SDCC 2014: ‘Evolve’ Takes The Cooperative Shooter To The Next Level!

Evolve is a game that doesn’t come around too often. It’s a game that requires team-based tactics, and, well, the desire to be an actual monster. The premise is simple: a team of four vs. one giant monster.

Each member of the team has their own unique tactical abilities that aid the team in either battle or locating the monster. Before each round, the player who takes the role of monster has a slight head start in order to feed on other wild animals that roam the map. The size of these wild animals vary, each presenting percentage needed for the monster to “evolve.” Once evolved, the monster will be able to level up abilities and change appearance. The only catch is, once you start evolution, you become extremely vulnerable.

To start, players who choose to be hunters will have to choose one class out of the four available options. The first, Assault, is exactly what it sounds like. Armed with weapons that deal out heavy damage, the Assault class should be the ones to deal out the most damage. No matter what variation of Assault class you choose, each comes equipped with two weapons, two explosives, a personal shield.

The second class comes in the form of a Trapper. In the round I played, the Trapper had a pet that would continually track the monster. This pet was more of a beast and would also participate in battle, at one time even reviving a downed teammate. The Trapper is armed with Harpoon Traps that will stick out of the ground and hook onto monsters until they destroy them. This weapon is extremely useful for slowing a monster down or even escaping a lost battle. More on that later.

Next, we have the Medic. This class is perhaps the most important of all as they will be the key to your team’s survival. Because of this, don’t be surprised if the monster should target the Medic first. Of course, being the Medic requires that you take on the responsibility of reviving a downed teammate as fast as you can. Your efficiency is key to your team’s success. Because of this, it is important that you get a grasp on what the Medic’s abilities are, otherwise you’ll find yourself pressing every button the controller trying to revive someone in a moment of panic.

Finally, we have the Support class. In the demo, I immediately went straight for this class only because I wanted to be Bucket, a drone that is usually tasked with piloting his human comrades. Bucket was armed with sentry guns and a UAV device that allows the player to track the monster so that it will appear on all teammates HUDs. By no means should the Support class be the first one into battle. If anything, this member should hang back and help set up a perimeter using their sentry bots. Doing so effectively will, in a way, overwhelm the monster and perhaps shift its focus onto your bots, rather than your team.

In my first round as a Kraken, I had an amazingly fun time. At the start of the round, I was able to level up a couple of abilities to start with. Of course, I went after a health upgrade and the Vortex, which was more akin to force-push for you Star Wars fans out there. I began my time as a Kraken hunting prey so that I could consume them in an effort to evolve quickly. Even as a monster, you must be wary of what prey you choose. Should you choose a bigger beast to fight, it may be more than you can handle.

Being a Kraken is just as fun as it sounds. Fighting a Kraken is just as difficult it sounds, too. I’m sure after the round I played, opponents of mine might have used a word other than “difficult.” During the match, I quickly found out that I had much more fun engaging the enemies in short bouts, rather than head one. This created a sense of unpredictability and forced the hunters to come to me on my terms. I was able to set traps, lay mines, and even lead an Assault-class hunter straight to a larger AI beast roaming the map.

After killing all but one member of the hunters, I had about a minute and a half to kill the last remaining opponent. Should the timer run out, the entire team would respawn. Unsurprisingly, the last hunter left the battle and decided to engage in a game of hide ‘n seek. With only ten seconds remaining, I decided to feed on one last prey so that I could evolve and be ready for the next wave. Unfortunately for the hunters, their last teammember was killed by another beast roaming the map, with only seven seconds left on the clock.

Evolve is shaping up to be a game to get on launch day. If I were you, I’d start getting a group of friends together in preparation. Evolve hits store shelves October 21!

Gameplay analysis and commentary were made in part by Kelsie (DarknessOrchid).