Evolve Reviews
Some interesting new approaches to classes that are now familiar, the DLC brings some cool things to the table. While it can't fix the core issues with the game, it adds some fresh content for those who are still playing and looking for something new.
That is of course, if the community remains active. Reviewing games that focus themselves so centrally on a mutliplayer environment is difficult.
Evolve can flourish when you have a team of dedicated friends ready to play, but those rare moments of brilliance spent fighting against the monster are simply outnumbered by the moments you spend fighting the actual game.
When it all comes together, Evolve is the finest vehicle for the player-driven narratives developer Turtle Rock covets, but inevitably pacing can be an issue.
While the game is most fun when played with friends or a team with communication in the strength column, it's just as enjoyable to get into a solo match and hunt, be it a monster, or hunters.
Evolve is easy to recommend to anyone looking for something different in the world of big-budget shooting games. Though the game is at its best when you can play it with friends, it also has plenty to offer for single-player gamers. You need to be ready to lose a half-dozen matches while you figure out how Evolve works, but this is a game which will absolutely reward your patience with hours and hours of fun.
At its best, Evolve is tense, thrilling and what pundits like to call a game changer, with periods of frantic hunting/fleeing punctuated by explosive confrontations. At its worst, nothing comes together and it all feels strangely flat. With time and experience, we're seeing more of the former than the latter, and all the parts are falling into place. Our only concern is that the core Hunt mode could eventually grow stale with repetition, and that games mixing in the other modes are harder to find than they should be.
Evolve is really good fun. With its four-player co-op matches sharing so much base DNA with Left 4 Dead, it's great that it feels like something completely different. It still shares that pace - extended moments of quiet followed by massive bursts of excitement - but provides it in a very different manner. There's not a huge amount of content in Evolve compared to many unlock-led games, but by keeping things tight the game always stays focussed on what's important: the thrill of the hunt. The almost absence of variety in the map design may well hack down Evolve's lasting appeal, but what's here in the main game is perfect for many great hours.
Endless jogs through and hiding in forests and combat that wasn't satisfying for all its vagaries made Evolve palatable for me only in small doses. It was nothing I wanted to play for extended sessions.
Evolve offers players a chance to tame the wilds of an alien landscape. Only it's never really quite clear just who is the hunter and who is being hunted.
Evolve is a brilliant concept that, when matched with the right players, can be a lot of fun to partake in. The many unlocks and well-balanced characters build upon that at every step. That being said, simply finding random people that know how to properly strategize is hit or miss, at best. But when you do find the players, or pair up with friends, Evolve can produce some unforgettable excitement that is unlike any other multiplayer experience out there.
Evolve is fun when it works but has a habit of being hurt by its own ambition. Play with friends to get the best out of this game.
In sporadic bursts, Evolve can be outstanding. But its design depends upon uniting players of idealistically equivalent skill levels, and it struggles to consistently do so. The game's gated progression system is superfluous and, at times, actively harmful to positive team-play.
Evolve is a strong co-op title that rewards good teamwork with an amazing experience. Plenty of variety in classes and game types makes every round something new.
Evolve is brilliant in the right circumstances and with the right people, but it's hard to unreservedly recommend to everyone. Those with dedicated teams will get the most out of the game while those in matchmaking will find mixed results. Still, Turtle Rock deserves recognition for attempting - and almost nailing - such an ambitious project.
Evolve is a game that perpetuates and demonstrates the fun of online cooperative gameplay. Whether it's the A.I. combatants or online friends there's excitement to be found. Since the game relies on its multiplayer as its bread and butter, it's going to have to do a lot more in the long run should it hope to sustain any longevity.
Sadly, Evolve stumbles onto the scene and right into the unmemorable category of unremarkable mediocrity.
In any event, I do think Turtle Rock is on to something. And although I don't think the game's balance is tuned where it should be, they are rather close.
Do yourself a favor and pick-up Evolve at some point; you won't regret it.
Evolve is a great game in my eyes, especially for a free game. I had a lot of fun playing it. Though I enjoyed playing as a Monster, I much preferred playing as a Hunter.