Evolve was a first-person shooter video game developed by Turtle Rock Studios and published by 2K. Announced in January 2014, the game was released worldwide for PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One in February 2015. Evolve uses an asymmetrical multiplayer structure, where five players—four playing as hunters and one as the monster—battle against each other on an industrialized alien planet called Shear. The hunters' gameplay is based on the first-person shooter design, while the monsters are controlled from a third-person perspective. The hunters' goal is to eliminate the monster, while the monster's goal is to consume wildlife and evolve to make themselves stronger before either eliminating the hunters, or successfully destroying the objective.
Evolve was Turtle Rock Studios' first major project after the company split from Valve in 2010. The concept for Evolve existed prior to the development of their previous game, Left 4 Dead. Inspired by hunting games such as Cabela's Big Game Hunter and Deer Hunter, the idea is to have prey that can strike back at the hunters. The monster design was originally intended to be esoteric but was later toned down. Turtle Rock found difficulty when seeking publishers that could provide funding and marketing for the game. THQ was originally set to serve as the game's publisher, but the rights to the franchise and publishing duties were transferred to Take-Two Interactive after THQ filed for bankruptcy in late 2012.
Prior to release, Evolve received a largely positive reception and won the Best of Show Awards at Electronic Entertainment Expo 2014 and Gamescom 2014. Upon release, the game received positive reviews from critics, with praise mostly directed to the game's asymmetrical structure, controls, and designs. However, it received criticism for its progression system and light narrative, gameplay, as well as a large amount of downloadable content prepared. Evolve was a commercial success, although the player base significantly dwindled shortly after release. The game had briefly transitioned to become a free-to-play title known as Evolve Stage 2 before 2K Games shut down the game's dedicated servers in September 2018.
Plot
The game is set in a fictional future where humans have successfully discovered ways to survive outside Earth and have begun colonizing other planets. Humans arrived at Shear, a distant planet located in the "Far Arm" of space, and began creating colonies and industrial factories.
As the colonisation progressed, humans began to meet resistance from alien life-forms, known as Monsters, that had the ability to evolve by consuming local wildlife. As the Monsters destroyed the colonies on Shear, a former "planet tamer" named William Cabot was brought out of retirement to deal with the threat and to evacuate the remaining colonists from Shear. Cabot assembled a team of Hunters to eliminate the Monsters and protect their communities.
Gameplay
Evolve is an action video game with a focus on both co-operative, and competitive, multiplayer gameplay. The game adapts a '4v1' asymmetrical structure where four players take control of the Hunters, while the fifth player controls the Monster. The Hunters' main objective is to track and hunt the Monster in a limited amount of time, while the Monster's goal is to evolve and make themselves more powerful.
In the beginning of a match, a 30-second headstart is given to the Monster so that they can have enough time to escape before the Hunters parachute from a plane to where the Monster started. Each map features an open world environment for players to explore and play within. To help the Hunters navigate the environments quickly, they are equipped with jetpacks, allowing them to jump over obstacles and cliffs. The jetpack can also be used to dodge attacks performed by the monster, though it consumes a Hunter's energy. The team can track the monster, as well as place waypoints on an interactive map. The color of these waypoints are different based on what players have marked. The waypoint mark turns yellow for environment, orange for wildlife or red for the Monster.
The Monster needs to grow stronger in order to fight the Hunters by hunting and killing other local wildlife in order to gain experience points. When it gains enough experience, the Monster can evolve. Through evolution, the Monster's health bar is extended and refilled, and more abilities are available to the Monster, which makes it easier to kill the Hunters. However, the Monster is vulnerable during its evolution, and if caught by the hunters, the process is disrupted. The Monster can also enter a "stealth mode", allowing it to avoid detection by wildlife and Hunters.