In the upcoming shooter 'Evolve,' will you be the hunter or the hunted?

(From Turtlerockstudios.com)

The realm of first person shooters these days has gotten a bit stagnant. It seems as though most companies are content sticking to the tried and true tropes of the genre – reimagining historical conflicts or creating new ones with a focus on realism – rather than trying to create a new experience with the genre. The Left 4 Dead series used the genre to present a different take on first-person shooters, placing more emphasis on teamwork and survival than on competition with other players. It’s fitting then that the next big shake up in the world of FPS games would also come from Turtle Rock Studios, the creators of the original Left 4 Dead.

Evolve, a new cooperative/competitive FPS from Turtle Rock Studios, promises a completely unique experience that will appeal to gamers who love the competitive nature of online shooters as well as those who have a stronger drive toward working with friends to accomplish a goal. The hook of Evolve is its unique 4-vs-1 dynamic where four human players hunt for a lone player in the role of a huge monster with varying abilities.

It’s an interesting take on the FPS genre, one that has its roots in the Left 4 Dead series. In L4D, four players must work to traverse a large, open environment where there are countless enemies looking to kill and maim your party. L4D also features a Versus mode where humans can take on the role of the undead masses to try and stop the humans from completing the level. Evolve is very similar to L4D’s Versus mode, but with several exciting twists.

In Evolve, players take on the role of a “planet-tamer” seeking to exterminate nasty wild life that threatens human settlements on newly colonized planets. The team of humans features four unique characters – Griffin, Markov, Val and Hank – with specific skills and weapons.

The team of hunters (from left) are Val (medic, Markov (assault), Griffin (trapper) and Hank (support). (From IGN.com)

Griffin is the trapper of the group and is tasked with tracking down the beast and as such will need to have a keen eye for clues in the environment which can clue you in on where the monster is going or where it could be hiding. He also has equipment, like sensors, which will create on-screen waypoints to direct your group to the monsters location when tripped. He can also utilize a harpoon weapon to slow down the monster and prevent it from escaping when found. But his most interesting piece of gear is the mobile arena, which creates a large forcefield around a small area, trapping the monster inside. You’d want to use the forcefield when the monster is smaller and weaker, since you’ll be trapped inside the field with it.

The other members of the team sport more familiar abilities. Markov is the assault character, utilizing heavy weaponry to take down the beast once discovered. Val is the medic and can heal teammates while also able to inject the monster with a special serum to slow him down and make him visible on-screen. Val is also the sniper and will usually want to operate at a distance with the final member of the group, Hank, the support specialist. Hank employs a shield generator, which can be projected distances to protect players targeted by the monster. He also has a cloaking device that can extend to teammates if you need to regroup for another attack. Hank has offensive abilities too, namely a large orbital bombardment that deals massive damage if timed right. Each player is also equipped with a jetpack to help offset the naturally faster movement speed of the monster.

It might seem like a 4-vs-1 fight wouldn’t be very fair to the lone player, but the monster can be a very formidable opponent. There will be several different beasts to choose from in the final game but so far, the only known monster is Goliath. As Goliath, you’ll start out by trying to evade the human hunters and stalk your own prey, which can be consumed to upgrade your abilities. As you upgrade, Goliath becomes larger and more durable as well as unlocking new abilities and attacks. Eventually, Goliath will be able to go on the offensive and hunt down the human players and can even attack and destroy the settlements the humans were sent to protect.

When I first heard about Evolve, I wasn’t entirely sold on the concept. A 4-vs-1 game didn’t seem very appealing and I couldn’t wrap my mind around how a match would play out. But as I’ve read up on information and watched the available preview videos, Evolve is becoming more and more interesting and the dynamic of humans-vs-monster means that the strategies needed for success on either team will be wildly varying. Thanks to the naturally higher endurance and strength of the monster and the unique abilities and weapons of the humans, matches in Evolve will basically become real-time chess matches where teams attack and evade, needing to carefully plan their next move in order to be successful.

Evolve is scheduled to be released in the summer/early fall of 2014 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC.

Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes can allegedly be completed in “just under two hours”

During the PlayStation 1 and 2 eras, the Metal Gear Solid series was one of my favorite franchises – specifically Metal Gear Solid for PS1. I couldn’t even tell you how many times I played through MGS, and not even to unlock everything (which I mostly did) – I just loved the flow of the game, the stealth-based gameplay and the outlandish characters like Psycho Mantis and Vulcan Raven.

Then Metal Gear Solid 2 came out and I was less enthused about the series. I didn’t like Raiden and the whole story was getting to be a little too convoluted for my liking. But when Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater came out, I was pulled back in with the fury of a thousand suns. MGS 3 was like the original MGS, but with everything turned up to 11. The bosses were crazier, the sneaking tactics and strategies were amplified and the story of the man who became Big Boss tracking down and killing his mentor was incredibly heart-felt.

But then I switched to Xbox and Xbox 360 and never got to play Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots or any of the portable titles (was there more than just Peace Walker? I’m not sure). I’ve always wanted to give MGS 4 a try but a majority of what I heard from friends who played it didn’t really excite me. Since it was trying to incorporate confusing story and thematic elements from the three previous console titles, I’ve heard that MGS 4 is incredibly convoluted and confusing – which is saying something for a series that’s about clones and giant nuclear-warhead-launching-walking-tanks. But more than that, I didn’t like what I heard about the amount of cutscenes in MGS 4. A friend told me that the final cutscene of MGS 4 is over AN HOUR AND A HALF LONG. One cutscene in a video game should not be as long as a full-length feature film. I like watching movies but when I’m playing video games, I like to play video games and not watch movies.

But now that the next generation of consoles are here (which I guess means they aren’t “next gen” anymore but, I dunno, “now gen”) I’ve switched back to Sony’s console. Which really doesn’t mean anything, since Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes and the subsequent release, The Phantom Pain, are on both Xbox One and PS4.

The next MGS game coming out, MGS V: Ground Zeroes, is scheduled to be released in America on March 18. But hold your horses, MGS fans, because Ground Zeroes is actually just the prologue for the following MGS game, The Phantom Pain. And allegedly, Ground Zeroes can be finished in just under two hours.

According to a recent article on Joystiq.com, which references a Game Informer preview, the main campaign mission of Ground Zeroes can be completed in a little under two hours time. And that news taken at face value sounds pretty bad. When I told a friend this news he replied, “So it’s going to be 30 minutes of actual gameplay and an hour and a half of cinematics?”

Here’s the catch – Ground Zeroes will be the first MGS game in the series to be entirely open world. Considering that there will also be side missions to complete, I would imagine that campaign which is “only two hours” can be extended pretty significantly. Take Fallout 3 for example. The main mission of that game can be completed in just a couple hours but the exploration and side quests can add tens, if not hundreds, of extra hours of playtime.

But if you’re still worried about the overall length of Ground Zeroes, also consider the price. Digital downloads for PS3 and Xbox 360 will be just $20 with the PS4 and Xbox One versions being priced at $30. However, a physical copy of the game for PS4 and Xbox One will run you about $40.

I’m going to reserve judgment about MGS V: Ground Zeroes until I can actually play it myself – it wouldn’t be fair to base my perceptions of the title on a game I never even played personally. I’ve been a fan of the series before and hopefully Ground Zeroes will be able to recapture the magic that made MGS and Snake Eater so special – but we’ll have to wait until March to find out.