Author: dpugh007

About an hour south of Los Angeles, in a nondescript office park, men are experimenting on monsters. Digital monsters, to be sure, though Turtle Rock Studios does have its own, real-life bearded dragon, who skitters around the office from time to time. “He eats roaches,” explains Chris Ashton, co-founder and design director at Turtle Rock. Perhaps that’s part of the inspiration for the enormous monsters that make up the antagonists in Turtle Rock’s upcoming shooter Evolve–crushing humans like bugs is a pet pastime. Of course, the humans have a say in how they’re going to be crushed, too, and Turtle Rock recently revealed a new set of four hunters to add to the eight already trying to put those pesky monsters in their place.

Each one of the new four falls into one of Evolve’s four hunter classes: trapper, medic, assault, and support (respectively Abe, Caira, Parnell, and Cabot). Each has his or her own unique personality, set of gear, and play style. “Originally, before we had the 12 characters we have now, we just had these four guys and a huge truckload of gear,” says Phil Robb, co-founder and creative director at Turtle Rock. “It ended up being overwhelming. We ran into situations where players could screw themselves right out of the gate–they’d take a bad loadout, so we divided the gear up into packages. Some sexy stuff that everyone wants and some non-sexy gear that’s important to gameplay balance.”

Abe, the new trapper, has a bit of Han Solo in him. He’s a smartass who can handle himself with a blaster–or in this case, a combat shotgun. Abe’s gun changes the pellet spread based on rate of fire: pull the trigger faster and you get a wider spread, useful for closer ranges. Shoot slowly and you get a tighter spread, good for hitting things far away. Abe also has stasis grenades that stick to and slow the movement of anything caught in their blast, which is useful for preventing monsters from escaping or blindsiding your party. He also has a tracking dart pistol that can be used on a monster directly or on potential prey animals. If a tagged animal is eaten by the monster, that monster becomes tagged and trackable. Like all trappers, Abe has a “mobile arena,” a tool that surrounds a small area with an impenetrable energy fence so that the hunters can trap and hammer away on a monster.

Imposingly clad in power armor, Parnell is the new assault class. He’s ex-military, and the special suit he wears is known for killing its user–but Abe’s tinkering has left it safe… somewhat. “When he activates his super-soldier ability, it basically makes him inhuman,” Ashton described. “He can run faster, he can jump higher, he can shoot weapons insanely fast, and reload insanely fast. The price, though, is that it damages his body. We wanted him to be as good as the other assaults in non-super-soldier mode, but super-soldier mode is like Assault Plus. It’s better. But we had to have a price for that somewhere.” Parnell carries an automatic shotgun and an automatic rocket launcher, one for close and the other for long range combat, and both become incredibly deadly with the super-soldier mode activated, but players will have to watch the health bar if they want to really start blazing away.

The good news is that the new medic, Caira, can help Parnell and other assaults with survivability. She uses a grenade launcher that can be set to fire either napalm grenades or healing grenades. Napalm sets monsters (or wildlife creeps) on fire for damage over time and allows the other hunters to do increased damage. Healing grenades heal everything (except the monster) in their blast radius, so Caira can heal herself, her teammates, or even wildlife. She can also raise them from a downed state. Her special ability is to activate an acceleration field, allowing her and anyone else caught up in it to move faster.

Rounding out the team is support class member Cabot, the leader of all the hunters, who brought them all together to take on these monster-killing duties. Stoic and calm by nature, Cabot sports a rail cannon, which launches slugs that have a long range and burst into shrapnel when they strike a target, allowing him to shoot through hard targets effectively. He’s also got a damage amplifying beam and the ability to call in a radioactive dust cloud that will coat anything it hits in a glowing haze, allowing the hunters to track it over long distances.

Previously, the team at Turtle Rock only ever showed one game mode in Evolve, but they’ve now unveiled more ways to play the game. Playable online or solo, the three new modes–Rescue, Nest, and Defend–join the previously announced Hunt mode for a total of four game types. “We made these modes years and years ago,” said Ashton, “but we didn’t want to overwhelm with a bunch of different modes at first.”

In Rescue mode, the hunters have to locate and save lost colonists before a monster can kill and eat them. The colonists’ locations are revealed bit by bit throughout the mission in groups of two, two, and five, and if the hunters can save at least five before the monster eats that many, they win. The colonists do have a mind of their own, though, and will try to book it for the extraction point once the hunters rescue them, so the hunters have to be careful not to end up herding cats.

