It’s survival of the fittest in Evolve, Turtle Rock’s successor to Left 4 Dead

Publisher: 2K Games Developer: Turtle Rock Format: PC, PS4, Xbox One Origin: US Release: Autumn

Arguably the best moments in Left 4 Dead, Turtle Rock’s progressive and cooperative take on a Romero-like zombie apocalypse, occurred when the unseen hand of the tempo-regulating AI Director ushered in the Tank, a fearsome opponent. A colossal spanner in the works for even an organised team of four, the ten-foot-tall, masonry-chucking hulk would scatter players, booting them off rooftops and angrily hunting down survivors until someone breached his critical bullet threshold and his muscle-riddled mass slumped to the floor.

It’s that same intestine-churning feeling of panic and surprise in the face of a powerful foe that Turtle Rock is seeking to reclaim and improve upon in Evolve. The game’s hitting similar beats already: four players drop into a large but enclosed map that’s populated with alien flora and fauna, plus one player-controlled creature. Viewing the action in firstperson, the human hunters’ goal is to track, locate, trap and slay the monster. To do so, they’ll need to work together using their brains and vocal chords. The thirdperson-controlled monster – in this demo, a Goliath, which Turtle Rock refers to as its King Kong character, but just one of many playable enemy boss creatures – is trying to survive long enough to kill and eat plenty of alien wildlife, slinking away to damp corners of the map to evolve through its three developmental stages, becoming increasingly powerful and unlocking abilities in the process.

Clearly, several strands of Left 4 Dead DNA have been mutated for Evolve, but the game is at its strongest where it differs from its Valve-assisted progenitor. The four hunters, rather than falling into the more gun-centric roles of Left 4 Dead, instead fill four classes: Assault, Medic, Support and Trapper. They’re all useful, but some more so than others at different stages of a game.

The pacing of the matches, which last ten to 15 minutes, is dictated by the monster’s ability to hide during its early evolutions, and it’s the Trapper who’s most proficient at finding and restraining the beast. He does this by placing sound-triggered alarms about the map. Once Goliath is discovered, the Trapper can trigger a 50-metre-wide dome from which the monster cannot escape, forcing it into combat. It’s possible to wear Goliath down, eroding its health bar before it can retreat back into the foliage.

Goliath’s fire breath isn’t its strongest attack, but it can damage multiple hunters, forcing them to scatter and even blinding them momentarily. It’s useful against effective Support and Medic players.

The Assault, meanwhile, is a close-range specialist, dealing damage to the monster by getting under its feet with a lightning gun. To keep the Assault player from being stomped, the Support character can momentarily shield allies from a distance. And the Medic, of course, heals allies, but can also tranquillise the enemy from afar, which not only slows the creature down but also highlights it for other players.

These abilities work best in concert: a Trapper can harpoon the monster to slow it down and prevent it from using its leaping ability to escape, the Support character can call in air strikes to pummel it, and the Medic can blast holes in its armour to create weak points on which other players can concentrate their fire. Hunters are powerful fighters when organised, and the outcomes of encounters in our playtest often depended most heavily on the preparedness of either side.

“Left 4 Dead only scratched the surface of that stuff,” says executive producer Denby Grace. “Everyone could fire, everyone was dealing damage, everyone’s role within that group was pretty general. The only characterisation came through the VO; the great sort of characters they had in the game.

“So what Turtle Rock wants to do is push that forward. The hunters in Evolve are specifically characterised, in their looks and their VO, but now they each have unique items and weaponry. When you’re selecting a character, you’re selecting that character based not just on who they are but also their abilities and what they can do, and we hope that people find that sort of match.”

Just as in Left 4 Dead, hunters attempting to go it alone will find themselves in rough situations. Class abilities complement one another, so sticking together is crucial.

Playing as Goliath is immediately reminiscent of taking control of Left 4 Dead’s Tank, but the clawed, musclebound beast is far more agile, more ape-like. Goliath can run up walls and bound from cliff face to treetop, or enter a stealth pose in which it moves slowly but doesn’t startle wildlife or leave tracks. It can sniff the air to highlight nearby wildlife or hunters, though this creates a sound, betraying its presence.

The wildlife on which you’re munching is varied, from docile feathered creatures to huge crocodile-dinosaur-hybrid swamp dwellers that pose a danger even to Goliath itself. You can rile these big lizards up before luring hunters into their midst, where they stand a chance of being incapacitated with a single hit, or gobbled whole. Certain marked animals in the environment will grant perks to whoever can murder them first: hunters might be gifted double damage, while Goliath may be granted a shield boost.

Consuming wildlife and evolving causes Goliath to grow ever larger, something that’s not completely apparent until you return, supercharged, to the hunters to find them now miniscule. Scrapping with the humans is a matter of avoiding their mines and snares, being mindful of who’s shielded and focusing on the most vulnerable. Beyond that, you’re broadly wreaking havoc and pounding them into the dirt. Goliath’s four offensive abilities are an AOE fire-breath attack, rock throwing, charging and leaping – the latter three lifted almost verbatim from Left 4 Dead’s own special infected repertoire.

When fully evolved, you feel unstoppable, a terror wrought upon four players trying to keep you under control. The monster’s is a role built for griefers and lone wolves, says Turtle Rock, giving Evolve another avenue of appeal for the co-op-averse player. Going toe to toe with a player-controlled Goliath is a boss fight unlike many others.

Early in the game, the monster is as afraid of the hunters as they are of

it. Keeping hidden and using the fauna is critical to its survival.

Goliath is but one of many zoological antagonists in Evolve. What’s been shown so far – four characters, one monster and one jungle map – is the barest glimpse of the game’s surface. “The other monsters are very, wildly different,” says Grace. “Goliath is very physical. He goes from about nine to 30 feet tall by the end of his evolution. Now, other monsters might not do that. They might change in different ways. They’re not so physical, not so strong, but their attacks are way more powerful. It varies pretty wildly.”

Goliath may be genetically familiar to Left 4 Dead players, but the scope for some truly novel and asynchronous combat with Evolve’s as-yet-unrevealed foes is enticing. Managing four-versus-one with this sort of variety will be a balancing act, no doubt, but Turtle Rock’s pedigree and ability to bring people together to co-operatively shoot things mean this bold project is in capable hands indeed.

The post It’s survival of the fittest in Evolve, Turtle Rock’s successor to Left 4 Dead appeared first on Edge Online.

Source http://ift.tt/1f6kT0A