DARWIN PROJECT Review for Xbox One

I haven’t seen anything quite as lovably sinister as the Darwin Project. The best way I can describe the premise is: Hunger Games meets The Long Dark with a little bit of the Truman Show mixed in for good measure. If you’re sort of a Fortnight fan, but are looking for something a little more skill-based than being left to chance, then this game may be for you.

Darwin Project‘s maps are pretty good in size, and there are plenty of ways to navigate and utilize the environment for your benefit. The arena is a wintery landscape with plenty of cabins, trees, and rugged terrain. Don’t worry about falling, though. There’s no fall damage! While there are 10 players running around from the start of the match, it is not hard to get straight into the action. The goal here is to kill everyone else and reign supreme as the champion.

It’s not as simple as track, kill, loot, repeat, however. There is an 11^th player, who flies around as an eye in the sky, acting as the show director. This player can just as easily make this game a nightmare for some of the others players as he/she can make it a walk in the park. A lot of people have different methods for this role. Trivia questions seem to be a common, albeit fair, way to gauge interest among players. Some directors troll, some have favorite players, some just want to watch us all collide in the center of the map. The director has the ability to bestow buffs, shut down areas, and create low gravity situations.

Combat is fun for the most part. I would argue, while it seems fast paced while you’re the one playing, it’s pretty slow compared to the mayhem in Fortnite. One reason for this is that you don’t have guns. It’s you, your ax, and your bow. You run around finding materials for crafting, and you can build traps, turrets, snowballs, arrows, etc. Archer duels can be pretty cool. As your rival misses, you can pick up his arrow and shoot it back at him. There is a lot of back and forth when it comes to archery. Other players prefer to get close and personal with an ax.

The user interface is also pretty good. For instance, the crafting system is not hard to figure out. The combat feels fun, maybe a little cartoony in certain situations. At times, especially during fights, it can feel like people are floating around. When you hit people, they get pushed, similar to when you bop a balloon. This is not necessarily a bad thing. Sometimes it really brings the game to life.

Overall, I feel like this game is worth checking out, especially if you like competitive multiplayer. Darwin Project is a good time for friends, strangers, and life-long enemies. I should warn the console gamers before I conclude this review by saying you need Xbox Gold to play this title. It usually goes without saying, but there is no single player option with bots without a gold subscription. I think a fair score for this game should be a 9 out of 10.

Check Out the Darwin Project Be The Show Director Video:

Darwin Project is available now on Xbox One and Steam Early Access.

John Pruitt

+ posts

I like to think of myself as the average Joe who grew up alongside video games. I have fun playing strategy games, RPGs, shooters, sandboxes, the whole shebang! Every game provides an experience whether it strikes you as profound, mundane, or someplace in between. I'd like to weigh in my two cents before you spend a single penny.

• DUCKSIDE Review for Steam Early Access
• Demon’s Mirror Review for Steam
• Deadlock Station Demo Impressions for Steam
• DUCKSIDE Preview for Steam