Nest mode turns the tables slightly and puts the monster on the defensive. Six monster eggs, randomly scattered throughout the map, are the hunters’ quarry in this mode, and the monster must attempt to protect them. It can hatch an egg, however, to spawn an AI mini-monster to assist it, but this is risky, as the eggs effectively represent life points for the monster. Nest can be played on any of the 12 maps already used in Hunt mode, and eggs are procedurally spawned each time a map is played. Nest provides a lot of tactical options: hunters can either split up and try to divide the monster’s attention or focus on an egg at a time to take them down more quickly, or they can abandon killing the eggs altogether and just try to take down the monster itself.

Defend mode is just what it sounds like: the hunters must defend a series of shield generators from an angry monster and his continually spawning minions. If the shields don’t go down before time runs out, the monsters win. If they do, the hunters are hosed. “Defend feels like a finale,” says Robb, and Ashton echoes that sentiment: “It’s supposed to feel like one of those ‘it all comes down to this’ things.” In this mode, things are made more complex by the presence of AI monsters (and defense turrets to help the hunters out). The hunters do get an advantage by being able to respawn 30 seconds after death (as opposed to the usual two minutes), but the monster starts off maxed out in terms of power, as well. This is definitely the most advanced mode to play.

We checked, and there are over 800,000 different combinations of campaigns you can play in Evacuation.

Phil Robb, co-founder and creative director at Turtle Rock

It’s fitting, then, that the newly announced Evacuation campaign mode always ends with a Defend mission. A series of five missions linked together, Evacuation is a dynamic, modular campaign system that adds depth and continuity to Evolve’s gameplay. Essentially, a team of four players takes on the hunter roles (they can switch which character they want to play each mission), one player takes on the role of the monster (also changeable per mission), and they commit to a campaign that is designed to be about an hour in length, according to Robb.

Evacuation always ends with Defend, but it always starts with Hunt on a randomized map. In between, players vote on which mission type they’d like to play next. Winning a mission gives you key advantages in the next, such as more food for the monster to eat or more powerful defense turrets to assist the hunters. However, losing also powers up your defense and damage slightly to prevent unbalancing. In the end, the team with the most wins gets the most experience, which is used to unlock new persistent abilities and characters.

“We checked, and there are over 800,000 different combinations of campaigns you can play in Evacuation,” says Robb. These may be randomly generated, but they do a remarkable job of feeling internally integrated. Indeed, a game of Evacuation plays a lot like a campaign in Left 4 Dead. The two sides line up their strategy, attempt to execute it, and then everything goes to hell. Constant communication is necessary in Evolve, not just during missions but also between them. Lining up who’s good at which role, which particular hunter to take, and what your general plan is going to be makes for a much higher likelihood of success.

Of course, for the solo artists, there’s always the monster role. Each new game mode plays differently for the monster, and you have to be both adaptable and unpredictable, or the hunters will quickly overpower you. Playing the monster is a constant balance between hiding away, powering up, and quick bum rushes. You never know when trying to go in for the final kill will lure you into the traps that the hunters have for you. Each game mode emphasizes different monster styles, and while only two monsters, the Goliath and the Kraken, have been announced so far, Turtle Rock has promised more to come.

Evolve’s new announcements greatly round out the game, and the version I played was far less buggy than the early Alpha that was released to the community a few months ago. If Evolve can create a real sense of continuity and if it can continue to build on the clever level and character ideas it’s recently shown, it could be one of the most innovative takes on the shooter genre we’ve seen in years.

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Sony has released a new firmware update for PlayStation 4 that, among other things, promises to improve system software stability for some applications and features.

PS4 v2.03 was released last night. The official topline patch notes are brief, explaining only that “system software stability during use of some features has been improved.”

The PS4’s last major overhaul came in October in the form of the 2.0 “Masamune” update, which introduced a bevy of new features and functionality, including Share Play.

Today, December 3, is the 20th anniversary of PlayStation’s original launch in 1994. To celebrate the milestone, Sony revealed a limited-edition PS4 modeled after the PSOne. Preorders open December 6.

Got a news tip or want to contact us directly? Email news@gamespot.com

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A marketing executive at Microsoft’s Xbox One division has explained the company will not showcase any new platform-exclusives at The Game Awards on Friday.

Geoff Keighley, the show’s producer and host, recently claimed that the event will provide “more than a dozen world premieres,” which has spurred fans to ask Microsoft’s executives whether they have anything lined up.

But Aaron Greenberg, the marketing lead for Xbox, has poured cold water on the prospect by announcing on Twitter: “Since many have asked we are not planning any new game announcements @thegameawards. Looking forward to watching a great show however.”

