I have heard so much about Evolve from every other even that I have had to miss out on. Hearing that I would be able to play it at E3 got me excited as all of the trailers and gameplay footage up until now has had me extremely interested. So I made the trek over to the 2K booth and settled in to see how the game plays and if Evolve can live up to the hype that I have seen flung around for it. At least from the aspect of one of the hunters, Hyde the Assault, so know that there is a bit of skew here since I didn't get hands on with the other four playable characters.
From the start of our match in Evolve, we all started out in our drop ship. This could just be because it was a demo but all that was available there was to look at your character, hear a bit of background, and see where all your attacks and abilities where mapped to. For me it was pretty straight forward even though by default it looks like the mapping was considerably different than most standard FPS games. I don't ever remember having my grenades mapped to the 'X' button and anything but jump to the 'A' button. I am fairly sure that this is changeable before you hop into the lobby for the match but this was the set up for the show floor.
After getting around the controller learning curve we were dropped right into the mix of things. According to the person in charge of running the demo, the hunter group and the monster are all supposed to have random spawning points in Evolve. If that was true then our team got the luck of the draw as within ten seconds I was already on the monster unloading my chain gun into its hide. This could have been a quick win for out group if we were all seasoned gamers but unfortunately it seemed like it was just myself and the monster player in this match. I'll never understand how you can cover the news of games and still play like you have no clue how to handle the basic controls.
I will have to say that I thought this was going to be a quick match as a one on one fight with the monster would certainly lead to doom for me. I don't know if it is by design or sheer luck still, but it felt like the developers for Evolve took situations like this into account as I was able to hold my own for almost the entire match. It could also just be the Assault class but it felt like the game was completely balanced so a skilled player won't die in seconds because their team is a bunch of noobs. In fact I was able to hold my own until the monster reached the third and final evolution. That being the point where the whole team of hunters needs to be skilled players or the monster will just walk right through everyone.
Those following me and my exploits know that I am not a huge multiplayer fan at all. Usually it is for the reasons I just gave. Evolve on the other hand seems to have resolved all of those issues here as even a skilled player in the monster role is no match for a group of noob hunters. On the converse a noob monster player can also mop the floor with a team of skilled hunters with the right evolutions. It is almost like Turtle Rock has found the perfect balance for a FPS title and turned it into an amazing game. I actually found myself wanting to play more, even with the team I was on, once the demo for Evolve was over.
Granted, this was only the one mode that everyone has seen and played already. This mode alone is a game seller for me though as even if that is all I play once Evolve hits shelves it would be worth the price of admission. Yes it players like a standard FPS and encourages the multiplayer aspect of gaming but it was so spot on that I will sing a different tune just for Evolve. Such an amazing showcasing here and introduction for the new monster and characters for each hunter class.
Evolve is going to most likely dominate my Halloween this year as it comes out a mere ten days before (October 21st). I am truly excited to see what other game modes there are as well as other monsters and hunters. Hopefully the will announce more, and have it on floor, at SDCC. 2K and Turtle Rock have lived up to all the hype I have been hearing if I do say so myself.
