Is Evolve One Of The Top 50 Games Of 2015?

Back in February of 2015, 2K and Turtle Rock Studios released the five-player co-op/competitive monster-hunting game Evolve. It was a great idea that didn’t exactly take the world by storm. After a full year of amazing game releases, we wanted to look back at Evolve and see if it deserves a spot on our shelf of the top 50 games of 2015.

Ben Hanson: Hi Ben Reeves! I’ve gathered you here to today to talk about Evolve. Remember Evolve?

Reeves: Oh, hi! I do, I played it a bit when it first came out back in 1998. It seems like people lost interest pretty quick. 

Hanson: That’s what makes this an odd choice for this “Champion” and “Challenger” structure. I’m not the world’s biggest Evolve defender, but I think it’s worthy of a second look this time of year. I played it a bit when it came out, but I believe that you played it a bit more than I did. Here we sit at the end of November, so how do you think the game is looking now?

Reeves: I think that it’s still structurally sound. I love the 4v1 gameplay, and the game is fairly polished. But it does seem to take a little while to find a match, which is probably something you don’t have to worry about nine months after a Halo or Call of Duty launch. It took me almost 4 minutes to get into my last match. I know you played recently; did you have the same problem? 

Hanson: It actually didn’t take me too long to find a match on PS4, but it was in the Arena mode where you’re automatically corralled with the monster. It really took the thrill of the hunt out of this whole thing. “Structurally sound” doesn’t sound like a ringing endorsement; you’re complimenting your date on having “great bones”.

Reeves: Sure, but if I’m trying to jump my dates' bones then that’s a compliment. I never lost my mind over Evolve, but I do think it’s a fun multiplayer game. However, I definitely prefer playing as the hunters. I never really found my stride with the monster. Who’s your preferred character? 

Hanson: Well the way the developers pitched it was that, if you had a group of friends, you should play the hunters and if you were a lone wolf then you should play the monster. I’m lonely, but I still prefer to play as a trapper. I like to feel the tension of being in the woods in the middle of the night and hearing twigs snap behind you. I like Predator, is ultimately what this comes down to. 

Reeves: I definitely like the concept of playing as the monster, but the hunters are just more fun for me. Except the support class, I don’t understand what they do. I also like the various game modes. I like having other objectives like hunting for eggs or rescuing survivors. I think it mixes up the pattern of always trying to gun down the monster. And of course, the gameplay feels good. 

Hanson: Sure, variety is the spice of life and all that. But Hunt as the basic mode is cinnamon: it’s all you need. Cinnamon on eggs, cinnamon on your grapefruit in the morning. It’s such a simple concept, and I always feel like they were under the pressure of being an AAA game in 2015. They had to pack in so much extra content and unfortunately push the game too hard as a potential e-sport. There’s so much baggage dangling on Evolve, I wonder if a lowered price and a simplified structure would have served the game better. Even as a digital-only game.

The big question for me with this debate (are we debating?) is whether or not the base game is good enough to make our top 50 games of the year list. Is it the game’s fault for not rounding up friends and keeping us around, or is the game itself solid as all hell and we’re just lazy for not getting a fake LAN party rolling with four other friends that own the game? It reminds me of the old The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords debate. It was a fine game, but who the hell wants to arrange for a real play session of that thing? It’s a hassle. How say you?

Reeves: Sure, if you want to play with other people. But I know you don’t have friends. You’re going to die alone. Stop talking to me. 

Hanson: It is tough to get into the game and get that ideal rhythm and communication down with complete strangers.

Reeves: Honestly, yeah it’s a hassle to get a bunch of your friends together to do anything fun, but I don’t think this is as bad as Four Swords. Even if you only had one other friend, I think you could have a lot of fun together. Can you really blame a game for not allowing you to have fun by yourself? 

Hanson: That’s the question, Mr. Reeves.

Reeves: Evolve is fun by yourself, but yeah, it’s a lot more fun with other people. Maybe that’s just the kind of game this is. Monopoly isn’t any fun by yourself. Actually, Monopoly isn’t fun when you’re playing with people either, so that’s a bad example. Some games are just designed to be better with friends. So, “who’s at fault?” I say, “no one.” But maybe our expectations for this game were off before it came out.

Hanson: I think it’s a classic example of playing the game at trade shows or at the development studio itself in the ideal scenario. You play it before it comes out with all five players in the same space, taunting each other. It’s so sweet to see the look of crushing defeat on a friend's face as you burn the medic to death with Goliath. So what’s your verdict here?

Reeves' Verdict: Yeah, I feel you. I also think people overreacted. The game is still fun and I think people should revisit it. Look, I don’t want to jump the game’s bones, but I do think it provides a fun experience. It seems like most people’s complaints about Evolve revolve around the fact that it didn’t have any legs, but I don’t think that should keep it off the list. It’s a highly polished shooter that does something different in the online shooter arena, and it gave a lot of people a solid 6-12 hour experience. That’s pretty good in my book. I think I’d fight for Evolve to be on our Top 50 list. I wish Evolve was my father. 

Hanson: Reeves. I just got a phone call. Are you sitting down? 

Reeves: Oh F---! What? 

Hanson: *Long fart sound.

Reeves: Not that guy again.