Do you love games like Fortnite and PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds but need a change of pace? Well then, it’s time to try a new battle royale style game then. Originally only for the PC, The Darwin Project finally releases as an early access title for players to enjoy on the Xbox One. The same great gameplay seen in the PC version is retained on Microsoft’s current gen console. That’s why if you wanted to try out The Darwin Project but couldn’t since you only have an Xbox One, now is the time.

The Darwin Project is a survival game that puts the literal quote of “survival of the fittest” to reality. Players will need to forge for materials and create traps as well as tool to survive in a battle royale of ten players. Always looming is the Show Director who will change the game up by using his/her own special abilities to keep things interesting. The Darwin Project will test your survival ability and push you to make quick decisions to survive. Can you win against your opponent? Find out in The Darwin Project.

Do you consider yourself someone who can survive anything? You think you can lure your enemies out and or survive given any circumstance. Then why not try out The Darwin Project? Enter a battle of 10 opponents who wish to survive just as much as you and are willing to do anything to do so. Gather supplies, survive the blistering cold, and keep trying to outwit your opponent to be the victor. However, be warned, this is a competition and with an audience watching and a show director who can side with anyone at any time, this battle will not be a simple one…

Here at Honey’s Anime, we’ve talked about The Darwin Project for quite some time now. We’ve enjoyed playing the multiple open betas of The Darwin Project on the PC and have said only good things in our previews of it. Recently however, developer Scavenger Studios have placed their battle royale focused title on the Xbox One and you know Honey’s Anime was there to try it out. Welcome to our early access preview of The Darwin Project for the Xbox One.

Assuming that you haven’t played the PC version for whatever reason, we’ll first describe what you actually will be doing in The Darwin Project. Ten players are sent off to a closed snowy region and must survive until there is only one player left standing. Players will have to endure surviving the cold—which is a constant threat against you and will kill you after long exposure—constantly changing areas that get closed off and such and other opponents. In The Darwin Project, there aren’t tons of guns to use or a multitude of vehicles. The only thing you’re armed with is an axe, a bow and the ability to make traps to defeat your opponents. The Darwin Project is simple in this regard but it works for a multitude of reasons.

The first reason why this simplicity works so well in The Darwin Project is because it removes a lot of the randomness of most battle royale games. Fortnite and Player’sUnknown Battlegrounds is a mix of skill and random luck depending on what weapons and gear you find upon landing. In The Darwin Project, you will never find much on the field—outside electrical items that are placed on the map randomly—besides trees and chairs to rip apart for materials in making tools for your character. The Darwin Project requires players to get better and to make the most out of what gear they can forge and they can use it. Sure, you can use your bow and arrow to snipe enemies or hack away with your axe but a good survivor will make traps and lure their opponent into a false sense of safety. This is where The Darwin Project excels in comparison to the other games we mentioned, you need to use your mind and quick thinking to survive more often than not.

Another fun element of The Darwin Project is the Show Director. Unlike Player’sUnknown Battlegrounds and Fortnite, the Show Director is another player who embodies a monitor that floats in the field at all times. The Show Director can’t directly hurt players but can cause damage in the form of Nuking the environment, healing a player, shielding a player and closing off parts of the map earlier than they should close. This is where The Darwin Project gets really interesting as it no two games are the same. Often, when you think one strategy might work, The Show Director can easily cause a shift in your plans and might even make you a target—which he/she can do—thus keeping you on your toes. The Darwin Project might be simpler than most battle royale games but that simplicity leaves a lot of room for more things to happen than the more formulaic nature of most games like it.

Graphically, The Darwin Project is pretty nice on the Xbox One. While the PC will of course have some slight strength in how it runs with a good rig, we didn’t notice too much of a difference between either version. We did notice some lag and technical issues with the Xbox One version during some moments while playing, but it never caused us to die early or anything of that nature. We’ll probably say The Darwin Project runs better on the PC overall, but it’s not a huge difference. Though, maybe an Xbox One X—if The Darwin Project gets tweaked for that version—might be stronger but we couldn’t tell you yet.

Now, since we’ve previewed both versions of The Darwin Project—the Xbox One version and PC—we want to say ultimately, neither one is better than the other. Both versions of The Darwin Project run well and both adhere to the same themes as each other. We do want to try out the Duo Mode for the Xbox One as we didn’t see that in the PC version, but we could bet that would be available on the PC in sometime too. The Darwin Project is a solid game overall so far and that is why we can say pick whichever version you want. Ultimately, you’re getting the experience based on your gaming preferences and that is a good thing for any game at the end of the day.

The Darwin Project for the Xbox One seems so far like a pretty solid version of this small but epic survival game. We couldn’t do the Duo Mode which sounds like fun, but if we do get a chance, we’ll mention that in an update. The Darwin Project looks good on the Xbox One and while it does suffer some technical glitches/lag, it’s not much more or less than the PC version. When The Darwin Project does release for the Xbox One we’ll be hard pressed to say it’s better or worse than its PC counterpart, which is a good thing indeed. If you can, we fully recommend downloading The Darwin Project as we think it’s a solid game even though it’s still simpler than other battle royale games like Fortnite or PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds.

We’ve put some time into both alliterations of The Darwin Project and honestly, we love both versions. That’s great news as sometimes, console versions of PC games suffer due to weaker system specs and such. The Darwin Project on the Xbox One is solid so far and we’ll be sure to keep you posted on updates when we can! Are you playing The Darwin Project on the Xbox One? Tell us in the comments below and for all your gaming article needs be sure to keep stuck to our hive here at Honey’s Anime.