Preview - Evolve

It’s not often a game gives you the chance to play as a huge monster standing around 20 feet tall, but that’s exactly why we’re so excited about Evolve. When it was first revealed we were drawn in by the concept of four “hunters” trying to track down and kill a monster who gradually grew more powerful as the match went on, and now we’ve finally had some extensive play time we can confirm this much: Evolve could really be a breath of fresh air in the shooter genre.

Unfortunately my hands-on didn’t involve me controlling the Kraken or Goliath - the two confirmed monsters heading to the game so far - but an intimidating looking guy called Markov. Markov is a member of the Assault class, and as such he wears a huge suit of armour and carries some explosive weaponry and mines that can do some big doses of damage. Assault is basically the tank of the group, leading the gunfight with the monster and drawing fire away from your teammates. Other classes are Trapper, Medic and Hunter, all coming with their own unique set of abilities and play styles. 

Each player will have to make the most of these abilities and work as a team if you’re going to come away victorious. It’s very easy to rush ahead and find the monster on your own, but survival can suddenly become very difficult if your squad is 100 yards behind you trying to keep up. Sticking together and communicating over the headset is key here, and it’s something that will likely come with a steep learning curve as you discover the best times to pull off certain tactical moves. 

My team was up against the Kraken, and it would be polite to say we didn’t perform too well. Things started off promising enough, as we all charged forward and swept away all enemies who wandered across our path. The maps are filled with other creatures that will attack you without a second thought so you have to be wary, but they’re pretty much just cannon fodder as long as you keep your wits about you. There’s also some dangerous plant life that’ll snap you up if you happen to tread near it so watch out for that, too.

Before long we had caught up with the Kraken himself, who was still fairly weak as it was early on in the match. The Trapper in our team sent out a magical beam that contained the monster within a controlled - but still fairly large - area, and then it was game on as rounds of ammo were unloaded into the Kraken’s thick skin. We managed to take out a fairly large amount of his health before the worst happened - suddenly our Medic had been taken out of the game.

With no Medic we had no one healing us as we took turns to inflict damage on the Kraken, and as our Hunter went to revive them he went down, too. Then our Trapper went down before finally, and to my dismay, Markov was defeated by a swift tentacle whip. Whoever was controlling the monster was a skilful player, but we certainly could have done more to make things harder from him. He hadn’t even levelled up the whole way!

We’re told that when the monsters do evolve to their ultimate level, by feasting on the other wildlife located on the maps, then they will be extremely hard to stop, even for the most well-drilled teams. That means it’s a race against time as well as being a cautious affair, and Evolve certainly seems to have got the balance right between being fast-paced but with a level of strategy. 

Interestingly, all four classes will come with a choice of three different characters, and they’ll each have their own weapons to play around with. For example as the Assault class if I didn’t want to play as Markov I could have chosen Hyde, who comes with a meaty flamethrower to spice things up a bit. The third characters for each class are yet to be revealed but expect to find out their identities as we move closer to launch. The game will also ship with three monsters, and we can’t wait to take a look at what the final one will be.

Evolve is shaping up very nicely indeed. Teamwork is the name of the game here and you’re going to have to adopt a strategy and play style that suits you if you want to win. Alternatively if you couldn’t care less for playing nicely with teammates, the opportunity to destroy all in your path as one of the impressive monsters should sate your appetite. We love the four vs. one multiplayer and we’re looking forward to getting more hands-on time in the near future.