We have talked about the Alpha and now it is time to discuss our thoughts on the Evolve Beta. For those that do not know Evolve revolves around a team of people with special skills in hunting down monsters. We have your trapper, medic, assault and support classes, but the fifth is a unique player who controls the main monster. At first I was a bit skeptical on the concept of four vs. one, but the monster itself is equal to all four players. But, will this be the game for you when it releases in February?
Before we get into our likes and dislikes, check out this video just giving you an idea of what to expect.
First off to the kid getting a bit butt hurt on the beta…you need to calm down a bit and realize that even after playing the tutorial some players will have trouble adjusting to the mechanics. On that the story is quite simple about these monsters from what I saw in the Evacuation trailer are man-made and set loose plaguing the populous. It is up to the four of you to take them down as a team. Team work is very crucial if you want to succeed, because if one falls, especially the medic it is game over. Now as for the one controlling the monster, pretty much the lone wolf role is your key to survival and of course evolving after consuming your fill of food. If you can reach level 3 the game changes and you have the power to just attack the power relay to end the game. You can also kill the hunters as well, but that is just two options at your disposal which puts more pressure on the four players. There are three different monsters in the beta that you will have access too, once you played enough to unlock the others. There are Goliath which is the starter, Wraith and Kraken.
What I liked:
From jump I feel that Evolve gives gamers a unique form of gaming which is lacking these days. The last time 2Kgames brought us something unique was with the Left 4 Dead series by bringing a four player co-op first person horror game was brilliant and nerve racking at times. This is a new concept, but this time taking form the online feature in Left 4 Dead 2 where players can play the villain role by having a fifth player taking over the role as the bad guy. I mean honestly you get tired of being the hero all the time and this is a great way of changing things up by having a human controlled antagonist. You are the main boss that can level up and bring the brutal pain on different remote areas. It is pretty cool if you practiced enough to utilize all the monsters abilities properly.
The classes in themselves are straight forward to understand what their purpose is. The class I favor is the Assault and the Trapper who both have to get into the battle vs. the others. The Support and Medics are of course your long range fighters who need to keep your shield and health up to par. As a whole it is a great combination if everyone is on the same page that is. I would work the strategy of Support teamed with the Assault because the support has a shield re-generator for when you use your ability to keep you invulnerable. Speaking of abilities, each class will have their own special to aid each other. Support has a cloaking that hides the whole team for a tactical ambush on the monster. The support is also fitted with a shield regen that I mentioned earlier. The Medic has a health regen gun and a health field that will heal everyone in the surrounding area. The Trapper is equipped with a dome trap and Daisy who is her blood hound to either help revive others or track down the beast. The Assault is the tank of the group equipped with a shield that keeps you safe for a short amount of time and concussion mines that will disorient the beast for a time.
Now this is not the limit to your abilities because each character you unlock will unlock more weapons and different abilities. I tend to stick with one character at a time to level up the current weapons so they can do more damage and in that I have mentioned the room to grow in the game which is crucial. I like a game that lets you grow and able to enhance your respected classes. It brings a level of ambition to try to be the best to gain the most points to obtain the other unlockables.
What I disliked:
There are some concerns that can hurt this game in the long run, but do not worry it is not many. The first thing is the pacing of the game in which the players are slightly slow, besides the assault that is running heavy. This complaint comes from C. Cooper who felt that the characters are too slow to catch up with the monster and I slightly agree. I do not want them going too fast because that would ruin the purpose of the hunt, but I don’t feel it is that bad since with the team we have caught up with the beast rather quickly unless it is a freaking wraith or a Kraken. Those two monsters are jerks.
I am going to touch base on one character in particular and that is the Medic. I feel as a character that needs to be at a distance they should have more vantage points on the field. Depending on where the traps are dropped that is can work in your favor or not. I also feel that she needs to have the cloaking ability instead of the support class. That would give her a better advantage with her long range health gun and speaking of the gun I don’t feel it is that great. As teaming up with one person is great, but he needs a bit of some speed when granting the user health.
I don’t have much bad to say because most of the complaints are very weak, especially about most of the monsters being overly powered. The Wraith has to be the most annoying out of the three available because it is literally a phantom. It can make a decoy that attacks, it teleports and throws down lightening waves like freaking Cole McGrath. However, it is not unbeatable and can be fun if you have the right team to back you up.
On a technical look the game has some connection issues where I get dropped out or freeze. I believe an invite and join game option would be great. I would not mind an option to switch weapons with people in the same class, because I know others like me enjoy the different characters, but feel they would be better suited with another weapon.
Evolve stays interesting with its environment and wildlife, but you can get buffs through certain animals if you find a special icon over their head. These buffs are both for you and the monster to give you both, it brings an interesting playing field. In the end Evolve has something interesting and I am looking forward to the final product when it releases on February 10th, 2015. If you had a chance to try out the beta yourself this weekend, please share your thoughts in the comment box below. I would like to hear your concerns or what you enjoyed so far and in that please add your e-mail to our sub list in the area to your right to stay up to date on the latest from us. In that I hope you enjoyed this post and be sure to check back for many more. Stay frosty gamers!
