VG Update #6: Turtle Rock Studio's Evolve Intimidates The Competition

Turtle Rock Studios is one of the creators of the four-player zombie survival game "Left 4 Dead," which a lot of people don't know since Valve published the game. Now, with 2K Games as its publisher, Turtle Rock Studios has unveiled an entirely new game inspired by their previous work with Valve. The result is "Evolve."

The Hunters surround the Goliath monster, but both are prepared to fight to the death. (Photo courtesy of Turtle Rock Studios)

"Evolve" borrows a unique concept from "Left 4 Dead." It has a game mode where four players play as humans and another four players are zombies. Throughout the first few minutes, the zombie players attempt to kill the human players with their unique abilities, but if the human players are still alive after a while, one zombie player is randomly chosen to play as the Tank: a grotesque, giant zombie with uncanny strength and durability.

When this occurs, this game match essentially becomes four humans versus one ridiculously strong zombie, and there's no telling what will happen during this frantic, action-packed fight. Overall, this is an exhilarating game mode that "Left 4 Dead" is most well known for, and Turtle Rock Studios is basing the main concept behind "Evolve" on this game mode and fleshing it out beyond belief.

"Evolve" will have a single-player mode for those who prefer to go solo, but the heart and soul of the game lies in its multiplayer component. The basic premise of this mode drops four human players (called Hunters) into a large, open environment, and their objective is to kill a dangerous monster in the area to further their quest in colonizing the alien planet they're on. With their unique abilities, weapons, equipment and jet packs, they're fully armed and prepared to take down this gruesome animal. However, it's no mindless, computer-controlled character. It is player five.

A powerful weapon meets with brute force. Which one will triumph? (Photo courtesy of Turtle Rock Studios)

The monster is like an unstoppable powerhouse, capable of destroying a Hunter with a swing of its fist. But the tables can be turned quickly if all the Hunter players collaborate and strategically utilize their equipment.

After choosing to play as a particular monster, player five is placed in a random location in the game environment and must choose to either take out the Hunters cleverly or scavenge the environment for wildlife. Most players will go with the latter option because if they find wildlife, they can kill and eat it to evolve into bigger, stronger forms with new abilities. There are a total of three evolutionary stages to go through with any given monster and each stage requires the monster to envelop itself in a cocoon for 15 seconds to evolve. However, if player five manages to reach the monster's last stage by taking these risks, it will tower over the Hunters with terrifying abilities like fire breathing.

This results in a game of cat and mouse that fluctuates and changes constantly. No match is certain in the beautiful levels that players will explore, hunt and kill in to win. In-game footage compiled by Kotaku and an official CGI trailer only bolster the great potential "Evolve" has to become the next multiplayer hit. The game's stunning graphics, exhilarating gameplay and unique appeal has mostly been explained through words and pictures for a couple months. Not anymore.

Turtle Rock Studios is sitting on a game that could help bring it to early stardom among the most famous of game developers, and that might just happen once "Evolve" launches later this year for PC, PS4 and Xbox One.