The guys over at Introversion (the makers of Darwinia) are huge Sci-Fi fans, and they say that’s where a lot of their inspiration came from. Darwinia itself is like a fusion of Sci-Fi culture. Think “Tron,” “Defender,” “Space Invaders” and contemporary gems such as “Rez.” The imagery of the game inspires visions from William Gibson’s “Neuromancer,” as you take on the role of leader to save the native Darwinians.
Additionally, Darwinia has been getting some great reviews and word of mouth on it is traveling like wildfire. For example, Darwinia took the top prize at 2006 IGF, landing the $20,000 Seumas McNally Grand Prize for Best Indy Game. Darwinia was made to appeal to the Sci-Fi community in every aspect.
Synopsis and Review:
Imagine that you’ve hacked your way into a new virtual theme park inhabited by little sentient life forms called Darwinians. Upon your arrival you see a red virus wreaking havoc and killing all the Darwinians! The creator of this world, Dr. Sepulveda, has no other choice but to ask you to help him overcome this threat. Create your Squads and take on the red virus face to face and help evacuate the Darwinians to safe locations not yet infected.
In Darwinia, elements of Strategy and RPG come together to create a truly unique and original gameplay experience. Darwinia was made by Sci-Fi fans for Sci-Fi fans. The retro feel is complete, from the graphics to the re-created 8-bit sounds (common on 80’s game consoles and arcade games). The bottom line is that Darwinia is an original, unique game that incorporates Sci-Fi culture into a deep and fulfilling experience for the player.
For the latest information, updates and more about Darwinia visit the SAVE DARWINIA website.
Submitted by: John Kopp (Sandbox Strategies)
I got a brand new, top-of-the-line PC as a graduation present back in May, and Darwinia runs horribly slowly on it, despite having better than the required specs.
Shame, really. The game looks wonderful.
I purchased this a few months ago through the ‘Steam’ front end that Half Life and other games use.
It runs just fine on my Pentium-D 930 system with 1GB of memory and an ATI x300 video card.
It’s a fun premise, and very reminiscent of tron from a graphics layer. I’ve had a lot of fun with it.
I also bought it via Steam and it’s running great on my AMD Duron 2100+ with 512 megs of memory and an nVidia Ge6600 card. Thought this game was a ton of fun, played through it completely a second time, and still enjoyed it immensely.