Darwin Project Review

Darwin Project is the latest in a long line of free-to-play titles that arose with the advent of battle royale games such as Fortnite. The work of Scavengers Studio, it is currently in early access on Steam and Xbox Game Preview. Consequently, there are still plenty of areas that need improvement and the game is constantly changing as development continues. What is there, though, certainly works pretty well and there are some features that make Darwin Project stand out from the crowd.

Darwin Project takes place in a future that has been blighted by some sort of apocalypse, leaving the world scarred. As part of a twisted science experiment and entertainment show, participants are dropped into the playing area and left to battle it out between themselves until one rises victorious and alone. It is a concept that we have seen countless times but this game manages to switch it up a bit thanks to the Director.

The Director

Generally, Darwin Project only has 10 active combatants in each game. However, there is an 11th player who takes on the role of Director throughout the match. The Director acts as a proxy for the audience, following the contestants as they please and catching everything on video as they zoom around the map. The Director is not simply a spectator. Any player taking on this mantle can have a huge impact on each round by influencing certain factors.

For instance, the Director can make certain players invincible for a small amount of time, stop the cold affecting them, or even make them a target so that other players will be rewarded for taking them down. The Director can also hand out abilities in the form of electronics. The main job of the Director is to make things as enjoyable to watch as possible. It is a hook that really does add a whole other layer to the battle royale genre.