2K’s hotly anticipated Evolve has personally been one of my favourite titles showcased at this year PAX Australia. Whilst we were able to get a quick hands-on before the hordes of excited PAX Australia attendees were permitted into the expo hall on Friday, it has been damn near impossible to get an even closer look at this unique 4 vs. 1 shooter.
Before I jump into our experiences with the game, let’s first talk about what makes Evolve so unique and innovative. Evolve is a cooperative game, that pins 4 hunters against a user-controlled Beast. In the alpha-build available at PAX, two monster variants were available: the Kraken and the Goliath. The aim of the game is simple, hunters hunt (duh!) and the beast must destroy a generator and survive the skirmish. The best way for the beast to achieve this is to devour wildlife and avoid confrontation with the hunters until it is strong enough to tackle them. Hunters also encounter this wildlife and can kill them to deprive the beast of food and acquire special perks. Hunters are divided in four classes: assault (Markov), medic (Val), support (Hank) and the trapper (Griffin) with her ‘dog’ Daisy.
Our first run though on the Alpha build of Evolve had us penned against the Kraken, a flying tentacled octopus monster that spewed bio-electricity down upon myself and the rest of the hunters. Whilst at first it took a while for me to gain my bearings, our team quickly picked up the trail of the beast and took him down without too much hassle. Something that became apparent whilst we played however is that communication was key. Every time one of was separated from the pack or someone went down we found ourselves quickly overwhelmed by the beast. But by working together and using the various abilities of our hunters, such as the ‘trapping dome’ (probably not the right name) of Griffin and the orbital strikes of Hank, the beast could easily be overwhelmed.
If you guys are down at PAX be sure to check out Evolve either at the 2K booth located somewhere in the middle of the expo hall (please consult your map) or the PC freeplay area just out the back of the expo hall past the ANZ Indie Pavillion. The wait on the 2K booth is significantly longer than the freeplay area but the set-up is far superior and a much more immersive experience. Evolve launches on February 10th 2015, for PC, PS4 and Xbox One.