For awhile now multiplayer shooters have been gaming’s biggest blockbusters. During this time the online multiplayer of games such as Call of Duty, Battlefield, and Halo have dominated the competition. While Halo and military shooters aren’t going anywhere, a new generation of consoles brings new games with fresh takes on multiplayer shooters. All eyes have been on Titanfall and Destiny, however another game called Evolve is looking to turn some heads.
The premise is simple: four hunters vs one monster, all of which are player controlled. Hunters are made up of four distinct classes; Trapper, Support, Assault, and Medic. While class roles are seen in virtually every shooter, these classes aren’t just a gun with some unique perks. Each is vital to a successful hunt. The video below shows how crippling a loss of a single team member is. Evolve’s hunters need to truly cooperate and plan out their moves. The monster (Goliath in the video) in Evolve has its own play style and strategy as well. The game’s title, Evolve, comes from the fact that the monster can get stronger over the course of the game and reach different “stages” of strength. Lastly, there is a bit of a wildcard hunters have to face when playing… the environment itself. In a dense alien jungle, hunters also have to be on the lookout for dangerous plant and animal life that will kill them.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxvTeQEt3bk[/youtube]
A game like this needs to have proper balance in order to succeed. The delicate balance between the hunter’s classes, the evolving monster, and a dangerous environment are all puzzle pieces that seem to fit together nicely. The last thing they have to nail is damage dealing and health for all players. While watching the video, it is apparent that Goliath has a large pool of health. The announcer also alludes to “armor”, before indicating that the Goliath cannot regain health but can replenish its armor. It also looks like the hunter’s can take a beating as well. With a low player count and the monster having only one life, giving all players a generous amount of health is great to increase the match time length. Although when a hunter does die, a large respawn time awaits. This might be off putting to gamers used to respawning in seconds, but it does put a lot of weight behind hunter deaths.
Goliath is the only monster to be revealed so far, I would definitely be on the lookout for more monster announcements before the game’s release in Fall of 2014 on the Xbox One, PS4, and PC.
