Evolve Reviews
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.
Whilst currently the only way to gain silver keys is by playing the game, the fact you can buy perks (which improve your character) with a considerable amount of silver keys, and the fact that certain monsters are just upgrades of others, makes me worry for the future of the game. It might be free to play, but it looks like it may be pay-to-win.
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.
Evolve deserves its time in consumer hands and is a game that should not be so easily forgotten, but it does need some work to regain momentum.
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.
With its balanced class-based, teamwork orientated gameplay, great graphics and slick mechanics that keep you playing into the wee hours of the night, Evolve itches that competitive urge and feels a lot more evolved that your standard, run-of-the-mill shooter.
Finally the 4v1 multiplayer shooter Evolve is here! With the game being primarily developed for online play, just how much fun and life is there to be had in the game from the team that brought us the awesome Left 4 Dead series.
From the jaws of defeat to glorious victory is an ever-swinging pendulum in Evolve; a constant back and forth filled with blood, teeth and bullets.
Evolve has rare highs hidden amongst tedious lows. When the title hits its stride, it is easy to see why it was designed in this way. Hunting down and killing a Monster or successfully overwhelming Hunters through clever hit-and-run attacks is amazing. Unfortunately, far too often, the game devolves into long, boring periods of wandering around followed by brief, intense moments of excitement. It might be a realistic depiction of hunting, but it doesn't make for engaging multiplayer gameplay. Playing with friends helps alleviate some of that, but it also means Evolve isn't something you can pick up and casually play. Add in some balance issues and a general lack of content, and Evolve is a difficult game to recommend. There's a very fun core game here, but it's so buried that most players won't find it.
A stunning idea that requires significant dedication
Yes, Turtle Rock has a proven track record with Left 4 Dead, and I do enjoy a good player vs. player game every so often, what I can't quite decide on is if Evolve is going to live up to its heritage and grow on people enough to still be relevant in a few months or if it will succumb to the Titanfall effect: Hot out of the gate, but assuming room temperature not long afterwards. My head hurts.
When 'Evolve' hits all the right notes it succeeds at delivering a tense and dynamic boss battles, but if just one thing goes wrong it loses its appeal rather quickly.
Evolve offers an excellent mix of competitive and cooperative gameplay but it is buried behind a muddled progression system and lengthy matchmaking / loading times.
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.
All the cool guns, graphics and Goliaths merely gussy up an age-old children's game.
In a vacuum, Evolve is a game that had a lot of potential but is let down by a serious pacing problem and overwhelming finales. In the real world, it is a fairly competent shooter saddled with an unsettling approach to DLC, bolting on the MOBA costume DLC model to an already full priced game. Evolve is a mutation in the wrong direction.
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.
I've had a lot of fun playing Evolve; it's well-balanced, satisfying and wonderfully tense at times. Some elements of the game don't quite match up to the core concept, the maps and the progression system in particular, but it's not enough to hinder the appeal. I hate myself for saying it, but I can see why Turtle Rock has taken the super-DLC route for Evolve. They're going to have a lot of hooked gamers by the end of February, and more than a few that'll be willing to part with yet more cash. That, I think it's safe to say, will be the most important measure of Evolve's success.
Aside from the all but obvious graphical leap that this generation of gaming hardware grants us, it's nice to see fresh ideas in terms of gameplay. Evolve and last year's Titanfall are two examples of such originality. While it took the latter a while to get into its stride, it's nice to see Turtle Rock hit the ground running with a surprisingly competent shooter. All of its elements such as the various class options, environmental hazards, and a slew of monster skills come together to make Evolve a frantic, fast-paced game whose appeal is hard to shake off. Barring the quirky progression system that betrays its depth, there's very little else that's wrong. If you're burnt out playing modern day first-person multiplayer shooters, you may want to evolve to better things.