many hours needed to get into the game. If you have the patience, the campaign is fun but then again, there are many other strategy games out there that can instantly grab you and never let go.

Darwinia+ is one of the coolest titles currently available in the XBLA library. It’s all about presentation and from the opening menu and the digitized video of Dr. Sepulveda to the awesome load screens that will have old-school hackers tripping down memory lane, Introversion has created their own little reality and a game that is completely immersive and totally fun. I only hope that more people get online, as the multiplayer community is a bit sparse as of this review. No worries though – there is plenty of action waiting for me in the story world of Darwinia and cleansing my 360 from a nasty viral infection has never been this fun.

Chi ha già provato Darwinia e Multiwinia su PC non troverà forse un reale motivo di ludogodimento nell’acquistare anche Darwinia+. Dopotutto, si tratta quasi di uno spudorato copia/incolla, con solo un’interfaccia di gioco adattata alla console su cui gira (per l’appunto, l’Xbox 360). Ad ogni modo, chi invece non ha mai avuto il piacere di provare il titolo in questione, si prepari ad un’elevata dose di strategia e avventura, mista ad un look retrò che titillerà soprattutto il palato dei più nostalgici. Il nostro consiglio è quindi quello di dare una chance a Darwinia+; potreste rimanerne piacevolmente sorpresi.

Although the 1200 Microsoft Point asking price might seem high you do also get the multiplayer expansion Multiwinia included as well. Playing against a human opponent tends to result in a faster paced game though and here the console controls, and less versatile camera, do come unstuck. Despite these flaws it's still an enjoyable game, but one that falls short of its evolutionary potential.

For those that do, for those that realise that it intentionally doesn’t make it easy for you, that it doesn’t set out to give you the answers, that it wants you to learn how to defeat each type of enemy by yourself and how to go about completing the objectives in your own way, it becomes somewhat of a gaming revelation. It’s just sadly one that is unlikely to get the love or attention, especially in multiplayer, that it so richly deserves.

There isn’t a vast amount here to keep you interested if you’ve already experienced the game on PC and at 1200 points it’s likely that you can buy it for a cheaper price too. But to the amateur Darwinian this game is a welcome addition to Xbox Live Arcade, bringing more strategy to a limited catalogue of games. Enjoy it for the looks, the controls and cuteness of it all and enjoy it for the simplicity, most of all.

Es ist unglaublich schwierig eine klare Wertung für dieses Spiel festzulegen. Auf der einen Seite hat man eines der seltenen Spiele, die versuchen als Strategiespiel auf einer Konsole zu überleben. Zudem macht Darwinia+ viel mehr als das, es kreiert eine ganz neue Art von Spielgefühl. Der eine Teil von mir will diesen Mut respektieren und honorieren, aber der andere Teil ist von der Grafik abgestoßen und dem Spielprinzip gelangweilt. Und für mich persönlich überwiegt die zweite Meinung eindeutig. Ich finde die Optik hässlich, das Spielprinzip dämlich und generell unglaublich langweilig. Aber manchen unter euch wird die eigenwillige Optik gefallen, ebenso wie die neuen Wege, die die Entwickler gegangen sind um Darwinia+ zu etwas Besonderem zu machen. All jene, die mit der Demo etwas anfangen können, ist der Kauf ans Herz gelegt. Aber alle anderen, denen wie mir dieses Stück angebliche Kunst viel zu abstrakt ist, dürfen auch gerne einen großen Bogen darum machen.

Darwinia+ has an interesting idea behind it, and its retro aesthetic and aural qualities are a great touch to the game's digital world. But given all the laborious gameplay, I would hesitate to recommend it to most. The multiplayer, exclusive to this XBLA release, might add a little bit of pizzazz to the proceedings with skirmish and capture the flag modes, but the design remains the same. Unless you absolutely love retro-style games or RTS offerings, you might want to give this one a pass.