The Hunt Evolved - Part I

Hunt together. Or, die alone.

From Turtle Rock - the same people who brought you Left 4 Dead - comes a game of skill, teamwork and predatory superiority. Welcome to Evolve.

Evolve is a first person action game set on the planet shear. It is an epic 4 versus 1 kill or be killed survival experience that has had gamers in anticipation for quite some time. As of February 10, 2015 the game has officially released springing forth a slew of great reviews and resulting in some impressive fanfare.

The premise is pretty simple. Grab three friends. Pick a class. Go hunting. Although it's not as easy as it sounds. You're actually the one being hunted - by a mysterious predator of epic proportions - the fifth player.

To win, you have to be smart. You have to work as a team. And you have to contribute to the gradual cumulative success of the team with unique skills and abilities that are unique to the game's four different human classes: Assault, Trapper, Medic & Support.

Each class offers a choice of three different characters. Each with their own skills, abilities, strengths and weaknesses. Who you pick is entirely up to you and your play style. But I've yet to remember playing a game in recent history where the choice of my character class played such a vital and pivotal role in the ultimate success of my team.

Assault class characters are the meat and potatoes of your team. They're the DPS. The main damage dealers. The guys with the pointiest sticks. They excel at doing damage, and they do it very well. Their class ability is to provide a shield that grants temporary invulnerability.

Trapper class characters do exactly what they sound like. They help their team to track down the monster by a variety of means, such as footprints. (Or paw prints? Who knows. Anything that big can't have "paws" though...can it??) Their class ability allows them to put up a large containment field in which, when caught, the monster is forced to fight in.

Medic class characters assist their team in not dying terrible, horrible, partly mutilated, immensely bloody and untimely deaths. Their class ability is a healing burst, which radiates to all nearby team members and gives them a considerable boost to survivability by increasing their health.

Support class characters support... Well, you get it. Why didn't heavy weapons guy from Team Fortress get a spot in this category? I are disappoint. These are the guys who run around toting automated turrets, homing missile launchers and shield projectors, to name a few toys. They protect and serve their team in an effort to make the team as a whole more efficient in all faucets of the great hunt.

From my experience, the skills of all these classes are highly balanced, allowing for tense and immersive game play while also keeping things fair. Take heed though, you will need one of each class to perform optimally and increase your chances of survival and success. Team composition is incredibly important, equally to that of teamwork.

Stay tuned for Part II on Wednesday!