New Darwinia level, patch

By Tom Bramwell Published 26 September, 2005

New demo is brand new level.

The Dar-For-The-Win-ia chaps at Introversion have released a brand new demo of Darwinia, one of the most interesting PC games we've played since, er, their other one, Uplink. And, brilliantly, it's an entirely new scenario not included in the full game, so you'll want to check it out even if you already own the game.

You can grab hold of it using your mouse as some sort of electronic butterfly net on the game's official website. Another thing the demo does is show off the new icon-based control system (with full tutorial), which should please people who didn't get on with the mouse-gesture system that was in there to begin with.

There's also a new 1.3 patch that enables that control mechanism as an option in the full game. Veterans of the Darwinian repopulation can also check out a full changelist for the patch while it's downloading.

If you're new to Darwinia and like the demo, you can buy the full game from the website too. Brilliantly (we're trying to get Google to associate "Darwinia" and "brilliantly", ya see. Brilliantlybrilliantlybrilliantly) you can actually download a full version of the game once you've bought it online, so you can play it while the boxed one is being Royal Mailed your way. That's brilliant.

As is the game, which you should have picked up on by now. No? Play the demo and read the review.

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. Follow him on Twitter.

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

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Comments (11) Latest comment 7 years ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • deepmenace #1 7 years ago

    anyone play thru and complete this?

    i thought it was good but fell behind other current gems in the battle for my attention.

  • kalel #2 7 years ago

    Unfortunately a big design flaw/bug (still not sure) stopped me from completing it, but I keep on meaning to. I will definaetly do this extra level though, good stuff.

  • teamonkey #3 7 years ago

    It's worth playing through, it's not very big.

  • Salaman #4 7 years ago

    I've got to the second level and although it's fun in itself, it's also frustrating and gets tedious.

    It's hard to explain. To use an analogy, settingup some dominoes in a row so you can tip them over can be fun.
    Getting a "game" of dominoes with lots of features (bridges, ramps, see-saws) and all is even more fun.
    Then using this game to try and complete an elaborate dominoe setup which you must painstakingly setup in the hopes that nothing goes wrong becomes a chore.

    That's how Darwinia felt for me.
    The second level became a chore already.

    But ... seeing this in the patch made me feel optimistic to have another go soon.

    - Squaddies are now impervious to water. They still can't walk through it,
    but it won't kill them if they try.

    Yaay!

  • UncleLou #5 7 years ago

    you can actually download a full version of the game once you've bought it online, so you can play it while the boxed one is being Royal Mailed your way. That's brilliant.


    Now that is indeed brilliant!

    I'll give the new demo a try, and if I still like it, I'll do exactly that.

  • Stoatboy #6 7 years ago

    I finished it. I really enjoyed a lot of it, but some levels did feel a bit like a chore at times (but then I found I'd been missing the point somewhat and doing it the hard way, so that may well be my fault). If you played the game and enjoyed it it's definitely worth playing through to the end. I'm not a fan of stories in games, but this is one of the few exceptions - it's actually quite moving, and the unlocking of the bonuses is beautifully handled.

  • Artemus #7 7 years ago

    Urghh more negative comments. Does anyone here actually like gaming? Well I for one loved it and completed it. Pretty much everyone of the (ten) levels offered a unique challenge. I feel sorry for the people that didn't stick with it past the second level. You're missing out of one the best titles of the year.

  • mentat #8 7 years ago

    20 squid?
    /is tempted

  • Artemus #9 7 years ago

    Great demo. If you haven't tried it, download it now.

  • CargoCult #10 7 years ago

    Oooh. Nice game.

    : espies lurid green box on desk.

    Noo! But I've bought and played it already! Any other recommendations as to where I can sate my continuing desire for retro-futurisic independent PC gaming? ;-)

  • Teeth #11 7 years ago

    I enjoyed it! But it's got horrible design flaws that can lead to serious technical issues. I could go on about it for ages, but in the end it's a good game that's worth playing through. It's not worth paying through the nose for, like I did. Not sure what they're charging for it now but don't get it for 30 quid like I did or you'll feel slightly ripped off.

    Some great atmosphere that's worth experiencing IMO.