sat 07/12/2024

Evolve | reviews, news & interviews

Evolve

Evolve

The team behind Left 4 Dead deliver more squad multiplayer mayhem

Asymmetric monster-versus-squad multiplayer

Four human players team up to take on a monster – also played by another player. That's the simple version of Evolve, a mainly multiplayer online game developed by the team that created the superlative squad horror series Left 4 Dead. It's a great idea – but is let down in execution, so far.

The core of Evolve is its asymmetric play – with each side and each character requiring radically different approaches and skills even within one match. As the monster, you start each match in a weak position. You've got to move fast, but stealthily, through the industrial areas and jungles of the alien planet, evading the hunting squad of humans and eating other wildlife until you "evolve" to stage 3.

Stage 3 is when you transition from Godzuki to full-on Godzilla. You start off able to move fast, sniff out prey and climb just about anything, but hit stage 3 and you can hurl massive rocks, breathe fire, jump-stomp entire squads and you're massive. At that point, your job is to go ape crazy on the remaining hunters – throwing them round like confetti.

Evolve - from makers of Left 4 Dead squad multi-playerThe hunters meanwhile are a squad of four specialised humans – assault, support, medic, traps. With a team working together they're a great combination, but individually they're puny in comparison to the monster. So you need all four to work cooperatively – the trapper needs to trap the monster, the soldier piles in with weapons, the medic heals team members while sniping and the support throws in shields and aerial bombardments.

Played single-player, the "bot" AI-controlled squadmates and monsters do a fairly decent job. But online, so far, is a different matter. It's the usual sad story of a lack of cooperation. High-end players charge off into the undergrowth; low-end players fail to get your back or do their assigned job well. The game doesn't offer good quality training, advice or visual cues to help players and the result is all too often a chaotic mess.

Evolve - from makers of Left 4 Dead squad multi-playerIt's this delicate balance between teaching and guiding newer players, rather than just dropping them into the middle of a firefight - not presenting a massively steep learning curve, but also enabling depth and strategic play for tougher gamers - that so many multi-player games fail at. Sadly, the signs are Evolve fails here too.

It looks great, and periodically plays tensely on both sides. And in a few months, the remaining hardcore fanbase should find much to enjoy once all players are skilled enough. But for now, it doesn't deliver good matches either for beginners or the hardcore.

Stage 3 is when you transition from Godzuki to full-on Godzilla

rating

Editor Rating: 
3
Average: 3 (1 vote)

Share this article

Add comment

The future of Arts Journalism

 

You can stop theartsdesk.com closing!

We urgently need financing to survive. Our fundraising drive has thus far raised £33,000 but we need to reach £100,000 or we will be forced to close. Please contribute here: https://gofund.me/c3f6033d

And if you can forward this information to anyone who might assist, we’d be grateful.

Subscribe to theartsdesk.com

Thank you for continuing to read our work on theartsdesk.com. For unlimited access to every article in its entirety, including our archive of more than 15,000 pieces, we're asking for £5 per month or £40 per year. We feel it's a very good deal, and hope you do too.

To take a subscription now simply click here.

And if you're looking for that extra gift for a friend or family member, why not treat them to a theartsdesk.com gift subscription?

newsletter

Get a weekly digest of our critical highlights in your inbox each Thursday!

Simply enter your email address in the box below

View previous newsletters