Evolve Review (Xbox One)

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key review info
  • Game: Evolve
  • Platform: Xbox One
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Evolve review on Xbox One

Multiplayer shooters have come a long way since their early days and developer Turtle Rock Studios has certainly helped the genre evolve (pun intended), thanks to the great work it implemented alongside Valve in Left 4 Dead, bringing forth not just a great cooperative shooter but also a very intense competitive one through the Versus mode.

Since then, the studio has taken its time and worked hard on Evolve, a more hardcore version of Left 4 Dead's Versus mode, pitting a team of four hunters against a single monster on a hostile alien planet. The game has already gotten plenty of praise ahead of its release, and now, after several alpha and beta stages, it's finally available worldwide across PC, PS4, and Xbox One.

Is Evolve the next big multiplayer shooter or should its monsters devour it? Let's find out.

Story

Evolve doesn't have a story mode per se, but it still features a core plot that motivates the actions of the hunters. Humanity has colonized the planet Shear, which, besides boasting environments similar to those on Earth, also hosts a wide array of scary creatures and monsters. Due to an impending disaster, humans must be evacuated, but that's easier said than done, as many wild beasts aren't exactly keen on letting the juicy humans escape.

As such, Cabot forms a team of hunters that must go through Shear and try to rescue as many humans and complete as many missions as possible. Matches play out to motivate this plot but by far the most similar one to a story experience is the Evacuation mode, which strings together five different rounds across different game types that culminate with, of course, the evacuation of a group of survivors.

While the game is certainly weighed down a bit due to the lack of a single-player campaign, just like last year's Titanfall was, it still manages to establish an interesting universe that could see more impressive experiences in the future.

Ravage the hunters as Kraken in Evolve
Ravage the hunters as Kraken in Evolve

Gameplay and multiplayer

Evolve is a first-person shooter that gives players a wide variety of roles to play, from the four different hunter types, to the three different monsters that each behave in various ways. Unfortunately, while each class has three different members, only one is unlocked at the beginning.

As such, if you want to play as different monsters or hunters, you must complete specific tasks and level up your player profile. Depending on the requirements, this can get pretty tedious, especially if things don't go your way during the matches. This wall is pretty tough to scale, so players might get turned away sooner rather than later.

That's a shame, however, as the rest of the game is quite fun, starting with the shooter elements and the fluid movement system, no matter if you're controlling a hunter or a monster. The weapons wielded by the human characters are all very impressive, and even the monsters manage to feel fast and vicious, some more than others.

First up, let's talk about arguably the most interesting class in the game: the monsters. You start with Goliath, a regular brute that can breathe fire, throw rocks, and smash the ground. He's quite versatile and you figure out his abilities pretty easily. However, the fun really begins as you unlock the other two creatures: Kraken and Wraith. Kraken can fly around and summon lightning, while Wraith can create decoys and cause havoc among the hunters. They all provide different play styles and keep things very fresh.

While both Goliath and Kraken can't withstand against organized teams, Wraith is on a whole other level and, provided the player is competent enough, can single-handedly turn lost fights.

The hunters feature four categories: Trapper, Assault, Support, and Medic. Trappers are arguably the most important, as they actually track down and help keep the monster in place. This is essential, as monsters aren't that much of a threat in their first two stages of evolution. However, once they reach level three, they can drastically challenge the hunters for supremacy.

Assault characters deal the damage necessary to take down the monsters but some are better than others when it comes to dealing with certain beasts, depending on their skills and gear. For example, a flamethrower is good against Goliath but weak against Kraken, and there are plenty of situations where picking the right class member can mean the difference between success and failure.

Medic characters, as you can easily figure out, ensure that they stay as healthy as possible while wrangling with the monster and the other dangerous creatures on Shear. However, all the members of this class also pack a serious punch, as Val and Lazarus wield sniper rifles, while Caira can launch grenades that seriously affect the monster. Unfortunately, be prepared to be targeted by the monster at all times, because you play such a big role in the battle. Hide in corners or stay on the move in order to make things harder.

Last but not least, there's the Support class, that basically augments the squad by cloaking it and by offering things like shields, mini sentry guns, or damage boosts. Considering that Evolve is balanced pretty well, a good support player might also mean the difference between success and failure.

Evolve's main game type is, of course, Hunt, in which monsters must evolve and destroy a power relay while hunters must stop it. Nest scatters six monster eggs around the map that must be destroyed within 10 minutes by hunters. Monsters can hatch one of them to produce a minion that can really hamper the efforts of the humans. Rescue tasks hunters with finding, protecting and rescuing five colonists, while monsters must ensure that none survives.

Last but not least, there's Evacuation, which combines the three aforementioned modes to deliver a five-match campaign that adapts to the results of the previous encounter to produce a more fleshed-out experience.

Evolve can be played with others online, either by joining the matchmaking system or by playing with friends. You can also play alone with AI-controlled bots, which are a bit too good, as monsters will always elude players while hunters will easily catch up to the beasts.

The online system, unfortunately, isn't all that great, at least on the Xbox One. Matchmaking takes a very long time, and even if you're in a match, there's always the chance to get booted off because you lost your connection to the host. The game even froze one time, requiring a console restart.

The game asks you at the beginning what roles you would prefer, but more often than not, you'll still get stuck with your least favorite roles.

The title ships with 12 different maps and most are a joy to explore. Some, however, favor specific characters and monsters, so you might not always have the best time on specific levels.

Complete the objective to win in Evolve
Complete the objective to win in Evolve

Visuals and sound

Evolve looks quite good and manages to paint a very pretty, yet deadly picture of the planet Shear and its dangerous creatures. All characters are beautifully designed but you will still notice some weird glitches here and there, not to mention a few erratic animations and even some visual artifacts.

The soundtrack is quite varied and manages to complement the action on the screen rather well. The audio cues are good but the banter between hunters gets old pretty fast.


The Good

  • Lots of varied characters & monsters
  • Intense multiplayer battles
  • Evacuation mode provides interesting changes

The Bad

  • Most characters are locked behind tough requirements
  • Story could use a dedicated mode
  • Poor matchmaking
  • Some hunters don't work in many situations
  • Character preferences aren't taken into account all that much

Conclusion

Evolve is a novel take on the cooperative and competitive multiplayer genre. The game is packed with interesting ideas but some work better than others. The fact that characters are locked at the beginning weighs it down by a wide margin and the erratic matchmaking also puts a damper on the whole thing.

story 7
gameplay 7
concept 8
graphics 8
audio 8
multiplayer 6
final rating 7
Editor's review
good
 
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Evolve screenshots (17 Images)

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