Multiwinia: Survival of the Flattest

 PC
User Score
8.6

Generally favorable reviews- based on 72 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 61 out of 72
  2. Mixed: 6 out of 72
  3. Negative: 5 out of 72

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  1. PeterR
    Oct 13, 2008
    7
    The gameplay itself is great. A little hard to micromanage, but practice makes perfect. I had no choice but to knock off a few points because Introversion has taken their minimalist approach a little too far with this one. You can't chat with players until you've started the game (i.e. there's no talking while waiting for a game to start) and many other basic features, like The gameplay itself is great. A little hard to micromanage, but practice makes perfect. I had no choice but to knock off a few points because Introversion has taken their minimalist approach a little too far with this one. You can't chat with players until you've started the game (i.e. there's no talking while waiting for a game to start) and many other basic features, like server passwords, are non-existent. Supposedly they're going to patch these things into the game soon. Let's hope they're true to their word.… Expand
  2. tech-noir
    Feb 2, 2012
    6
    Even though Multiwinia is mostly a multi player upgrade to Darwinia, it is an immensely better game than its predecessor. Nearly all aspects of the game have been improved to the point of near greatness in short bursts. In this iteration of the series, the focus is placed on multi player style game modes, which could also be played against the CPU. Multi player servers are available, butEven though Multiwinia is mostly a multi player upgrade to Darwinia, it is an immensely better game than its predecessor. Nearly all aspects of the game have been improved to the point of near greatness in short bursts. In this iteration of the series, the focus is placed on multi player style game modes, which could also be played against the CPU. Multi player servers are available, but the amount of people playing in public games is scarce to none. This is not a problem, as the single player mode provides much entertainment, challenge, and excitement. Unit placement, movement, and orders have been polished beyond comparison to the nearly broken Darwinia. Everything is fluid, fixed, and sleek. There are also many power-ups and surprises that enhance the game play to the extent of limitless replay ability. In everything Darwinia went wrong, Multiwinia corrected and got right. There are so many maps to play in, and several game modes that will guarantee the almost permanent installation of Multiwinia on your system. You will go back to this game time and time again. The fun and excitement it provides is timeless. There is no reason to play the defective Darwinia if you have Multiwinia. The controls are outstanding, especially when you compare them to the controls and path finding disasters of Darwinia. Each game plays differently, as the variety in maps, game modes, random power-ups, and AI will change your experiences throughout. All difficulty levels are challenging and fun to play, even if you lose. Each match takes between five and twenty minutes, and time flies by quickly, as you are constantly paying attention to your enemies, your units, and ordering them around the map. The action is non-stop. Unfortunately, Multiwinia does not keep track of your personal statistics besides Steam achievements (which I do not care for). There is also a lack of leaderboards of any kind because of the non-inclusion of statistics keeping. It would have been extremely nice to have access to both, even if it were for single player only. Sometimes, you may be losing by a considerable amount, and you will still be able to pull off the win. Power-ups are important at times, depending on the luck of the draw. You will develop a liking to some of them, and apathy for others. While Multiwinia is a short-lived gaming experience, it is Introversion's best effort so far. This game is a perfect example of something you keep installed for years to come, always going back to it for quick matches action packed with fun and entertainment.… Expand
  3. PaulB.
    Sep 17, 2008
    10
    Like most of introversion's games, this smashes the borders between genres. Truly innovative.
  4. Tyler
    Oct 26, 2008
    3
    Very dull RTS compared to others. It caught my attention for about 5 minutes and it's too dang simple. It has some new features then Darwinia, but altogether, it's nothing compared to it. Sure, it looks good, but it lacks in gameplay.
  5. SC
    Oct 10, 2008
    9
    This game is simply awesome. A is always short, but always intense. It must be recommended to any player which like tatical games without having to know odd technology trees or to numerous and useless unites !
  6. IanD.
    Oct 15, 2008
    10
    Wow, it's nice to see a game focus on MACRO-strategy for once, and do it so WELL! Best part are the bite-sized gameplay portions. Even though the longest games are around 20 minutes, you still find yourself playing for hours! HUGE variety in game modes as well! Somehow, Introversion has outdone itself, again!
  7. MikeM
    Oct 19, 2008
    7
    Fun game, but in the world of RTS I can't give it more than a 7. the fundamentals are all present, but it needs some sort of "super" units, something that adds some depth and tactics to the game. As it is you just build up your units, hope a box (random) drops near your units to offset the balance of the game, and rape your enemy. If there was some sort of super unit structure you Fun game, but in the world of RTS I can't give it more than a 7. the fundamentals are all present, but it needs some sort of "super" units, something that adds some depth and tactics to the game. As it is you just build up your units, hope a box (random) drops near your units to offset the balance of the game, and rape your enemy. If there was some sort of super unit structure you could decide, do I need 100 little guys or combine them into 10 heavy units, and your enemy would be doing the same. Hope they do something like this in the next version but I'm gonna have to leave it on the shelf as is.… Expand
  8. MikkelE.
    Oct 9, 2008
    9
    One of the most unique RTS games, which ever has been made. Although it feels like to play a beta version, yet, is it still playable AND recommendable! 9/10!
  9. EF
    Sep 22, 2008
    10
    Simply, compelling and hilarious. It's the best of RTS in a easy to play game, yet also fairly deep.
  10. TomM.
    Oct 11, 2008
    10
    Quick, visceral, strategy which is hugely satisfying in short bursts. Not a game for epic gaming sessions, but rather one you can come back to regularly for months to come. This really is an essential game for LAN parties!
  11. FloydW.
    Oct 12, 2008
    9
