While PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds is far from the first Battle Royale game, we have seen a number of imitations crawl from the woodwork following its huge success, all offering their own take on the presentation. Some are closer to carbon copies of the same idea, such as Fortnite or The Culling, but The Darwin Project aims to be a bit different. It borrows minor pieces from the popular survival games, making an experience that is familiar yet new at the same time. Out of all the games I’ve played in this genre, this title is the closest to actually feeling like you’re in The Hunger Games.
One of the biggest changes here is the amount of players, with 2 modes currently being offered: a 10 person free-for-all and a duos option. In my time with the game preview, I have yet to find a match made duo game and was fruitless in finding one via LFG when I attempted, but teams in these types of games are typically overrated; the more targets the better. While the FFA lobbies are a bit more populated, the time it takes to locate a full room (which seems to be a requirement at this time) and a director (we’ll touch on this in a bit) is exceedingly bad. I don’t just mean 2-3 minutes, I mean queue up the game, drive to Taco Bell, get a half dozen or so of your favorite meat and tortilla treats, return home, eat them, check Facebook, and then boom, you’ll be ready to go. I know this is no fault of the developers, as the player base is likely split between the other games in the genre while this title was just released in early access, but I have my fingers crossed it will improve.
In addition to the combatant role, there is the director, which is a floating mechanical head who looks similar to 343 Guilty Spark with a Native-American headdress on. This role must be selected from the main menu, so you don’t have that 11th person in your matchmaking group who will leave if they do or do not get this task (looking at you Friday the 13th players…), which I assume is to also ensure there is no favoritism. This was a brilliant decision by Scavengers Studios, as this ensures whoever is playing as the director actually wants to – but who wouldn’t want to essentially play God in a video game filled with other online players? Especially when you can turn the tide of the game in whoever’s favor you wish, simply by dropping pick-ups and issuing buffs to the player with the best gamertag. On the other hand, you can throw additional automated enemies and place a bounty, or section off the area of the player who claims to have violated your mother in their gamertag. Of course, you can simply sit back and watch the carnage unfold as well. I made the decisions mentioned above when playing as the director, and while it was an enjoyable experience, the accrual of action points which are needed to make any of the above mentioned events happen is a bit slow. I’m not sure if voice chat between the players/director is currently open (was silent in all of the games I played, despite having a mic in), but I feel at least being able to hear the commentary from the players, even if I couldn’t respond, would make this mode much more enjoyable.
Playing as a combatant is much more satisfying, as you’ll use your bow and arrows or axe to dispatch the enemies around you. These tools work well, with the axe typically being my go to – it’s usually a one hit kill and even more so if you stumble upon 2 or more players duking it out who’ve already damaged each other a bit. I have yet to find any alternate weapons outside of traps that can be crafted. Some gamers may have an issue with this, but I found it to be a much more level playing field than PUBG and was able to even pull off a kill within the first match I joined, which took a few attempts in the previously mentioned game. Keeping in line with the even playing field, all players will start as the same character, with customization being limited to changing the color of their prison uniform, skin, and hair. There are some additional cosmetic item slots, but I haven’t seen a single person wearing anything outside the default options. Luckily your character’s loadout is very customizable. This won’t change the weapons you have, but it will allow you to select what you can craft while in the game. With some upgrades requiring more materials than others, you’ll have to weigh your options prior to joining a game. I found crafting mid battle to be a bit cumbersome, and only took the time to do so when I was one of the few remaining survivors.
The single locale that you will battle in is a snow covered forest that is fairly desolate aside from rocks and trees. It is beautifully realized, with the characters looking similar to the upcoming Sea of Thieves; however, without many landmarks, you’ll often be wandering around aimlessly looking for the other players. The map is the area most in need of some work prior to release, as it is extremely difficult to determine where you are in the individual zones and which direction you need to move in to avoid death in the event one of the areas is being modified by the director. I’m sad to say, this caused me almost as many deaths as battling it out with other players.
The Darwin Project is not quite perfect, but I am looking forward to what the title will offer us once it has reached its full release. There’s a lot of promise here, and what it does different it does well. If those things can be amplified and the issues can be fixed, this has the chance of being at the top of the genre.
The Darwin Project is being developed and published by Scavengers Studio. It was released on Steam Early Access and Xbox Game Preview on March 9th, 2018 for $14.99. The game was provided to us for preview on X1. For more on The Darwin Project, visit its official site.