Even at its game-breaking worst, you've only lost a few minutes of play usually, with most games taking about 10-15 minutes in total. You can also alter the crate drop rate and have them only contain basic power ups if someone's lip is wobbling. It keeps the rapid pace of the game from being nothing more than a clickfest, injects a random element, the odd two amongst all those predictable ones and zeros. While this can have some game-spoiling results, I regard the system as a great leveller and a lot more beneficial to the game as a whole than the usual system of a new player getting the shit kicked out of him in a totally one-sided match versus a more experienced player. If a player is behind by a lot, they receive a lot. If a player is only behind by a little, they receive only a little help. The system bears comparison to Mario Kart's (no, hear me out). The fact that one player can be lagging behind and then arbitrarily acquire a nuclear weapon has obviously irritated some people. Now, the crate system has seen some criticism. These range from simple speed or firepower boosts to your 'winians, up to meteor strikes, ants (no, not the harmless kind, the other kind), nukes and Futurewinians. Then, you have crates dropping from the sky every now and again, providing power ups. Armours provide protection and transport, even across the otherwise impassable fractal seas (note to self, look up fractal), and stationary turrets of various kinds provide massive firepower. Along with the undisciplined 'winian mob, you can create officers to head up formations, or tell your forces where to go. So, you're dropped onto the map and start battering the Hell out of each other. Numbered slots for the power ups is perhaps the only addition one could ask for without being a bastard about it. You never get lost in the keys, and while the option to fiddle around and assign some hotkeys would be nice, it's not necessary. Using the scroll wheel to control the height of the view takes a bit of getting used to, but it's hardly a game-breaking flaw. Left click to select, right click to create officers, space to deselect, tab to flick through your units and power ups. The controls, like everything else in the game, are slimmed and streamlined down to the essentials. Sound effects match the visuals, very bleep-blip with some hard attention-getting bass in the explosions. Not much in the way of music to be had, though there's always the howl of the virtual wind over the virtual plains to cheer you up. It's never as horrific as Defcon, which is something to be thankful for, but the screams of a mass of burning 'winians are pretty bad.
The audio is also very minimalist, and rather haunting. The square-grid sky and triangle-grid ground, the chunky buildings and craft, stick figure 'winians, blocky projectiles and luminous explosions, Introversion have dug deep into the past and brought it forward with a new gloss of effects and the modern sheen of graphical power. The visual style of the game is as coherent and complete as you'll ever see. Blitzkrieg involves capturing a line of flags that link your home flag to your opponent's. Rocket Riot gives each player a rocket to fuel, crew and launch, which the enemy can of course interfere with. Assault is limited to two teams (but still up to four players), with one defending a bomb, and the other attacking. Capture the Statue is like capture the flag, except the statues are big, heavy, it takes lots of 'winians to move them, and they are more fragile than your grandmother's hips.
In King of the Hill, you fight to occupy scoring zones. In Domination, you squabble over spawn points. Multiwinia is a real-time strategy (or real-time tactics, if you want to get stroppy) game, with one to four players, six different modes, and 50 maps.
From 'Multi' - a prefix, meaning "having many", 'win' - a verb, meaning to achieve victory, and 'ia' - God knows, quite frankly.
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