What is Darwin’s Paradox?
Darwin’s Paradox is a side-scrolling platforming game developed by ZDT Studio and published by Konami.
Back in February of this year, we wrote about the honestly stellar demo for the title following its reveal at the prior State of Play. The experience it gave leaned into a very Looney Tunes-esque comedic tone, rife with little references to Hideo Kojima’s now dormant Metal Gear Solid series. To say that my excitement for the game coming from the demo was high would be an understatement with that in mind.
Which is why it is sad that I only got to enjoy one part of what I originally thought would be in the full title, but only given in small doses. As the Metal Gear Solid references found in the demo were not present in the full release, and what little of the comedic tone was present only barely got me through its admittedly interesting yet frustrating platforming gameplay with an ending that dragged on way too long.
Developer & Publisher // ZDT Studios, Konami
Platforms // PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, PC
MSRP & Release Date // $24.99, April 2nd 2026
Reviewed On // Xbox Series X
The Story of Darwin’s Paradox
Darwin’s Paradox opens with a little blue squid called Darwin and his red friend going out on an adventure in the sea. After throwing a few tutorials at the player, explaining how the game’s mechanics work, both Darwin and his red friend get abducted by aliens and then get separated, with Darwin waking up in a trash dump on one mission and one mission only, to find his friend and put a stop to the aliens.
As far as the story goes, it’s about as serviceable as a platformer can be. There is no dialogue, so you are left to discern intentions and other bits of storytelling through the environment and character expressions. In the opening of the game, however, there is an old-school-style documentary, talking about octopuses and the company Ufood that the aliens control. You are not left completely clueless, but the game does leave everything up to vague gestures and the environment, similar to Inside or Planet of Lana.
As the game progresses, however, there are bits of funniness and classic action. For example, there’s a running bit in the game involving a seagull Darwin throws tentacles at and plenty of high-stakes, explosion-filled escape sequences that keep the excitement going, culminating in an ending that was decent for what the game was. Even though by that point I was ready for it to be over. Each death Darwin goes through in the game results in little squeaks that ease the trial-and-error the game relies on too heavily. It’s things like this that stick out in my memory, alongside the very elaborate platforming and puzzles.
Intricate and Various Levels
The best of Darwin’s Paradox has is its level design and how the platforming works. Every little thing in the environment he can stick to, and in underwater segments he can shoot ink to avoid getting killed by certain underwater predators like eels or facing death from security cameras that will lock on and immediately murder him.
Darwin can also camouflage himself on land. This lets him avoid detection from certain aliens, and it’s a very snappy mechanic. Nothing in the gameplay feels clunky, and this is where the compliments for the game stop, as the rest gets too elaborate and very frustrating.
This game is too reliant on trial and error, especially on the predator segments. There are sections of the game involving an anglerfish requiring precise movements and constant button mashing for the underwater dash to avoid death. Not to mention that the segments are drawn out too long. Not only that, but at certain moments with the seagull or one section near the end with lasers. You have to rely on an ink-shooting mechanic that sometimes doesn’t work properly.
In addition to all of this, levels use different environmental design. Either ranging from simple timing in the platforming or going through trial and error to figure out how to progress. One deep-water section with shark robots that had sonar and grass that disappeared if you stayed in it too long actually frustrated me when each section between autosaves was too long. These mechanics were just never explained in the slightest. If anything, the trial-and-error is what Darwin’s Paradox gets really wrong. New mechanics and level designs don’t use all the little things you learn while playing leading into them.
Technical Elements and Presentation of Darwin’s Paradox
When it comes to how it runs, it’s fairly smooth. It only drops frames when death animations play and when explosions go off during certain segments. Aside from that, the game runs very well on performance mode on consoles. I experienced no crashes or bugs. But there was a particular graphical glitch in the office level, where a cardboard cutout face down would rotate in the direction Darwin went. It was immersion-breaking, to say the least.
Aside from all of this, the game looks really good. The animation for everything is very fluid and simple. The lighting work is impressive as well. The game is at its best when it does those “Looney Tunes” type scenes and moments. For example, in one level, you could walk away from Ufood’s factory, and the game sets up Looney Tunes-esque turn-back signs that get comedically larger leading into a piano falling from the sky to kill Darwin. It reminded me of early Acme cartoons with the art style leaning fully into it.
Final Thoughts on Darwin’s Paradox
Darwin’s Paradox feels like a fun game at times but frustrating and inconsistent in other ways. I did love some parts of the game where intentionally funny optional deaths happened and other little silly moments. But I feel like if the game leaned purely into the comedic parts like that, it would have been a much more enjoyable adventure. There is way too much thrown in and too little enjoyment in the overall design, holding the game back from being something I can recommend.
