Upcoming shooter Evolve is being released to some serious hype. The asymmetrical multiplayer experience, developed by Turtle Rock Studios (Left 4 Dead)) and published by 2K Games will be released February 10th on PC, Playstation 4 and the Xbox One. And so far, the reviews seem to be pretty good.
Evolve pits four players (Hunters) against a fifth player (Monster). The four Hunters’ goal is one thing and one thing only: destroy the Monster. The Monster, on the other hand, can either attempt to kill the four Hunters or complete a secondary goal, either of which nets the Monster a victory. The four Hunter classes include an assault class, a medic, a trapper and a hunter. Monsters include Goliath, Kraken, Wraith and Behemoth (so far, anyway).
Evolve Reviews
IGN thinks it is exactly as good as it looks.
“Where a lot of high-concept games start with big promises and end in scaled back disappointment, this one achieves exactly what it set out to do. Through an array of intelligent design choices, developer Turtle Rock Studios has created an asymmetric, multiplayer monster-hunting game that doesn’t play quite like anything else.”
Gamespot points out that this is a game best enjoyed with your buds.
“It’s worth noting that Evolve supports bots, an all-too-uncommon feature, and while the AI reveals its imperfections as time goes on, it’s strong enough to make playing offline matches rewarding on its own terms, and bots will fill in for disconnected teammates, or will leap into action should you not be able to find a friend to take that particular role. As with Turtle Rock’s Left 4 Dead, Evolve is best when you play with buddies; getting matched with a novice can lead to ghastly results if your newfound friend constantly seeks out the nonexistent “I” in “team.” It doesn’t take long to whip a newcomer into shape, at least, meaning you can usually focus on Evolve’s unique brand of greatness: the suspense of the hunt, the exhilaration of battle, and the drive to dominate Shear.”
The Escapist believes it’s variation that makes Evolve great.
“Finally, there’s a large amount of variation in the game types. Basic hunt missions task the hunters with finding and killing the monster. Nest missions have the hunters trying to destroy monster eggs strewn throughout the map, while the monster tries to protect them. Rescue turns that around, sending the hunters out to rescue wounded colonists that the monster is trying to hunt down and finish off. Finally, Defend has players digging in to hold off waves of minions and the monster as the colonists attempt to board the escape ship and get away. Each of these is enjoyable in its own right, but where the game really shines is when it puts them all together, in Evacuation mode.”
PC Gamer feels this is something we need more of, even if Evolve itself isn’t the most memorable of titles.
“Evolve can turn on a dime. Its rhythm differs slightly between map and mode, but generally speaking this is the most compressed multiplayer FPS since Titanfall. For the four Hunters, Evolve is all about pursuit—of the monster, or a separate map objective—with few moments granted to plot, joke, or catch your breath. That pace instills Evolve with a feeling of constant urgency that I like, but it also makes it more ephemeral than other multiplayer FPSes. Evolve’s four-versus-one format is exactly the sort of asymmetry we need more of in the genre, but I rarely walk away from it with water-cooler war stories that I can’t wait to tell, something Left 4 Dead provided plenty of.”