    Multiwinia is a blast...a pick up and play RTS with surprising amounts of depth, as you'll find out when you get annihilated by some of the better players out there. Don't listen to those who say it's just moving units around and waiting for a powerful power up...there is an art to arranging your units effectively. Forget the single player and dive straight in to multi Multiwinia is a blast...a pick up and play RTS with surprising amounts of depth, as you'll find out when you get annihilated by some of the better players out there. Don't listen to those who say it's just moving units around and waiting for a powerful power up...there is an art to arranging your units effectively. Forget the single player and dive straight in to multi player mayhem, the only place to develop your skills. With fantastic retro artwork from Darwinia and in your face sound effects from the battle ground, you have something very rare in gaming today...an original, fun game you'll not grow tired of playing.… Expand
  12. RobinB.
    Oct 15, 2008
    10
    Only at first glance a multiplayer add-on to Darwinia, Multiwinia soon surprises with lots of new, wonderfuly chaotic mayhem, that thoroughly expands on the ideas presented in Darwinia and thus justifies its position as a separate game easily! Normally I don't buy multiplayer only games, but boy, I'm sure glad I got this gem!
  13. AnthonyC.
    Sep 19, 2008
    9
    IGN called it Darwinia turned into Worms as if that was a bad thing. This game is not strategically deep - it's just a hell of a lot of fun. It's not designed to be up there with the big RTSes - it's a 15 minute experience of pure epic psychedelicism. About as close to drugs as games get.
  14. JohnC.
    Sep 22, 2008
    9
    Good fun, quick and enjoyable. The games are quick and intense, for some good rts arcade action.
  15. JL
    Sep 25, 2008
    9
    An awesome short-game RTS. Pros: Short, action packed games. Simple gameplay Much purer strategy that most games... only a couple unit types. Cons: UI is a little on the simple side.
  16. RichardS
    Sep 25, 2008
    10
    Quite fun, interesting and thoughtful. A lot of consideration has been poured into this game and the warplay is quite in depth. Because there aren't any leaderboards it doesn't matter much whether you win or lose. Even if you get wiped out you can still have an enjoyable time watching the game progress and occasionally intervening with your once a minute retribution. There are a Quite fun, interesting and thoughtful. A lot of consideration has been poured into this game and the warplay is quite in depth. Because there aren't any leaderboards it doesn't matter much whether you win or lose. Even if you get wiped out you can still have an enjoyable time watching the game progress and occasionally intervening with your once a minute retribution. There are a few problems however with the retail. There have been synchronization issues in-game causing servers to freeze for a period of time, there isn't any chat in the lobby, and some modes are quite imbalanced. These things all need a good tweak and patch to be fixed. Introversion has a good history of supporting its games. I give it a ten.… Expand
  17. DanielM
    Jan 6, 2009
    9
    A different kind of RTS, multiwinia makes for excellent fast paced games that are rare in the genre. At first the game may appear slightly too hectic and perhaps the strategy somewhat simple. However, don't be fooled, this game has a suprising amount of depth that becomes apparent the more you play. There are vast amounts of fun had while maintaining command while being on the brinkA different kind of RTS, multiwinia makes for excellent fast paced games that are rare in the genre. At first the game may appear slightly too hectic and perhaps the strategy somewhat simple. However, don't be fooled, this game has a suprising amount of depth that becomes apparent the more you play. There are vast amounts of fun had while maintaining command while being on the brink of utter chaos and entertaining crate pick ups (including nukes, powerups and turrets) make sure that stalemates come to an end. Class game!… Expand
  18. MarcT.
    Sep 24, 2008
    8
    It is such a great feeling to know I am playing this RTS for 5 or 10 minutes. Since getting married and children I have never been able to enjoy a RTS until now. The game is quick and simple. I am a little concerned on the balance of luck and crates in some of my battles I had enemies gain 7 crates to my zero since they fell right on their base camp. Also some of the map placements are It is such a great feeling to know I am playing this RTS for 5 or 10 minutes. Since getting married and children I have never been able to enjoy a RTS until now. The game is quick and simple. I am a little concerned on the balance of luck and crates in some of my battles I had enemies gain 7 crates to my zero since they fell right on their base camp. Also some of the map placements are uneven, but!!! I love the fact that you can still effect the game after you have been eliminated. You basically get to use super powers on the map every 45 seconds. Funny how this will work down the road. You don't want to be a jerk to the person you just rolled over or else they will spam you with bad bad things. + Fast Furious RTS Action + Time Limit Games allow game play for people on a busy schedule +FUN -No voice chat - - - No chat in game launch lobby prior to launch -Uneven maps and crate drops.… Expand
  19. VentXekart
    Dec 24, 2010
    10
    Like its Single-Player brother game Darwinia, it proves that story and game-play matters not graphics. Not only that, but this game has new units and features that aren't in Darwinia.
  20. iseeall
    Dec 16, 2015
    5
    A multiplayer remake of Darwinia. It's slightly better but is still unplayable. It explains the basics in 2 tutorials, like, controlling the units, making a formation, capturing stuff. However, as soon as you try the single player mode vs the AI (there are no players online to play against) immediately you get questions you don't know answers to and you always lose because you don't knowA multiplayer remake of Darwinia. It's slightly better but is still unplayable. It explains the basics in 2 tutorials, like, controlling the units, making a formation, capturing stuff. However, as soon as you try the single player mode vs the AI (there are no players online to play against) immediately you get questions you don't know answers to and you always lose because you don't know what's happening. Like, where the hell those grenades (or whatever, you just see explosions) come from and wipe out half of your formation. Can you use grenades, too? If so, what button does that? Or where the hell from do ships appear and send rockets from all sides at a location? Why suddenly the battle slowed down etc etc. It seems that the AI takes some bonus crates which have all kinds of special effects, but it's not clear what those effects do, how many of them there are etc. It's not even clearly visible who a spawning point belongs to - there are small colored dots indicating that but in a huge colorful mess of particles this game is they get lost completely.

