Evolve Reviews
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.
The odd way for Turtle Rock to hide away its characters and the occasional tech hiccup can put a big dampener on these experiences though, as well as the inevitable boring matches you may find yourself running into.
All the cool guns, graphics and Goliaths merely gussy up an age-old children's game.
Evolve is a handsome, smart and hectic eat 'em up that's surprisingly difficult to recommend. What could have been an underground smash as a budget download has been spread thin to justify a AAA price, leading to grave concerns about its glacial progression, value, longevity and DLC strategy. Though still utterly fantastic under optimal conditions, Evolve asks far too much for an inconsistently enjoyable experience.
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.
Evolve's premise is never capitalized on, although it's strong core is notably well done. However, appeal is low in long term appeal and high in gratuitous DLC.
Sadly, Evolve stumbles onto the scene and right into the unmemorable category of unremarkable mediocrity.
[I]n the end, that [amazing] moment felt like lighting that Evolve can't quite figure out how to get into the bottle.
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.
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.
As it stands, it's a game that could really benefit from some additional content if it's to evolve into the next must-have multiplayer shooter.
For all its promise of revolution, Evolve seems to consistently trip where its spiritual predecessor – Left 4 Dead – seemed to excel. The balancing is actually too good, causing it to fall apart when someone doesn't play correctly. The monster gameplay is pleasantly the best aspect, but feels undercooked anywhere else but Hunt mode. This is surely a game that'll only improve as its community stabilises, but right now it's hard to recommend unless you've got a group of willing friends.
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.
As an overall game, it offers a basic shooter with a nice gimmick, and I do think you can gather some friends together to get an afternoon's worth of laughs out of it. I don't believe there's enough mileage to have those laughs regularly, though, and certainly not enough to where I'd recommend rushing out and getting it so soon after launch.
Evolve convolutes its simple idea with too many mechanics, dulling what should have been a great experience.
If you can find four people who are willing to sign a blood pact to convene for a ritual night of Evolve once or twice a week, then by all means enjoy the hunt (and where do I sign?). If not, you have to ask yourself if you are really prepared to deal with the peaks and frequent valleys of the experience. Personally, I think there are better ways to spend your time than gambling on a decent match, hoping one or two of your friends can make it on sometime over the weekend.
Evolve is somewhat difficult to recommend outside of a fairly limited context. The core gameplay is great, but everything surrounding it is problematic. As Bob says in his second opinion, hunting a monster with a group of friends really is sublime. But its attempts to add value outside of that core mostly fall flat, and its lasting appeal is hurt by the inherently problematic nature of random co-op and the rather shallow pool of available monsters (unless you're willing to shell out the extra money for a Behemoth). It may have been beyond Turtle Rock's resources, but Evolve really could have used a single-player campaign. Without it, it feels unfortunately limited—a single great idea buried under matchmaking queues, unbalanced A.I., and underwhelming tertiary modes. It may eventually be a lot more; but for now, Evolve's weaknesses outweigh its strengths.
A great idea in theory, but in practise the novelty wears out extremely quickly, with a serious lack of variety in game modes, maps, and tactics.
If you have a solid group of five you can count on to play with at all times, Evolve might be worth a look. With some balancing, I could even see Evolve becoming quite popular among the hardcore e-sports types. For the rest of us who just want to jump in and have some fun, I'd recommend looking elsewhere.