I genuinely think that now is the most difficult time to be a videogames developer in the entire history of the market. It's obvious that familiarity sells, but it also breeds stagnation; but then if you try and do something too unique, your game runs the risk of falling into obscurity. Beyond the pit-falls of design itself, everyone with a Blogger or YouTube account can give their opinions on games, and with such hype as is created around new releases these days, it's very hard for a game to live up to that.
Turtle Rock Studios, creators of 'Left 4 Dead', have stepped up to the challenge with their latest game, 'Evolve', an asymmetrical first-person-shooter/monster hunting game. The basic premise is that four players take command of a group of Hunters; a Trapper to track and capture the monster, a Medic to heal the team and provide some basic buffs/debuffs, a Support to shield, boost and provide the team with all kinds of tricks, and the Assault, the straight up damage dealer. The Hunters are tasked with bringing down a Monster, also controlled by a player. The Monster must feed to gain armour and to Evolve into bigger stages. At Stage 1, the Hunters have the advantage. If they can track and pin down the Monster, it is very difficult for the Monster to win. In Stage 2, the Monster is bigger, has access to more abilities, and the playing field is even. Should the Monster make it to Stage 3, the tables are turned, and the Monster becomes truly ferocious. The Hunters had better hope they have dealt enough damage to pull the beast down before it can destroy the power relay.
Nest Mode demands the players make tactical decisions on the fly depending on how the match is progressing.
That's Hunt mode, at least. The game also includes several other gameplay modes. In Nest, the Hunters must destroy six eggs within a time limit, whilst the Monster defends, with the added twist that the Monster can hatch eggs for some aid. In Rescue, the Hunters need to find and revive Survivors, and bring at least five of them to the pick-up point, whilst the Monster must kill the Survivors. In Protect mode, a fully evolved Monster must bust through two generators in order to pull down the evac ship, with the aid of some powerful minions, whilst the Hunters must hold them off long enough for the ship to refuel and leave.
Then there's Evac Mode, which ties all of these games together into a five-match campaign. Every game alters the outcome of the next, with the winning side receiving perks and players voting on their next map. So far, with the dozen maps, four possible mission types, and all the perks available, there are apparently over 800,000 variations of Evac Mode.
The tactical depth on offer is also astonishing. As the Monster, you have points to spend in your abilities at the beginning of the match - do you max out one of them or dip into several? Which abiities will you need until you can Evolve into Stage 2 and get three more points to spend? Which perk do you take - faster feeding, extra armour, extra damage, or something else? That's all before the game even starts. Once it's live, as the Monster you need to weigh up the mission with your need to feed. Do you rush for quick kills, or slink around and feed up? In Nest Mode, do you run straight to protect the eggs or sacrifice a few in order to Evolve up, or do you even hatch a few to get some minions? That's just the Monster. The Hunters need to work together in some of the best co-operative play environments ever created. You've got a Monster to track across an unforgiving wilderness. If you split up and do your own thing, you can get eaten by carnivorous plants or singled out by the Monster. Group up, though, and you'll need a very good Tracker to pin the Monster down quickly or you'll be forever chasing the Monster's footprints. Even the Hunters equipment changes in usage. Hank's Orbital Bombardment is a tough strike on a moving monster, requiring a Trapper to hold the Monster in place, but it's a quick way to pop eggs in Nest mode.
Griffin, Caira, Parnell and Cabot prepare to hunt.
That's not bad, especially since the biggest concern I've seen voiced about Evolve so far is regarding the amount of content. All in all, there are five modes of play (both online against players, or offline against some astonishingly harsh AI) across twelve maps, with twelve hunters (3 of each class) and three monsters, but you don't have access to all of these at the start of the game. As you play with Monsters and Hunters you have a certain list of acheivements, and ticking these boxes unlocks the next tier of Monster or Hunter, along with customisation options for personal badges, and skins for the characters.
At first I was disappointed with this. It meant that in order to play the Kraken and Wraith Monsters, I would have to really work hard through Goliath too. Not that I disliked Goliath, but Kraken, the monster I wanted to play, was locked behind four acheivement walls. Actually, when I sat down with it, I understood why. Sure, it'd be great to have instant access to everything, but it's also an overwhelming amount of options for someone learning the game. By forcing you to play your way up, the game gates you behind subtle tutorials. It's not just a way of extending the life of the game, it's a way of ensuring that you get the most out of the game by experiencing everything it has to offer, and a way of helping you learn how the game's mechanics work.
Taking on the Kraken
So, as Hunters, the game is - in essence - a first person shooter. The game has familiarity. With the 4 against 1 model, the game is very unique, and vastly unlike anything else on the market currently. Check that up too. Especially compared with games like Destiny and Watch Dogs, Evolve has also not been so in-your-face hyped up, so people aren't entirely sure what to expect. On paper, Turtle Rock Studios and 2K are onto a winner, but what actually happens when you sit down with the game?
There have been a lot of mentions of Titanfall, when Evolve is discussed, and the prevalent worry I've heard is that, like Titanfall, Evolve will be big for a few months, then fade into obscurity as people get bored of it. I can understand why. Evolve certainly seems to share that same ideology as Titanfall of it being all about the player interaction.
Whereas Titanfall was online only, however, Evolve has an offline mode that pits you against some harsh AI - and in a sense, at first I found this restrictive. There's no option to modify the offline mode's difficulty except to change damage output minorly from Default, to Favours Hunters, or Favours Monsters. Then I realised that everything you do offline goes towards your online profile. By keeping the offline mode harsh, it's great training and makes you work for those unlockables just as hard as you would online.
Also, Titanfall had some interesting ideas, but essentially fell into the same Red Team VS Blue Team Online FPS hole. It's still pretty much the same thing we've all seen before. Evolve is new, it's fresh and different. 2K have already stated that they'd like Evolve to move into the world of eSports, but it's up to the players what format that would follow, and I think that very much encapsulates Evolve as a unit. If you're after a long campaign with a story and more variations of gameplay than you can shake a stick at, Evolve won't be for you. If you want to work hard to become good at something, if you love the tactical depth on offer, and if you're the kind of person who enjoys competitive play with the goal of pushing up a scoreboard, then it's going to get its hooks into you fairly swiftly.
Voting for the next mission in Evac Mode
Evolve is a game that knows what it does, and does it incredibly well. You're not going to find gameplay gimmicks here, those little moments of gameplay that are introduced then never used again. You won't find sudden stylistic changes where the game jumps genre or suddenly does something very different. Whether or not that's a good thing is up for you to decide.
There's also a lot more on the way. A fourth Monster has already been announced, along with new Hunters, arenas, and perhaps even new game modes. Who wouldn't love a Monster VS Monster mode? Perhaps a two team Hunt mode where the teams race for who can bring down prey the fastest? There is so much scope for evolution in the game (hah!) that it's quite daunting.