Are you a proud evolutionist? Do you want to see species maturation from able-bodies chimp to full-on caveperson before your very eyes? Do you want to control a group of dependents through island terrain where they may be slapped into Hades' dining room at any given moment? Then the Adventures of Darwin may be your ticket to happiness! That is, if you enjoy mild disappointment.
You play as Darwin — not British naturalist Charles Darwin, no... you are an actual monkey — with end goals of both evolving to the point of massive intelligence and also working to prevent an asteroid from smashing into your village, an asteroid foreseen in a dream. (So, naturally, we assume that's really going to happen because "dreams always come true".) The only way to save the world from an asteroid is by retrieving materials and knowledge from outside the village in, 'cause knowledge is power! (Though not as powerful as a meteorite smacking you in the forehead.)
Darwin starts out in his humble village. It's small at first, with a few citizens who can barely utter a complete sentence. As time goes on (and you level up your city by bringing supplies to keep it running), more and more buildings and neighbours pop up, and the capabilities of the town improves. You can make new weapons (having arrows to shoot from a distance is by far the greatest boon this tribe will ever receive), buy extra items, and even get a bit of clairvoyance into what treasures remain in a specific area of the game. Unfortunately, some houses are relatively useless, and the people inside give pitiful advice. And, as Darwin evolves — yes, he evolves by grabbing an item in a chest which maaaaaagically transforms him into a higher being on the evolutionary scale — so too do the people of the town. (This town needs a name. I am henceforth going to call it Chimpton.)
What you're really getting in the Adventures of Darwin is a Pikmin rehash. Once you leave Chimpton, a small hub world awaits, leading you to five different regions of what I assume is an unnamed, untamed island. I could call it Monkey Island, but LucasArts would hand me a cease-and-desist order faster than Disney thinks up new ways to kill beloved space franchises. Only one is available from the get-go, but as you go through and defeat the boss creature in each region, new areas become accessible. They're all island-y, so don't expect major switches in locale. Expect lots of jungle and rocky mountainous scouring, and little else. (Some very light swimming, but you never evolve enough to be Johnny Weissmuller in this game.)
Monkeying around.
Along the way, you find gold stars. Grasping one gives you a bonus follower that will do your bidding, be it attacking enemies or lifting items to take back to the village with you. The maximum number of minions you can bring with you is 30, which is perfect because that's all the game affords you! So imagine walking through a jungle, just a happy-go-lucky caveman, and you have thirty little versions of yourself constantly following you around. Wouldn't that get annoying after a while? No matter — some will probably get eaten by a dinosaur or fall into a ravine and suffer an untimely demise. The only way to bring back your fallen comrades is by devouring a red star in the region you're visiting or scuttling back to Chimpton and hiring more from the pub. Evolution also brings about new formations for your minion group you can use to close in on your enemy. Later ones aren't particularly useful, but they do offer a bit of flexibility in how your pack travels.
Even in the days of Neanderthal Man, they needed a pint to clear their heads.
Also, Neanderthal Man would make a sensational Robot Master in a future Mega Man game.
The bottom line of the game is that you squirm your way, you and your loyal followers, through the dungeonesque thickets of the island, grabbing gold stars to amp up your kawaii army, slaying rabid animals to suckle on their delicious carcass meat, seeking out the final boss creature, and bludgeoning it to consider that area "conquered". Oh, plus you have to carry materials, meats, and oversized novelty mushrooms back to Chimpton so that everyone can live in happiness and be well-defended against the onslaught of a meteor Darwin dreamed up after a rancid brontosaurus burrito dinner.
Adventures of Darwin is a budget title, and it shows. For a game developed for the PlayStation 2 in 2007, it definitely doesn't look like anyone had mastered the hardware just yet. The character models are small and lack detail, and most of the areas you visit will blend somewhat into each other with their nagging blandness. The town will fail to impress as well, as it's basically a menu. There's good reason for its budget title appearance: in Japan, it was INTENDED to be a budget title. Going under the name "Simple 2000 Series Vol. 99: The Genshijin" ("genshijin" being a word meaning "primitive man"), this one went for 2000 yen (or, on the date of release, about $17.40 USD). Unlike the homecoming queen, this is not something that relies on its looks to pass as acceptable. The real draw is its gameplay, and although Darwin is fairly unique in the PS2 game library, its insipid nature catches up fairly quickly.
The theory of evolution is a concept that divides humanity between those that believe in a higher being, a Creator, that planted humans on Earth and those that look more to humanity itself as the source of its civility and advancement. The Adventures of Darwin will be equally divisive between those that wish for a casual island adventure that delves into the theory of evolution with a somewhat comical perspective, and those that want a more challenging and visually appealing experience. For what it is, Darwin isn't a terrible game by any means — it's fairly unique in its approach to the subject matter — but it probably won't keep the attention of the greater collective. In other words, this one has some evolving to do before it's considered one of the greats.
