Evolve

Evolve is a class-based cooperative-competitive game in which a team of four hunters chase after an evolving monster, also controlled by a player.

Xbox One

PlayStation 4

Overview

Evolve is a class based cooperative competitive shooter, where a team of 4 hunters chase down a player controlled monster that is constantly evolving. The game is being developed by Turtle Rock Studios, Inc. (of Left 4 Dead fame) and published by Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc..The game is slated for release on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC on February 10, 2015.

On July 7th 2016 the developers of the game announced that Evolve was going to continue as a free to play game on PC, with the potential for a free to play console version coming later provided it seemed viable. Original game owners get upgraded to a "Founders" status.

On October 26, 2016, Turtle Rock Studios, Inc ended support for the game and ceased creating future updates. Publisher 2K would continue to keep the game servers up. It is currently unknown how long servers would stay up.

Gameplay

The gameplay consists of five players. Four players control the "Hunters," a crew of armed humans, while one player controls a mutating monster which grows stronger as matches progress. Each hunter features its own unique set of items and abilities while the monster has its own blend of anti-hunter capabilities. The monster is outnumbered, but his strength makes him very tough to take down.

Hunters

Hunters are broken down into 4 classes: Trapper, Assault, Support, and Medic. Per Class there are 3 characters to choose from, each having unique play styles. Here is a list of the hunters, their class ability, and weapons/gear.

Trappers

Class ability is to set up a mobile arena to trap and fight the monster.

Abe - Custom Shotgun, tracking dart gun, and stasis grenades
Griffen - SMG, sound spikes, harpoon gun.
Maggie - Machine Pistol, Daisy (pet trapjaw), Harpoon launcher.

Assaults

Class ability is a personal shield that makes them invulnerable for a short time.

Markov - Lighting gun, arc mine, and assault rifle.
Hyde - Flamethrower, minigun, toxic grenade.
Parnell - Multi-fire rocket launcher, Combat shotgun, Super soldier boost (enhanced damage and fire rate)

Supports

Class ability is a group cloak.

Hank - Laser cutter, Orbital bombardment, and shield projector.
Bucket - Guided Rockets, UAV, and sentry guns.
Cabot - Rail Cannon (shoot through walls and objects), Dust tagging, Damage amplifier

Medics

Class ability is a healing burst.

Val - Standard TF2-style medic gun, an Armor Piercing sniper rifle, and a Tranq gun
Lazarus - Lazarus device (revives dead teammates), personal cloak, and silenced sniper rifle.
Caira - Napalm grenade launcher, Healing grenade launcher, Acceleration field (boost to movement speed to herself and nearby teammates)

Monsters

There are four announced player-controllable monsters, each having their own unique play-style and abilities. Abilities are gained via evolution, in order to evolve a player must eat a certain amount of non-playable wildlife on the map. Additional monsters will be announced in the future and be available through DLC.

Goliath

Durable, bi-pedal, melee-focused, fire monster.

Fire Breath: Sprays a jet of fire from its mouth. Short damage-over-time effect to Hunters.
Leap Smash: Pounces to an area, dealing splash damage upon landing.
Rock Throw: Rips a chunk of ground and hurls it at an enemy.
Charge: Sprints forward causing damage to anything in its path.

Kraken

Long-range, flying, electrical monster.

Lightning Strike: Generates a large electrical blast at a selected area.
Banshee Mines: Sets out a number of homing proximity mines.
Vortex: Unleashes a wall of energy, causing a knock-back effect to enemies.
Aftershock: Emits an energy blast that arcs to nearby Hunters.

Wraith

Stealthy, melee-focused, deception monster.

Warp Blast: Moves instantly to an enemy, dealing splash damage to surrounding area upon arrival.
Decoy: Generates a clone of itself that is able to attack and distract its foes.
Abduction: Quickly moves to grab its target and then instantly returns to its original location.
Supernova: Unleashes an explosion around itself, while simultaneously buffing its damage and attack speed.

Behemoth

Largest announced monster so far, named by the Evolve community. Gigantic, highest durability, low-mobility, rock/magma monster.

Lava Bombs: Launches lava-based projectiles which shatter and burn the area they impact.
Rock Wall: Creates an arc structure of rock that can trap, or defend against, attacking foes.
Tongue Grab: Unleashes a harpoon-like tongue that can pull a target into melee range.
Fissure: Generates a wave of destruction that fractures the ground while burning and stunning targeted enemies.

Development

During development, the planned publisher for Evolve was THQ, who according to Chapter 11 filings was estimating sales of 4 million units, at or around $30 (this may include projected DLC sales), through its 2014 fiscal year (April 1, 2013 - March 31, 2014), putting the planned release date somewhere in that range. In a May 2011 news story on Giant Bomb, 2013 was the release year given.

On August 5, 2014, Take Two announced that the game's release date had been changed to February 10, 2015.