Last night’s PlayStation ‘State of Play’ showcase wasn’t stacked with Switch news, but one announcement that did stand out to us was Darwin’s Paradox!, an upcoming stealth platformer from Konami that appears to pack more than a little Inside DNA.
This is a game that sees you play as Darwin, an octopus who’s plucked from the sea and forced into the harsh industrial world of evil megacorp ‘UFOOD INC. ‘ You’ll want to help ol’ eight legs escape, naturally, and to do so you’ll have to sucker, swing, ink spray and blend into the dystopian surroundings, all while avoiding the ever-watchful gaze of your captors (as well as fire, nasty piranha’s, deadly falls etc.).
It’s difficult to watch the trailer and not be reminded of Playdead’s wonderfully bleak Inside, with Darwin’s threatening searchlights, underwater chases and all-around “I really don’t want to be here” vibes taking us back to 2016’s dread-filled delight. Sure, things don’t look quite as depressing when you’re playing as a bright blue octopus, but you get the picture.
You can find out a little more about the game and take a look at some screenshots in the following info from the Konami website and PlayStation Blog:
Embark on a grand adventure worthy of a true animated movie with Darwin, an octopus as charming as he is clever, ripped from the ocean and trapped in a massive and mysterious industrial complex. With his extraordinary intelligence and incredible abilities – swimming, camouflage, and many other fascinating skills – help him overcome the most formidable traps and dangers in this captivating platformer, adventure, and puzzle game.
In the peaceful vastness of the ocean, Darwin, a young octopus, explores the deep sea… until a strange beam of light pierces the abyss and pulls him toward the surface. Thrust out of his aquatic world, he wakes up disoriented in the middle of a gigantic junkyard, backed by a foreboding factory.
But something is wrong. Between the threatening machines, strange holding tanks, and the mysterious and dangerous creatures and characters that inhabit the place, Darwin realizes he is in danger. To return to the ocean, Darwin will have to outsmart, evolve, and reveal to the players through his journey the mysteries of a conspiracy that goes beyond anything one could have imagined… and which could very well seal the fate of humanity!
We still don’t have a precise release date for this one just yet, though Switch is included in the lineup of launch platforms, so we can look forward to playing it on the go.
Aside from this interesting-looking puzzle platformer, the ‘State of Play’ broadcast also brought a couple of other bits of Switch news, including the reveal of SHINOBI: Art of Vengeance and the impending shadow drop of WARRIORS: Abyss.