About a year ago everyone was excited and hyped for the release of Evolve, a boss battle style game featuring four “Hunter” classes facing off against a giant monster that would slowly evolve and get stronger over time. The twist of the game though, was that the “Monster” was also a playable class. Referred to as a “4v1” game, everyone eagerly awaited its release. But that excitement did not last once the game actually came out. Many fans criticized the game for its large amount of expensive downloadable content, a large portion of this being released shortly after the game’s launch, leading fans to believe that content had been removed simply to add on as additional purchases later. Due to all this negativity, many of the fans left and the game fell into obscurity with a low player base.
But that all looks to be changing now as the game has been revamped and rereleased as Evolve Stage 2. One of the biggest changes comes to the price being reduced to a very appealing free. With the new release and new price tag, the game is seeing brighter days. A new in-game currency has been introduced called “silver keys,” which are earned by just playing the game. With these keys players can unlock new characters that previously would have cost them a few dollars to get. In addition to that, the keys can be used on perks to increase Monster and Hunter strength in matches or change up the aesthetics of your character or their weapons with skins.
The maps in the game previously were very dark and grungy with heavy weather effects and lots of vegetation obscuring vision. They have since been cleaned up, increasing the brightness of the maps, tidying up the plant life, and tuning the weather to be less of a hindrance to both sides.
The four Hunter classes (Assault, Trapper, Medic, and Support) have also been given some updates to help players enjoy the game. An old ability unique to the Trapper called the “mobile arena,” a large dome of energy designed to keep the Monster enclosed in a small area for the Hunters to more easily kill, was clunky and more often than not would trap the Hunters inside of it while the Monster was left free on the outside. Now the mobile arena is open to all characters to use and it has been revamped to ensure when it’s used the Monster is trapped inside.
And for those players who previously owned the game, they are being given quite a large bonus for returning. For starters, those who are only downloading now start with four Hunters out of a current 24, and one Monster out of a current seven. These change weekly as a rotation of free ones so that players can try them all. But if you owned the game previously you start with all Hunters and Monsters unlocked with many of their skins already unlocked as well. In addition to that, they are also given 30,000 silver keys to unlock any additional content they might wish to own.
Overall, Evolve Stage 2 looks promising — I enjoyed the game a lot before, and am enjoying it even more now as many of my friends are now playing it along with. It’s definitely worth trying out for a little bit. And hey, it’s free, so what’s the harm?
