Combining two games in one, Darwinia+ is a fantastic game that works well on the 360.
Dubbed an action strategy game, Darwinia isn't your typical RTS. You have no direct control over the Darwinians, and are instead given a few programs to help you along the way. Squads are you main way of moving around the map and taking down those pesky viruses, and aside from Armours (which arrive later on in the game), they're the only unit you have direct control. The other main unit you can spawn are the multi-talented Engineers.
The single-player game itself isn't terribly long with only roughly ten levels, yet they clock in at a decent 6-8 hours.
The other half of Darwinia+ is the multiplayer component Multiwinia. Multiwinia is in many ways a much different game than Darwinia. First and foremost, Multiwinia is a war game, whereas Darwinia is more of an adventure in a sense. Secondly, you can actually take direct control of the little Darwinians making more akin to a typical RTS title.
The gameplay of Multiwinia can be best summed up as chaotic. There can be literally hundreds of different colored stick figures engaging in battles across the various maps and game modes. But what makes Multiwinia stick out (no pun intended) from your typical RTS like Command and Conquer or Warcraft? Multiwinia, just like Darwinia, simplifies everything. There is no research tree and no resource collecting. New Darwinians are spawned from set spawn points across the maps that can be captured, resulting in more troops for your army. All of this makes each match a game of who can outmaneuver who. It's about setting your troops up in the correct position to deal the most damage. Yet that's not quite a typical Multiwinia match. Entering in to mix things up and create power shifts are crates.
Crates are your game changers. They can be something as simple as an airstrike or instant reinforcements or as damaging as rage or nuclear launches. Not all of them are positive and a few of them can as easily end your day with the plague or viral infection. Crates are what everyone strives for, as the chance to gain even an airstrike to help punch out an enemy position is more than enough to risk having a viral outbreak create an entirely new faction on the map from your troops.
Darwinia+ is a great game, but isn't without its flaws. Darwinia itself is a little slow, and may turn some people off because of it. The lack of a proper tutorial to explain a few of the later weapons and taking down the tougher enemies hurts it as well. As for Multiwinia, the lack of enough three- and four-player maps is a little disappointing and somewhat restricting. Yet because of a simplistic and deep single-player and the always chaotic multiplayer component, Darwinia+ is a fantastic game a must-have for strategy fans.