Darwinia+ Quick Impressions

I have another review assignment from Game Revolution that was an easy download from Xbox Live Arcade. This one I was curious about because of it's long history on the PC. I'd also heard that there was an extremely long development cycle for the XBLA port.

Blake and Nick were able to get me a review code, so I downloaded Darwinia+ last Friday. Obviously, Darwinia+ is a hybrid of real time strategy gameplay and good old fashioned Lemmings. Honestly, that makes me very nervous. I'm the kind of guy who worries the entire time he's playing Starcraft. How do I know the enemy isn't going to come rushing in when I'm at my most vulnerable? And when a game depends on a mechanic of guarding little helpless sprites as they pass from one point to another, this only heightens a sense of nervousness and fear.

Still, Darwinia+ has been fun, as nerve wrecking as fun can be. I like the graphic style, and the music has been good, though very sparse. I've been playing with OCD and wiping out every enemy. If there's an egg launcher near by, I simply have an entire squad dedicated to the landing zone so no monsters will spawn. This of course slows down much of my engineering time, but there's no time limit to the game and I'm not worried.

I'll be sure to post the link to my full review once it goes live.