Darwin Project Review

Darwin Project is a multiplayer, online, battle royale game. The developers, Scavenger Studios, are trying to take it in an original direction in order to get and edge on other popular titles.

In a post-apocalyptic world, where a new Ice Age is drawing near, ten prison inmates are dropped in a giant icy circle in the Northern Canadian Rockies. Not only must they fight, and kill, each other, but they must also survive the extreme weather conditions.

The game, in fact, borrows quite a few elements from the survival genre. Players must craft their own gear, in the form of shoes, furs, and more. The only thing that can save you from freezing to death is a cozy campfire, so better start looking for those materials right away. Although, while doing it you should perhaps extend your search for some weapons, in case you don’t want to be the prey of the other players.

Speaking of weapons, coherently with the game’s theme, they are quite primitive: an axe, a bow, some arrows, and not much more. This said, the bow is hard to use, since the physical engine forces you to aim and take distance, arrow speed, and height in consideration, making sniping impossible. The axe, on the other hand, is not only your best melee option, but allows you to deflect arrows. If you’ve got the reflexes, that is. Not to mention the traps which you must strategically use to get the upper hand in every situation.

Although only ten players play each game, there’s also The Director. A freely roaming spectator who commentates and sometime influences the game. This figure is an attempt to create a natural connection between Youtube/Twitch streamers and the game, because it allows the commentator to commentate both in front of an audience and within the gaming world itself (the players can hear them). It is, in fact, this streamer-Director-game intertwinement that sets Darwin Project apart.

The playerbase is concerned however, with long-term issues, like the combat style, which can feel quite monotonous, and is quite latency dependent, as well as the Director’s powerful presence unbalancing the matches.