Darwinia+

I have a confession to make. I haven't played Darwinia on PC. Neither have I played its multiplayer sibling Multiwinia or any other game from Introversion for that matter. I can feel your collective disapproval hanging over me like a giant dark cloud of shame. I log on to Xbox Live Arcade and download Darwinia+ in order to disperse said shame. As the opening screen appears I'm starting to feel a tad bit better.

A colleague of mine was a bit shocked that I hadn't played Darwinia+ as it seemed of combination of two things I like - Rez and strategy. I won't mention his name because the Rez comparison must end with the fact that they share a common ancestry in Tron and the idea of ridding a computer of viruses. Darwinia is however, at its core a strategy game although it also has elements of a top down shooter, and Lemmings. So he wasn't all wrong.

Darwinia+ is essentially a package with both Darwinia and Multiwinia for Xbox Live Arcade. The basics of Darwinia is simple. Dr. Sepulveda needs you to kill viruses and save Darwinians. He appears on screen to advance the mission objectives and researches upgrades to various elements of the Darwinia experience. The controls lend themselves very well to the Xbox 360 controller. You are seldom involved in any real complex multitasking, where a mouse and keyboard would have been superior, and the direct control of your squad works well, even if it takes a little getting used too. Especially throwing grenades was troublesome in the beginning. Overall, Darwinia+ is one of few strategy games that truly works on console. The controls don't feel completely accurate, but for the most part they do the job, and Darwinia+ isn't really a precision game in that sense either. Spam the viruses with laser and grenades and your job is done soon enough.

Your engineers are used to unlock virus controlled buildings along the wireframe landscapes. They also collect the digital souls fallen viruses leave behind and these give birth to more Darwinians (the green funny looking people), and through transforming one of them into a sort of waypoint your objectives is to herd them to safety in order to save Dr. Sepulveda's work. Make sure there aren't any viruses left when you direct your green little men as they are completely defenceless.

The visual and sounds of Darwinia+ complete a rather meditative experience that for the most part moves at a leisurely pace. You can speed it up by killing off your units and spawning new ones in other locations, but even with that Darwinia+ moves at a slow and deliberate pace. Its both a good and a bad thing as I would have liked faster units with more fire power and viruses with a few more tricks up their sleeves, but at the same time that's not what the Darwinia experience is all about. The beautiful digital landscape is complemented by the empty sonar like sounds that occupy the Darwinia soundscape.

The landscapes are full of elevated areas, and this is where tactics come into play. Getting to higher ground and reigning down grenades on nearby viruses is a good tactic, as much as it is a terrible idea to try and attack viruses uphill.

The campaign isn't extremely long, but the missions themselves can drag on for a while with multiple objectives. Again this may not be what you expect from a XBLA title, but in terms of value you're getting many hours worth of entertainment.

At 1200 points Darwinia+ is one of the more pricey titles on Xbox Live Arcade. Then again your getting quite a lot of game for your space bucks. If you've already got Darwinia and/or Multiwinia on PC, then Darwinia+ may not be all that exciting. I would imagine the controls are a bit better with mouse and keyboard even if they certainly work well enough on the Xbox 360 controller. However, if you are a virgin to Darwinia like myself, then you are well advised to take a closer look at Introversion's beautiful and inspired take on the inside of a computer occupied by lovely little green men.