Evolve

For those left cold by the slew of identikit first person shooters these past few years, the 'elevator pitch' of Evolve, where four player protagonists square up to a fifth player antagonist, was enough to give jaded gamers some cause for hope. Coupled with being in the safe hands of Turtle Rock Studios, the team who delivered gaming gold with the somewhat similar Left 4 Dead series, and expectations were understandably high.

In many ways, those expectations have been met. Evolve is a superlative gaming experience quite unlike anything else made on such a scale. When firing on all cylinders it's a sweat-inducing, adrenaline pumping behemoth as formidable as any of the hulking monsters at the centre of its premise. In short, Evolve is a great game, however, that's no guarantee that you yourself will always experience a great game.

Online multiplayer games are at the mercy of other players, that much is obvious. Yet whilst a loose cannon or a weak link in Call of Duty, Titanfall or even Left 4 Dead is no major cause for concern, in Evolve it's a situation magnified tenfold. Evolve asks, nay demands, that all four marine players are as tight as the proverbial whilst the opposing monster player must be equally on-the-ball to provide some decent resistance. Offer up anything less and it’s more than likely that Evolve will start to come apart at the seams.

It's a tough ask if you don't have three or four trusted mates for regular hunting sessions. As such, most players will be at the mercy of random online games and as most social interactions will attest, get five people together in any given situation and there's likely to be at least one wanker in the crowd. In Evolve, that 'wanker' might take the form of a medic more concerned with scoring monster headshots than actually healing team mates or a trapper going native instead of enticing the collective foe into an ambush. Unlike the interchangeable characters in Left 4 Dead, each player in Evolve has a specific task to carry out and any one person trying to do their own thing will inevitably bring the whole team down.

It's a similar story for the player cast as the monster. If they're not up to scratch and if they try to go for the easy route of an early attack rather than hide, sneak, eat and ‘evolve’ to a stronger creature, then games can end very quickly and quite unsatisfactorily. Countless games will see a seasoned monster player basically toying with his outclassed prey whilst an inexperienced creature at the hands of four organised, kick ass marines can be subject to forms of animal cruelty that would make Bernard Matthews uncomfortable.

There's also the issue of new players joining ranks, for whilst Evolve enforces a tutorial from both sides of the battle, your first online games are bewildering to say the least. Getting your bearings, working out the inelegant weapon-assigned buttons and even taking on the worlds’ other indigenous wildlife is a headache that detracts from the core of the game. Making the planet of Shear feel alive is one thing, but being at the mercy of man-eating plants you can barely see is another. That its dozen maps are fairly similar in style (dense forests with a core industrial plant are de rigueur on Shear it seems) and can be either rainy, foggy or just fairly dank in general can also be a problem and can make matches feel even more repetitive than was perhaps necessary.

All of which sounds like Evolve is too onerous a proposition to get much enjoyment from. Yet when everything falls into place, when everyone knows their role and has the experience to back it up and when your foe is a worthy one, Evolve really comes into its own. When matches yin and yang between factions, or when the cat and mouse opening act is elongated by a particularly canny and stealthy opponent, Evolve bristles with energy. At such moments, it’s also clear that Turtle Rock have balanced the game pretty much perfectly and even repeat grudge matches can have drastically different outcomes each time.

The depth of tactics is ultimately what helps Evolve have longevity once the buzz of the concept has worn off. Along with the aforementioned marine classes, the monster player is equipped with a surprising amount of options beyond smashing and grabbing. Sneaking can help you to fool your opponents, making your trail of footprints go cold and even disturbing the wildlife, which ostensibly alerts people to your whereabouts, can be used to send your enemies round in circles if done correctly.

It’s for these reasons that Evolve comes highly recommended, but with a disclaimer; expect as many poor games as good ones. If you’re already ‘clanned up’ as they say, then much of this can be mitigated altogether and it becomes a quite unbeatable experience. For most of us though, Evolve is like a holiday with lost luggage, hellish queues and rude locals but with a breathtaking final destination. Even though there are plenty of bumps along the way, the end experience is worthy of the arduous journey.