Shedding light on Evolve’s various game modes

Until recently, all we’ve seen in Evolve was Hunt, a cool game mode where four hunters tried to kill a monster before it evolved to level three and destroyed a generator. However, there is far more to the game than just that. I got to play all the new modes, and they change the entire experience.

You probably remember Hunt, but just in case, here’s a video of me playing that game mode with Wraith, the new monster.

The Evacuation Campaign goes through each of the following game modes. Players can choose which mode they want to play next. Maps are situated in the same geographical areas on Shear, so depending on where you start your campaign, only certain map types will be available. Each of these paths will eventually lead to one of four final maps with a climactic battle.

Players can change which hunters or monsters they play as from one map to the next during the same campaign – they may find one combination of skills better depending on the task at hand. For example, I recommend a flame thrower for Hunters taking on Nest, while it isn’t quite as helpful for Rescue.

Nest

Nest is a timed match. Six eggs are placed around the map and it is up the hunters to destroy them, or the monster. The monster can hatch one egg at any given point, spawning a level one Goliath as a minion to attack the hunters. The monster must protect the eggs until the time runs out, or kill off all the hunters. Here is a video where I managed to do just that by some miracle with my elite skills.

As you can see, the eggs are hard to destroy thanks to a tough outer coating, and the Goliath coming at the hunters from time to time adds to the difficulty. Hunters are best served by raining down an orbital assault on the eggs, although I found the flamethrower worked particularly well in this play through as the hunters.

12 different maps are available for this gameplay mode with a range of various map effects.

Rescue

Much like Nest, Rescue is all about defending the innocent. However, this time the tables are turned as nine colonists will appear on the map. Unlike the eggs, they don’t appear all that once, coming in groups instead. First two, then another two, and then five colonists appear. It’s up to the Hunters to revive them and escort them back to the evacuation point. Because of how they appear, everything can be turned around in the final batch depending on gameplay. Here is my experience of playing as the Hunters in Rescue.

I had a much better strategy when I played as the monster, choosing to pick off one or two survivors at a time, easily making my quota and winning the game. It’s important that both hunters and monster focus on the objective at hand. You can’t play these modes the same way that you would Hunt – it’s not just about hunting and killing your opponents.

There are also 12 different maps available for this gameplay mode with a range of map effects.

Defend

This is the climax of the game’s campaign. After completing the other map types, players will eventually work their way to one of four Defend maps. These begin with a fully staged up monster who appears with two minions (Goliaths are the only minion monster types) who will continually respawn. The monster must destroy generators in order to open doors leading to a refueling station.

It’s built as a climactic battle with Hunters desperately watching the clock and attempting to kill the monster (and the minions) to let the planet’s survivors escape on the ship. Of course the monsters just want to destroy everything, pushing hard to destroy generators and all the humans in the process.

After going through the full campaign, it really was quite a stressful (in the best way) scenario and I was tempted to rush to each generator and take out all the hunters. However, you can see that I somehow managed to be patient when playing as the monster, using my amazing elite skills to find success.

The campaign is a ridiculous amount of fun, with balancing corrected through the experience to ensure that even if you play with friends who don’t know what they’re doing, you can still have a good time.

Last Updated: December 18, 2014