By Jamaal Ryan
As Evolve began its rapid transformation from an intangible, freshly announced concept into a frequently played, comprehensible love-child of Turtle Rock, there was plenty of skepticism surrounding the developer's approach towards four versus one asynchronous multiplayer design. Would Evolve be unbalanced thanks to the Wraith? Would Evolve feel complete if you didn't opt in for the obnoxious pre-order bonuses? Would Evolve ever live up to being the second coming of the co-op driven shooter after the studio’s success with Left 4 Dead? All of these were valid concerns, especially considering the worrisome alpha and beta, which quickly revealed discrepancies in this angelic silhouette.
Leading up to its release, the coverage of Evolve was borderline idealistic, with like-minded members of the press asking questions about coordination, verbal cues and advanced team strategies, all of which the type of player Evolve was catering to would want answers for. They are the party chat goers, the Battlefield clansters, and the high-fiving tea baggers. But I’m not one of those players. I play multiplayer games for little more than self-merit, and I find that the most effective use of my mic is to silence the voices coming out of my television. I am not a social player. Yet this is a social game. So here's the question I asked: Could players like me, isolated competitors, enjoy a game like Evolve?
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