What invited me to this game in particular was its more cyber fantasy graphics than the oh to typical dystopian or medieval fantasy that's been done to death. And while I've owned it for so many years but played so little of it up to later after the 10000th Anniversary Edition update, it's high time I get to experience it to the end and finally beat it!

Being introduced to a virtual universe created by one man and developed within itself by a species of flat stick-like figures, you jump in unnoticed and are already put to use by borrowing the man's programs to combat a virus and saving his people. Keeping the graphics simple and the game running at a top 60 in a 3D world when playing a real-time strategy is essential, and I like how considerate this game was made to work with that while taking advantage of it with pixelization effects here and there to let you know when a program is about to fall apart. Also, color me impressed as to how the Darwinians were able to project the maker's face in the sky.

The controls are easy to understand well enough once you've pressed 'H' enough times to know how to control each program and get used to the interface. But it was nice and fluid to try the gesture controls for a change, especially if you have a touch-screen. In either case, the learning curve is pretty fair to get you reacting fast enough to know how to push yourself to completing objectives in each of the world's zones.

The difficulty spike can be pretty unpredictable, even with the default setting (1/10). Once you read and predict what your units and enemies are weak against, the way you strategize becomes pretty clear. You will be put under pressure later on in the story as enemies continue to respawn (either from viruses hatching from eggs or the infection that keeps rushing in waves after you). Once you've put enough hours into the game where the creator has done enough research upgrades to give you and your tasks a well-enough advantage, you'll feel like you're making a comeback, and that's very satisfying.

The way that Darwinia was made to be played and explored is a beauty in itself, and I loved how much care the devs put into it to want to keep you coming back for more. Give it a try if you want an interesting new take on a strategy game, or if it's something that'll get you into strategy without the repeat offenders of the past.