In this strange age of Battle Royale shooters drawing crowds of millions, it’s hard for other multiplayer action games to find their footing, even if they do have an interesting hook like last-man-standing survival sandbox Darwin Project, which spices up its 10-player battles with Twitch audience integration, and a human ‘director’, able to skew the match for the audience’s amusement. In order to draw more people into its world of tactical public spectacle, Scavengers Studio have made their game free-to-play.

(more…)

Premature Evaluation is the weekly column in which we explore the wilds of early access. This week, Fraser is trying to put on a good show in chilly Canadian battle royale romp, Darwin Project. Are you not entertained?>

I want every game to be good, but I confess that I was ready to hate Darwin Project. See, it s unashamedly a game for streamers and their hungry audiences. Even the main menu, where the ability to link your Twitch or Mixer account is the most prominent option, makes this abundantly clear. Audience participation is built into the very fabric of the game, to the point where players become entertainers. Colour me surprised, then, that not only do I like it, I like it in part because of its pandering to video boys and girls.

(more…)