Evolve

[eLantern]

I've provided some updates to my list above.

[wittyscorpion]

Third monster revealed, and she is a stealth ninja:

evolvegame.com/news/wraith-the-third-evolve-monster-revealed

[wittyscorpion]

And, there is an offline mode:

evolvegame.com/news/yes-there-is-an-offline-mode-for-evolve

[wittyscorpion]

Evolve has gone gold: evolvegame.com/news/evolve-has-gone-gold

So next week's beta will be the gold build. It's more of a free trial than beta in that sense.

[eLantern]

Looking forward to it.

[wittyscorpion]

Taking the cheap marketing shot aside (which seems to have MSFT written all over it more than the developers), 10-15 hours to unlock the last tier does not sound a lot to me. Not sure how that qualifies as "shitty" progression system.

The marketing exploit on the other hand, I agree is "shitty"

I am still on the fence of whether to even buy this game or not, and I don't like to be forced to make a decision by these prepurchase "deals".

[Deleted]

I'm shocked somebody out there had the balls to drop "2K" and "preorder" in the same article so many times.

[Dumien]

Jan 10, 2015 10:20:26 GMT -5 Mousey said:

www.polygon.com/2015/1/9/7520561/evolve-pre-order-xbox-one-beta-characters

Puke. Thats basically a stamp of acknowledgement that the grind isnt fun and deliberately so.

I don't wanna be overly cynical about Evolve because I am rather interested in it. However last minute pushes for preorders tend to leave a bad taste in my mouth regardless. The fact that I've heard that the grind in Evolve in dreadful doesn't help. It wouldn't be the first time I turned away an entire game over a shitty progression system.

The grind wasn't painful at all. I actually unlocked everything in the beta without even realizing it and without that much play time(my friends had to let me know how to switch characters). This was for an alpha where you spent more time trying to find a match than actually in the game itself. Props to the team for realizing how poor their matchmaking was in alpha. The thing that will turn most people away is the sheer difficulty of the game.

[Dumien]

I agree with that. Everything in the game you do naturally, but if say...you have really good accuracy with the first medic's tranq gun...you might not need to fire it as much...this could lead to it being the only thing you need to unlock Lazarus (the most OP of all medics ever). In that case you would have medics running around just tranqing the monster to complete their challenges and not assisting the team out with heals.

That's bad. I guess.

[wittyscorpion]

If you are intrigued by this game in anyway, you'll want to read the official news about what's coming up: evolvegame.com/news

The gist:

1) At launch, the game will have 12 hunters (i.e.: 4 hunter roles, 3 different characters per hunter role), 3 monsters and 12 maps;
2) During open beta on XONE, 8 hunters and 2 monsters are playable;
3) For people who preordered before or during beta, all 12 hunters and 3 monsters are playable;
4) For all: progress during open beta will be carried over to final game;
5) For people who preorder, you'll get the "Monster Expansion Pack" for free, which includes the 4th monster. Otherwise it will cost you $14.99;
6) All DLC maps are free;
7) 4 more hunters (and 3 monster skins) will be released as the "Season Hunters Pass", which cost $24.99;
8) The digital deluxe edition costs $79.99 and includes both "Season Hunters Pass" and "Monster Expansion Pack";
9) The PC "Monster Race" edition costs $99.99, includes everything plus the 5th monster and the 5th & 6th DLC hunters;

Alternatively, the following breakdowns are probably easier to read:

---

a) XONE Open Beta, no preorder/prepurchase

Cost: $0
Hunters: 8 during open beta;
Monsters: 2 during open beta;
Maps: 12

---

b) Standard edition without preorder/prepurchase

Cost: $59.99
Hunters: 8 during open beta, 12 after release;
Monsters: 2 during open beta; 3 after release;
Maps: 12 + all DLC maps

---

c) Standard edition with preorder

Cost: $59.99
Hunters: 12 during open beta, 12 after release;
Monsters: 3 during open beta; 3 after release, 1 more after monster expansion pack;
Maps: 12 + all DLC maps

---

d) Deluxe edition

Cost: $79.99
Hunters: 12 during open beta, 12 after release, 4 more after Hunters Season Pass;
Monsters: 3 during open beta; 3 after release, 1 more after monster Expansion pack;
Maps: 12 + all DLC maps

---

e) Monster expansion pack:

Cost: no additional cost if preorder, included in the deluxe edition, $14.99 if purchased separately;

---

f) Hunters season pass:

Cost: included in the deluxe edition, $24.99 if purchased separately;

---

g) PC monster race edition:

Cost: $99.99
Hunters: 12 during open beta, 12 after release, 4 more after Hunters Season Pass, 8 more from 5th and 6th sets of DLC hunters;;
Monsters: 3 during open beta; 3 after release, 1 more after monster Expansion pack, 1 more after 5th monster is available;
Maps: 12 + all DLC maps

[wittyscorpion]

My take:

a) Open beta is a great venue to see how fun this game could be;
b) Preorder is an attractive option for getting the 4th monster for free. Prepurchase on XONE can also skip the grind to unlock the 3rd monster and 3rd set of hunters;
c) Compared to b), deluxe edition will only save you $5. Probably not worth it. It is an attractive option if you do not plan to preorder but decide to pick up this game some time after the release;

My plan:

1) Put in some serious play time during this weekend's open beta, and see whether I like this game and which side I like better: monsters or hunters;
2) If I like the game enough and there are enough friends who are also interested, I'll prepurchase the game on XONE. $59.99 to get 4 monsters, 12 hunters, and all maps, carry my game progress from open beta to the final game, and skip the grind to unlock the 3rd monster and the 3rd set of hunters;
3) Will not worry about the 4th set of hunters at launch. Will only consider purchasing it after the release of "Hunters Season Pack", if i) I am still actively playing this game, ii) I like to play as hunter,s and iii) the new hunters are worth the $24.99 purchase;

[wittyscorpion]

For bros who are playing the beta, this strategy guide is worth reading:

evolvegame.com/news/the-evolve-strategy-guide

[wittyscorpion]

Could not get any of my friends to try this beta, so I did not play either and spent the time on Halo 5 beta instead.

The main appeal of this game for me is to coop with friends, as I am not interested in playing as a 3rd-person monster. Definitely not going to preorder, and unlikely to buy until the game is deeply discounted.

[eLantern]

I was looking forward to giving this Beta a try, but with the limited time I had to game over the 4 days of this Beta I spent that time in Destiny trying to reach level 4 in the Iron Banner which was a success just before the NFL Conference Championship games kicked-off.

I too will keep my eye on a discounted so-called "complete" edition probably around the holiday season of 2015.

[wittyscorpion]

Without even playing the beta, I think the biggest problem of Evolve is that hunter play is not solo friendly. In order for hunters to beat a decent monster, they have to know how to work together. Based on my past experience with randoms on any of the FPS games, that just does not happen.

So the player base of this game will either be a party of 4 who can play together frequently, or lone wolf players who like to pound things.

[wittyscorpion]

Developers on what they leant from the beta: evolvegame.com/news/the-evolve-open-beta-infographic

It's nice to see that they have ways to fine tune balancing and can get all 3 tier monsters to close 50% win/loss ratio.

[hamburglar86]

Me and a few of my buddies will be getting Evolve this week. We had fun with the alpha and beta. If anyone is looking for a group then send me a friend request (xbox live: hamburglar86).