Since I first saw Turtle Rock Studios’ project Evolve, I have kept an eye on it. It is an interesting shooter that pits a four player team of hunters against a giant monster, controlled by a fifth player.
We already knew about the first wave of hunters, which fall into the assault, trapper, medic, and support categories. Just recently, Turtle Rock revealed four more hunters. While these four hunters may fall into the same categories as the previous four, they are more than a simple palette switch; all four of these hunters feel distinct. They bring in different gear and abilities than their counterparts, and bring in new strategies to employ against the monster.
Introducing four new hunters
The first new hunter is Bucket. Bucket is a part of the support class, but has a distinct feature that separates him from all the other hunters: he is a robot. Unlike the other support character, Hank, Bucket does not have a shield gun that helps protect the team.
Rather, he has abilities that allow him to do things that humans can’t. He is able to pull off his head, and pilot it around like a remote-operated UAV. This allows Bucket to spy out the monster, and help the team find it and kill it before it gets too big. This seems like a good early game tactic that will allow a team of hunters to get to the monster before it becomes a formidable threat.
The second new hunter is Maggie, who falls into the trapper class. Maggie has a unique advantage from other hunters in the form of her pet, Daisy. Daisy is an alien doglike creature that can track the monster’s scent, and chase it down from across the map. The monster can take down Daisy, but Daisy is able to respawn to keep on tracking down the monster.
The third new hunter is Lazarus, the second medic. Lazarus lives up to his name in that he is able to revive his fallen teammates. Lazarus is not the only one who can revive teammates. All hunters can revive a teammate, but it takes time, and any hunter who revives another is penalized. Lazarus, however, is able to revive a fallen hunter immediately, and will take no penalty. All it takes is a shot from his special gun and bullets.
The fourth and final hunter just revealed in Evolve is Hyde. Hyde is a part of the assault category, and fills the role as tank. Hyde comes with the most powerful hunter weapon in the game: the flamethrower. However, the flamethrower has one weakness. It is the most short-range weapon in the game, meaning that anyone who plays as Hyde has to get up close and personal to the monster and risk taking high damage.
All this adds up to some interesting team combinations.
Even if two players pick the same class, they may choose two different varieties of that class. This means that players will have to adapt in Evolve, and have to stay on their toes. Different combinations bring different game plans, meaning that players need a new strategy every game. There will also be multiple types of maps, which will also force players to formulate a new plan when they drop into a game.
Now that we have seen the different types of hunters, I want to see the different types of monsters. I want to know what playing as the other side of the game will be like, and how players will have to adapt when they take control of the monster’s reigns. I also want to see what different types of game modes will be available in Evolve, and what other maps we will play in.
All in all, Evolve is a game to get excited about. It is different from any other shooter I have seen, and is an interesting premise. We will see if Evolve will deliver when the game releases on October 21st.
Published: May 22, 2014 05:44 pm