Evolve Review

Darwin award?

“Evolve” has previewed well, but with loads of network issues across the alpha and beta, coupled with the fact this is a multiplayer-only game, have led many critics to question the value of this otherwise highly anticipated shooter. What’s our final opinion on the game?

Storyline

Evolve doesn’t try as hard as Left 4 Dead at setting a scene or characterising the players – there’s a few brief intro videos when you start the game for the first time, and a few seconds of video that accompany either side of the ‘campaign’ matches in Evacuation mode, but that’s it really. Evolve puts you straight in the action, and it’s a shame. Titanfall managed to make a better go at pretending it had a campaign and linking the missions together, and given Turtle Rock have done better in their own past, Evolve disappoints here.

Gameplay

Before the final release, Evolve looked like it would lose its sheen extremely quickly, as Hunt was the only mode available to play. But with a number of modes available across a reasonably generous selection of maps, and a method of linking the modes together in a mini-campaign, it quickly becomes clear that Evolve actually has a number of interesting ways to play.

In fact, I found the Nest mode, where you have to destroy 6 eggs around the map before the monster hatches minions from them far more interesting than Hunt. And your reward for playing 5 matches in one sitting in Extraction is the excellent Defense mode, where the players get turrets and the monster gets minions, and it plays out a little like an Assault mode from the old UT days.

However, the actual gameplay becomes far less interesting in the long term. Unlocking new characters and items for them requires you to complete incredibly specific criteria before you can move onwards, which makes tangible progress and getting new gear and characters painfully slow. At low level, the gunplay is also pretty poor.

The weapons look and sound great, but in the name of game balance, they do pitifully little damage, even against some of the less dangerous flora and fauna that can be found on the planet. And in a game that necessitates teamwork, there’s no penalty (beyond an embarrassing death) for going off on your own. Games are short (generally 5-15 minutes), but by the time you factor in the incredibly lengthy load times, gaps between games and matchmaking, and you will easily waste a minimum of 10 minutes if your game is ruined by a lone wolf.