Darwin’s Paradox! PS5 Review. “Under the sea! Under the sea! There are no accusations just friendly crustaceans under the sea!” This dreamy Homer Simpsons quote is relevant to ZDT Studio and Konami’s unorthodox stealthy puzzle-platformer Darwin’s Paradox. Y’see, Darwin is an octopus who belongs in the sea, and although this tentacle crawler isn’t free of marine life hostility, it’s his home. Darwin never expected the life of an amphibian, but he is given no choice when he’s sucked up and spat out into a murky industrial environment, he just has to adapt and survive like all species need to do until he can find his way back to the ocean.
Darwin’s Paradox! Review – Metal Gear Octopus
Aliens are hiding behind the productive innocence of a food corporation called UFood-yeah you can understand the poor effort to dupe us, so our oceanic octopus Darwin is the hero who is flung into a mission to not only return to his home, but shut down the nefarious operation of these aliens. The old-fashioned opening video should remind you of vibes similar to Destroy All Humans, and you get the this overarching Invasion of the Body Snatchers veneer over it all. It is surprising how much inspiration is crammed into Darwin’s Paradox, and that does much in this platformer’s favour because it’s memorable.
Our octopus traveller (yes that was a reference) Darwin is an easily squashable creature, who will go splat every time he is stomped on by Homer-Simpson (oh gosh another Homer Simpson reference!) like green-eyed glowing armoured grunts or by searing heat, and he’ll emit a tragic air horn-like sound akin to Judge Doom dropping that cartoon shoe into The Dip in Who Framed Roger Rabit. He’s fragile and can easily be victimized by the environment around him. You can liken Darwin to Super Meat Boy and other main characters who’ll be effortlessly smushed by any hazardous object or element, though unlike others he can use his octo-tentacles to stick to walls and slink along pipes to avoid danger.
A Tale of Caution And Tentacles
Darwin is the hunted and throughout his adventure, he’ll rub up against all kinds of hostile nasties from pesky Steven the Seagull, to amphibious underwater creatures and human-sized goons. The only forms of safety Darwin has at his disposal is his agility and his adaptiveness because without them he’d be flattened.
Caution needs to become your priority to protect Darwin, otherwise he’ll find himself cruelly caught and squished, but this necessity is what brings in the challenge and the moreish trial and error gameplay. Many times Darwin will find himself needing to navigate machinery to stay safe, but at times the temperature of the machinery may rise to the point it’s too steaming hot for Darwin to latch onto, forcing you to depart quickly before he’s reduced to nothing more but the latest delicacy in a seafood restaurant. Patient play is the way to go, so finding the hiding spots away from prey and getting out of sight from peril is the best way for Darwin to survive.
Seeing as this puzzle platformer and stealth adventure is connected to Konami, you’ll no doubt witness nods to the Metal Gear Solid franchise. One section in particular has you carefully traversing the grounds of a military base and if you get caught the iconic enemy alert sound can be heard. It’s very cool to see these kinds of nods and references throughout Darwin’s Paradox, and they make up for Darwin’s lack of personality and relatable tenets.
Mechanics And Machinery
Another thing Darwin’s Paradox does well is throwing new mechanics at you to give the little vulnerable Darwin a chance. Not long into the game you’ll discover the ability to crawl up and around any object, which is fantastically useful to avoid the hazards caused by machinery. Another skill Darwin picks up is the ability to cloak himself into invisibility, which is always useful when patrols are surrounding the area-though Darwin is unable to move while using it, so proceed with caution!
Levels feel very fresh and exciting when Darwin is given new skills to toy with and equip to overcome challenges. Be assured they’re auxiliary, but they will not act as cheats to make the levels any easier. Thankfully the difficulty is fair and in accordance with its contemporaries in the genre, so you won’t be getting hot-headed about repeating sections over and over again. However, sometimes it does take a bundle of repeated tries in order to finally figure out a solution, and solutions can be a tad obscured at times because figuring out what to do isn’t always crystal clear.
There is a guide button you can tap if you get stuck, though it is very vague and offering a very brief hint which doesn’t do very much. One early section of the game is quite open and forces Darwin to crawl up the walls to navigate the environment, but where to go and what to do exactly became a bit of a needless head-scratcher. Puzzles are all well and good, but this adventure is best suited to linear levels than ones that open up the game more.
An Industrious Octopus
The production lines and factories may seem like an eyesore after a while, but Darwin’s undersea exploits do offer some variation, and patrolling military-like grounds, laboratories and sewer networks. Where there’s danger there is Darwin, but his intellect and his swiftness gets the job done. Darwin’s Paradox does a fantastic job of providing the locations that’ll make you quiver in fear, but at the same time enticing you to triumph over the various obstacles impeding your path-including those dang UFood cans.
The backdrops of this 2.5D are dynamic and reinforce the desperation of Darwin’s predicament. Besides industrial matter such as smoke stacks and factories, vehicles with sirens blaring are a backing soundtrack to the panicky drama, particularly when Darwin is pursued by Steven the Seagull. The backgrounds are almost as calamitously dramatic as the foreground, letting you know that nowhere is safe for Darwin and his tentacles.
The music is likely very representative of the prolonged panic Darwin is subjected to as well, with themes enhancing the stealth flavour of this octo adventure. The subtle sounds of rats squeaky and of electrified fences sparking go further to remind you that there’s no place on land safe for an octopus.
By leaning on its MGS stealth adventure lineage, Konami and developers ZDT Studios has produced a pleasing homage through it courtesy of Darwin’s Paradox. The threats and the platforming challenges are numerous, the references are cool and you’ll be content to keep on lapping this one up just to see the iron will of Darwin continue onward towards salvation. At times it can be a bit tricky to know exactly what to do, the story is threadbare and it might not be lengthy, but you will surely remember this one when you’re done-even if it’s just for the Metal Gear Solid references.
Darwin’s Paradox is scheduled for release on April 2, 2026 for PS5, Xbox Series S/X, Nintendo Switch 2 and PC.
Review copy was generously provided by the publisher.