This does not rule out the possibility of multiplatform game reveals, however. One demonstration already announced for the show will be Hideo Kojima’s Metal Gear Online; the multiplayer component of Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain.

The Game Awards 2014 will take place Friday, December 5, starting at 6 PM Pacific / 9 PM Eastern / 2 AM UK. GameSpot will bring you all the winners as they’re announced.

Bayonetta 2, Dark Souls II, Dragon Age: Inquisition, Hearthstone, and Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor are up for the top prize of overall Game of the Year.

Dark Souls II, Hearthstone, Shadow of Mordor, and South Park: The Stick of Truth lead the way with three nominations each across all categories. Meanwhile, Nintendo was the most nominated publisher with 12 nominations.

Below is a breakdown of nominees by category. Nominees were selected by a jury of 28 international media outlets, including GameSpot and sister site Giant Bomb.

Game of the Year:

• Bayonetta 2
• Dark Souls II
• Dragon Age: Inquisition
• Hearthstone
• Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor

Best Independent Game:

• Broken Age – Act 1
• Monument Valley
• Shovel Knight
• Transistor
• The Vanishing of Ethan Carter

Best Narrative:

• South Park: The Stick of Truth
• The Walking Dead — Season 2
• The Wolf Among Us
• Valiant Hearts: The Great War
• Wolfenstein: The New Order

Best Performance:

• Adam Harrington as Bigby Wolf — The Wolf Among Us
• Kevin Spacey as Jonathan Irons — Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare
• Melissa Hutchinson as Clementine — The Walking Dead — Season 2
• Trey Parker as various voices — South Park: The Stick of Truth
• Troy Baker as Talion — Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor

Best Remaster:

• Grand Theft Auto V
• Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire
• The Last of Us Remastered
• The Master Chief Collection
• Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition

Best Action/Adventure:

• Alien: Isolation
• Assassin’s Creed Unity
• Bayonetta 2
• Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor
• Sunset Overdrive

Best Fighting Game:

• Killer Instinct: Season 2
• Persona 4 Arena Ultimax
• Super Smash Bros. 3DS
• Super Smash Bros. Wii U
• Ultra Street Fighter IV

Best Sports/Racing Game:

• FIFA 15
• Forza Horizon 2
• Mario Kart 8
• NBA 2K15
• Trials Fusion

Best Shooter:

• Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare
• Destiny
• Far Cry 4
• Titanfall
• Wolfenstein: The New Order

Best Role-Playing Game:

• Bravely Default
• Dark Souls II
• Divinity
• Dragon Age: Inquisition
• South Park: The Stick of Truth

Best Family Game:

• Disney Infinity 2.0
• Fantasia: Music Evolved
• Mario Kart 8
• Skylanders: Trap Team
• Tomodachi Life

Best Online Experience:

• Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare
• Dark Souls II
• Destiny
• Hearthstone
• Titanfall

Best Mobile/Handheld Game:

• Bravely Default
• Hearthstone
• Monument Valley
• Super Smash Bros. for 3DS
• Threes!

Developer of the Year:

• Blizzard
• Monolith
• Nintendo
• Telltale
• Ubisoft Montreal

Best Score/Soundtrack:

• Alien: Isolation
• Child of Light
• Destiny
• Sunset Overdrive
• Transistor

Games for Change:

• Mountain
• Never Alone
• The Last of Us: Left Behind
• This War of Mine
• Valiant Hearts: The Great War

Most Anticipated Game:

• Batman: Arkham Knight
• Bloodborne
• Evolve
• The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
• Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End

eSports Player of the Year:

• Martin ‘Rekkles’ Larsson (League of Legends)
• Xu “Fy” Linsen (DOTA2)
• James “Firebat” Kostesich (Hearthstone)
• Christopher “GeT_RiGhT” Alesund (Counter-Strike: GO)
• Matt “NaDeSHoT” Haag (Call of Duty)

eSports Team of the Year:

• Samsung White (League of Legends)
• Evil Geniuses (DOTA2)
• Edward Gaming (League of Legends)
• Newbee (DOTA2)
• Ninjas in Pajamas (Counter-Strike: GO)

Trending Gamer:

• Evan “Vanoss” Fong
• Jeff Gerstmann
• PewDiePie
• StampyLongHead
• TotalBiscuit

Best Fan Creation:

• BEST Zelda Rap EVER!! By Egoraptor
• Luigi Death Stare by CZBwoi and Rizupicorr
• Mine the Diamond (Minecraft Song) by Tobuscus
• Minecraft — TITAN City by Colonial Puppet
• Twitch Plays Pokemon by Anonymous

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