Darwin’s Paradox! Review

Rocking three hearts pumping blue blood, eight suction-cupped arms, colour-changing camouflage, and an average IQ that outperforms most of my close friends, the humble octopus truly is a fascinating creature. These crafty little Cephalopods have an abundance of cool tricks and traits up their many sleeves, but it’s their curious nature that makes them so endearing. Looking at the mollusc’s extensive list of cool attributes, it’s easy to see why developer ZDT Studio landed on an octopus to lead its stealth-based puzzle platformer. Darwin’s Paradox! is filled with charm and some great ideas, but uneven gameplay, awkward pacing, and odd presentation decisions hold it back from being truly tentacular.

Happily swimming about with his octo-friend, our blue boy Darwin is beamed up by a UFO and deposited into a factory fitted out to turn him into canned seafood. Wiley and determined not to be turned into calamari, the young octopus sets about breaking free of his captors and tracking down his separated mate. To do this, little Darwin will need to make his way through factories, sewers, bases, and underwater facilities, using his unique arsenal of abilities to avoid danger.

As I mentioned, octopi (octopuses?) have quite a bag of tricks to pull from, and Darwin’s Paradox knows it. In addition to being able to stick to walls, ceilings, and everything in between, Darwin can also camouflage himself to avoid detection, spray ink to obscure guards’ sightlines, activate buttons, and disable security cameras. Not bad for a little guy destined to be served with chips.

Pre-canned calamari

Having such a wide range of options at your disposal is great, especially considering the game’s relatively short, five-hour runtime, so it’s a shame that the opening few acts don’t highlight them particularly well. Kicking off in a sewer filled with rats, Darwin must dip himself in bright, toxic gunk to navigate pitch-black pipes and avoid being nibbled on. It’s a novel enough idea, but the low-light navigation is a chore, resulting in a rough first impression. The next few areas don’t fare much better, continuing the trend of being visually unappealing and mechanically annoying.

Thankfully, some mechanical joy is injected into proceedings after roughly 45 minutes, at which point you’ll hit the portion of the game presented in the demo. Using your suction cups to crawl across ceilings, using your camo to trick guards into thinking it was ‘just the wind,’ and platforming across moving platforms is far more engaging, but those moments are scattered. Every time I found myself getting into a groove, I was hit with a poorly implemented idea or a section that fell flat. It derailed my enjoyment and made the entire experience less enjoyable as a result.

With that said, most of Darwin’s best ideas and gameplay alterations are backloaded in the final hour of the game. Gameshow courses, social espionage, and tense chase sequences see you through to the finish, ending on a very strong note that I wish could be replicated elsewhere.

They have the map upside down, but at least the aliens remembered Tasmania

Adding to my frustration was the inaccuracy that came with controlling Darwin. Some moments require precision platforming, such as when a laser grid blocks your path, but the floaty way in which Darwin moves, taking a few extra steps after the stick is disengaged, makes it unnecessarily difficult to gauge. Similarly, there seems to be an input delay that can make interacting with barrels, levers, and other objects tedious, requiring multiple attempts before the game recognises what you’re asking it to do.

Expressive and cute as hell, Darwin is immediately lovable, thanks to some wonderful character design and even better animation work. His bright yellow eyes squint as he concentrates, his arms flail about wildly as he walks on land, and his bulbous head bounces around as he moves. This level of design is afforded to every character across the five-hour game, from fellow aquatic creatures, though to the alien antagonists who stomp around in lumbering mech suits.

The variety of locations might not be overly inspiring, as you move from one industrial workspace to the next, but the attention to detail and humour are present, nonetheless. Cheeky easter eggs hinting at sci-fi franchises, classic employee of the month gags, and an extended sequence that had me ‘blending in’ with the alien population gave me a chuckle. I particularly enjoyed the audio work that brings Darwin to life, with his footsteps sounding like someone walking in Crocs with wet feet, and the distinct damp splat you hear when he hits a hard surface being two highlights.

I’d be showing concern in that position as well

Looking past the gameplay audio, the game’s music, while broadly enjoyable, often feels out of place. A general ‘aliens exist’ warbling permeates the entire game’s soundtrack, but I found the track never quite manages to convey the feeling of the scene. Moving through a gigantic mailroom while listening to a song that wouldn’t feel out of place in an episode of The Twilight Zone just didn’t hit the mark.

Final Thoughts

The charm and humour of Darwin’s Paradox do a lot of the heavy lifting, but it’s also solid enough to rise to that occasion. The stop-and-start enjoyment caused by some poorly realised mechanics and wonky control inputs made this stealth platforming adventure feel longer than its five-hour runtime. That said, there’s real potential here with this cute blue octopus, should ZDT Studio manage to retain the character and whimsy and elevate the moment-to-moment gameplay in a sequel that I’m hoping we eventually see.

Reviewed on PS5 // Review code supplied by publisher

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