    There is still the same strange camera control system: moving the mouse rotates the camera (!?), and the cursor is fixed at the center of the screen as if you were controlling a minigun on a helicopter with the task of shooting targets on the ground. The mouse wheel zooms in/out in the same reversed and unconfigurable mode as in Darwinia. Deselecting units is done with Space. It should have been right click (or left click, if right-click is for giving a movement order - depends on whether you like C&C or AoE system better)... Formations work clumsy, as it's not possible to send a formation a bit forward - the destination point must be in front of the whole formation. Selecting groups of darwinians with a long mouse-down is a novel idea but works not so good as it spends too much time. Why didn't they just let people use the old good dragbox or double left-click to select, say, 50 darwinians?

    Btw, the basic gameplay here is much like in "virus rts" type games, where you have a set of points on the map, spawning tiny units of one fixed type at a regular rate, and you can pick 50% of them from one point and send to another connected point - there are plenty of mobile games like that now. Surely, Multiwinia is much more complex, and there are more modes, but the basic idea is just that. If you get it (almost) for free in a bundle, it's maybe worth a look. Just don't expect much.    … Expand
  21. UnOffical
    Jan 24, 2015
    5
    Multiwinia is not that much different to Darwinia- but it does add some surprising new features, which make it more playable than Darwinia. Still, the game lacks replay-ability in some aspects as the way battles turn our a relatively the same each time. This is due to the AI being predictable- It only took me about 4-8 games and I could predict what the AI would do. Multiplayer isMultiwinia is not that much different to Darwinia- but it does add some surprising new features, which make it more playable than Darwinia. Still, the game lacks replay-ability in some aspects as the way battles turn our a relatively the same each time. This is due to the AI being predictable- It only took me about 4-8 games and I could predict what the AI would do. Multiplayer is something to be desired too, it's pretty clear there aren't many people playing this game because the matchmaking system hardly ever works. Controls are easy to learn, graphics are playable but could be better. This game is like a major DLC to Darwinia, in the fact that it adds a lot of new things to the game and improves on Darwinia's shortcomings.… Expand

Awards & Rankings

57
#57 Best PC Game of 2008
55
#55 Most Discussed PC Game of 2008
84
#84 Most Shared PC Game of 2008

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
76

Generally favorable reviews - based on 38 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 29 out of 38
  2. Mixed: 9 out of 38
  3. Negative: 0 out of 38
  1. PALGN
    80
    Multiwinia makes most other RTS games look like bloated, honking walruses.
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  2. Gamervision
    80
    For fans of Darwinia, this game is an instant purchase, but I’d recommend waiting on the Arcade version for online play. For anyone on the fence, pick up the demo, and here’s hoping it gets the reaction on consoles it deserves.
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  3. CPUGamer
    88
    Multiwinia is, in a two words, chaotically fun.
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