After receiving a ‘Save the date’ email around Christmas time from 2K I knew perhaps this was possibly a great way to end the year: a new IP with very little information leaked along side it. Skip forward a month and the guys at Turtle Rock Studios, known for their work with Valve and team behind Left 4 Dead, had us driven to the location under all the mystery of what their new game Evolve played like exactly. After a brief presentation from the game’s
developers we were escorted to our PC builds of the pre alpha stage setup of Evolve that looked fantastic for an unfinished game as it is.

Evolve is solely a cooperative game with major emphasis in working together in a team. How? By making every available class have tools and weapons that works better with the support of your team. The goal of Evolve is to take down the monster controlled by a 5th player thus making this game a 4v1 experience.

The monster itself has its own objectives which we’ll come to later. The four Hunters are broken down into the Trapper, Assault, Medic and Support classes which one of each has to always be present for any match to be played, all equipped with jet packs for scaling tall environments and structures.

Four Hunters:

In the preview we played Griffin the Trapper was like his name suggests the guy that’ll focus on trapping the monster into locations with his deployable Mobile Arena. Within this portable dome that the monster can’t escape from, the Trapper can also use his unique Harpoon that restricts the movements of the monster that can prevent it jumping away but can be broken with a swipe of the monster’s claws. He’s also equipped with Sound Spikes for when the hunt is on and the monster is out of sight. My personal favourite class due to having the most rewarding role in each round we played.

Markov the Assault was the most relatable class from any generic shooter but this class is a necessity to Evolve. With two types of gun, a close range lightning gun and an assault rifle for medium/long range, the Assault’s role is to deal massive amounts of damage. To be fair I had the most fun with laying down his Arc Mines, luring the monster towards them and using his Personal Shield that makes you momentarily invulnerable. Although the main focus is on
dealing damage this class wasn’t as memorable and certainly the least unique.

Val the Medic was the only class that didn’t have a way of dealing damage towards the monster and is the selfless class in the game. Tasked with keeping the team alive with using her Healing Burst for close range team mates simultaneously or the Medgun for longer ranged heals used for reviving incapacitated players the Medic isn’t a class to be taken as a joke. And when she couldn’t get more awesome as it is she’s also armed with a Tranquilizer Rifle which slows and slightly weakens the monster as well as a Anti-Material Rifle which simply creates weak spots in the monster’s armour allowing team mates to cause double damage at those exact spots.

Hank the Support is perhaps the biggest team player in the entire team as he could potentially make or break a situation armed with both offensive and defensive tactical advantages. Other than his Laser Cutter firearm he’s equipped with a Shield Gun that makes whoever targeted with it invincible momentarily whether it be the Medic healing a fallen teammate whilst being attacked by the monster. He too has a cloaking device that he can use on himself and within close proximity can cloak others. And finally the Orbital Barrage air strike that rains missiles from above if you can get the monster to stay put that is.

One Monster:

For the preview the monster available was Goliath, think King Kong with fire breathing perks. This monster was pretty dangerous and balanced, awesome to show off at the event as it had a well-rounded approach to the level we played on. It could climb rocks, leap great distances and even sneak about without making a noise, the perfect predator. At the start of each game the monster has to choose 2 out of the 4 available moves which in Goliath’s case was Charge, which dashes forward knocking everything aside, Rock throw that is a
projectile, Fire breathing that does what it says on the tin and a leaping punch which too doesn’t need much explaining. The monster will have to eat wildlife to level up that round as known as ‘Evolving’ which unlocks the 3rd and 4th move thus creating a stronger powerhouse which you’d probably don’t want to be trapped inside a Mobile Arena with.

The Environment:

So even though the game is going to be advertised as a 4v1 competitive multiplayer experience the environment itself is just as hostile as the monster. Shear where we played was a living breathing jungle with a metallic factory and generator thrown into the centre. This environment featured various creatures and beasts all shapes and sizes as well as venus fly trap-like flowers that can trap other players. From dinosaur inspired carnivores to hostile
aggressive biped monsters we had to keep our whit’s focused as a few times some of us were eaten by an alligator lurking in the lake. There are birds in the environment that fly off when startled by the monster when in proximity, an indicator for knowing where to find it. Learning your environment is vital.

The Mission:

The goal for the hunters is to track down and kill the monster. For the monster your goal is to Evolve by eating enough wildlife, fill up your gauge, find a secluded location and transform into the next evolution two times before attacking the generator on the level we were playing or killing the trapped civilians if hunting down the hunters isn’t for you.

The monster gets a head start once the mission begins for running away from the starting location. Within the 30 seconds the monster can either sneak away which doesn’t leave trackable footprints for the hunters to find, or just all out run, jump and climb which will create an instant hunt upon the hunter’s arrival. The monster will be looking to eat wildlife, some more special with bonuses that the others which will be indicated with a star above the heads of those creatures. These Elite creatures if eaten by the monster or hunters grants a buff allowing health regeneration for example.

To Conclude:

Evolve does have a lot of promising features that’ll only be built upon with added new characters, monsters, moves and environments and who knows what else is up Turtle Rock’s sleeves. From what I played I was blown away with a cooperative shooter that doesn’t endorse the mindless one-man army play style which other co-op games sadly doesn’t balance out as well as Evolve have. With a sense of learning survival tactics from every match we played and every game being different every time it’ll be amazing to see how the public accept a unique game like this for this generation of gaming.

Publisher: 2K
Developer: Turtle Rock Studios
Genre: 4v1 Shooter
Platform: Xbox One, PlayStation 4, PC
Release Date: Autumn 2014
Website: www.evolvegame.com