Darwinia Vista shots, details

By Tom Bramwell Published 1 February, 2007

Supports 360 pad too.

Everyone's favourite shouty UK indie, Introversion, has released some screenshots and details of its new Vista-compatible version of excellent strategy game Darwinia.

Available from the MSN Games website for US$ 19.95, the new Vista version supports the Xbox 360 controller and the operating system's parental system, and slots neatly into the Vista games explorer and media centre.

Ported from OpenGL to Direct3D, the new version also introduces enhanced visuals - better explosions, reflective water effects and Darwinian "auras" getting a mention - while existing fans might be lured by the addition of three new levels, called Jailbreak, Stronghold and Doomsday.

Check out a slightly deformed handful of screenshots elsewhere on the site.

Picture of Tom.

About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

You may also like...

Comments (12) Latest comment 5 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Clive_Dunn #1 5 years ago

    It's good to see Darwinia's graphics have improved from 1985 standards to 1987. Well worth a Vista upgrade imo.

  • phl0w #2 5 years ago

    "the new version also introduces enhanced visuals"

    What are they switched off in those screenshots? IMO 'classic' Darwinia looked much better on XP.

  • space_ace #3 5 years ago

    yes, it's funny, because darwinia was supposed to be lo-fi.

  • humanchu #4 5 years ago

    I hope MS payed through their nose to get IV to make these upgrades.

  • Eldritch #5 5 years ago

    16 bit colour depth?

  • Xerx3s #6 5 years ago

    360 pad support eh? So what about a port to xbla? ;)

  • BadBoyBonner #7 5 years ago

    The gorgeous clean graphics seem to have a acquired the (slightly) annoying Gears of War dithered shading look; maybe it is in vogue.
    Edited by 1 at 01/02/07 @ 10:24

  • stx #8 5 years ago

    Seconding the XBLA port comment. I love this game and will happily pay for it again.

  • ArcMonkey #9 5 years ago

    I remember the demo from Steam looking a lot better! Are these in 256 colours?

    and how is the 360 pad better for Darwinia than a mouse?

  • Krusty #10 5 years ago

    Damn, I've already bought this game twice, once direct from IV and once on Steam...

    Is the Steam version being patched with these changes?

    Personally I don't think the new shading works; I thought the graphics were great anyway tbh...


    Edit
    Quote from Chris:
    "Now that this special Vista version is finished, we plan to make a Darwinia patch available to everyone that encorporates all the new features and enhancements we've written. We've got some cool new stuff planned for Darwinia in the future and this is just the beginning."

    Guess that means it'll be coming to Steam then. Anyone found any better screenshots?
    Sorry EG but your screenshots are always rubbish, being far too low-res...
    Edited by 2 at 01/02/07 @ 11:07

  • newt #11 5 years ago

    Don't know if it's just the compression but those shots look plain ugly compared to the original. Still, it's good Darwinia gets noticed again. It's a gem.

  • ph101 #12 5 years ago

    And multiplayer..?