Digital Dreamscapes

Darwinia is so far my main candidate for the Modcast's 'Late to the Party' 2009 award for an amazing game that we only got around to playing this year. Recent games of Company of Heroes have revealed that the tactic that works best for me is a good old fashioned meat grinder, so a game in which individual units are worthless so long as you complete your objectives would of course always resonate with me. Coupled with some healthy doses of virtual world nostalgia (air strikes are provided by space invaders, whilst Tron's famous recognizers act as your engineers) and the retro art style, this is a game almost impossible not to like.

The game draws itself to a brilliant climax, seeing the usually peaceful Darwinians rise up in strength to rid their world of an infectious virus. The only flaw with this spectacle for me was that it came too soon. I consumed Darwinia in large chunks and it was all over a bit too quickly, leaving me unwilling to see the end of the Darwinians' slow march to freedom.

This week I decided to put a bit of time into the multiplayer pseudo-sequel Multiwinia, but only against computer opponents for the time being. Whilst the mechanics are actually quite different and there is no actual story to progress through, I find that the fierce civil war of the Multiwinians is just as arresting as its forbear. And like its forbear, it is very photogenic. I do like a good screenshot, so here's one I took today and is now taking up pride of place on my desktop (I recommend clicking it to see the full-sized version).
I'm especially pleased with the sight of the battle between the reds and the blues through the trunk port, as well as the looming monument beyond the dark forest. I could really spend as much time looking for good pictures in Multiwinia as I do playing it.