Evolve Big Alpha Impressions/bugs/glitches thread

Just played a game for the first time. Probably a stupid question but how do you mark? This game didn't explain that part to me lol. :(
 
ToyMachine228 said:
While the Alpha is at least mildly entertaining, after all the hype around Evolve, I am fairly disappointed with the experience as a whole. My thoughts;

- The tracking process devolves into running around randomly and following blue footprints and/or Daisy. I was expecting some cool visual cues, and maybe some devices that would allow us to get a look at where the monster has been and what it has been doing. Instead it's just run around with three other people until the find the monster.
- The combat feels straight forward and unsatisfying. It's just, drop a bubble around the monster and shoot it. Sure, as the medic I get to heal teammates, as support I can shield, and each class has a variety of abilities, but the basic premise is just don't die and shoot the monster until it dies. It doesn't feel intense, intimidating, or strategic and the guns feel pretty dull to use.
- The game relies extremely heavily on other players to reach it's gameplay potential. L4D did as well, but it's even more front and center here. Which is a big risk because often times, games can be quickly over before anything remotely exciting happens.
- Visually, it doesn't feel like a next-gen game all that much. Considering the game is really pretty small in scope, I was expecting nicer visuals, animations and physics. It feels like a last-gen game with some small next-gen spruces. The snow effects on the one map are cool, but other than that, there's nothing too wow-worthy.
- The atmosphere is pretty disappointing. I don't feel creeped out, lost, like I'm hunting or like I'm being hunted. I just feel like I'm running around until I find the monster and occasionally shooting some kind of animal, most of which just keel over and die in a shot or two.
- The progression system feels just fine the way it is. I have no problem with it, and I did find the prospect of unlocking new characters and perks, etc, to be one of the reasons that I continued playing. But I feel like the core gameplay experience just isn't all that strong.

I am willing to chalk up the ridiculously long loading times, poor matchmaking and server issues to the fact that the game is in alpha status. But playing the alpha has made me drop Evolve down my list from "buying" to "eh might buy." While I think Evolve is a great concept, the realization is underwhelming due to the things that I posted above and possibly the pressures Turtle Rock felt to try and keep the game fast paced and "exciting" for the mainstream, itchy trigger finger gamer. When the reality is, this isn't a game that should be for that type of gamer. It should slow down a bit, showcase more nuances and intricacies and deliver a deep, atmospheric and tense gameplay experience.
Click to expand...

You pretty much sum up my feelings I'm let down really won't be purchasing even at a discounted price.
 
ToyMachine228 said:
While the Alpha is at least mildly entertaining, after all the hype around Evolve, I am fairly disappointed with the experience as a whole. My thoughts;

- The tracking process devolves into running around randomly and following blue footprints and/or Daisy. I was expecting some cool visual cues, and maybe some devices that would allow us to get a look at where the monster has been and what it has been doing. Instead it's just run around with three other people until the find the monster.
Click to expand...

On this point I would like to say that there are a lot of classes that have ways to track the monster.

Also, don't follow the footprints, look where they are going and try to find a way to cut the monster off. Obviously you can get tricked with this method but hopefully your team can cover all the bases.

Turn off the music and use sound to track the monster too.

I also think things will be more interesting when all the classes/monsters are added.

I think this game will have a smaller population just because all it takes is one bad player to ruin the match in pubs.
 
ToyMachine228 said:
While the Alpha is at least mildly entertaining, after all the hype around Evolve, I am fairly disappointed with the experience as a whole. My thoughts;

- The tracking process devolves into running around randomly and following blue footprints and/or Daisy. I was expecting some cool visual cues, and maybe some devices that would allow us to get a look at where the monster has been and what it has been doing. Instead it's just run around with three other people until the find the monster.
- The combat feels straight forward and unsatisfying. It's just, drop a bubble around the monster and shoot it. Sure, as the medic I get to heal teammates, as support I can shield, and each class has a variety of abilities, but the basic premise is just don't die and shoot the monster until it dies. It doesn't feel intense, intimidating, or strategic and the guns feel pretty dull to use.
- The game relies extremely heavily on other players to reach it's gameplay potential. L4D did as well, but it's even more front and center here. Which is a big risk because often times, games can be quickly over before anything remotely exciting happens.
- Visually, it doesn't feel like a next-gen game all that much. Considering the game is really pretty small in scope, I was expecting nicer visuals, animations and physics. It feels like a last-gen game with some small next-gen spruces. The snow effects on the one map are cool, but other than that, there's nothing too wow-worthy.
- The atmosphere is pretty disappointing. I don't feel creeped out, lost, like I'm hunting or like I'm being hunted. I just feel like I'm running around until I find the monster and occasionally shooting some kind of animal, most of which just keel over and die in a shot or two.
- The progression system feels just fine the way it is. I have no problem with it, and I did find the prospect of unlocking new characters and perks, etc, to be one of the reasons that I continued playing. But I feel like the core gameplay experience just isn't all that strong.

I am willing to chalk up the ridiculously long loading times, poor matchmaking and server issues to the fact that the game is in alpha status. But playing the alpha has made me drop Evolve down my list from "buying" to "eh might buy." While I think Evolve is a great concept, the realization is underwhelming due to the things that I posted above and possibly the pressures Turtle Rock felt to try and keep the game fast paced and "exciting" for the mainstream, itchy trigger finger gamer. When the reality is, this isn't a game that should be for that type of gamer. It should slow down a bit, showcase more nuances and intricacies and deliver a deep, atmospheric and tense gameplay experience.
Click to expand...

I'd say this is fairly accurate. And this is AWFUL for a game that is trying to be $60 and multiplayer only. It barely felt like a $20 DL title, if that.

I might do $20 for it.
 
ToyMachine228 said:
While the Alpha is at least mildly entertaining, after all the hype around Evolve, I am fairly disappointed with the experience as a whole. My thoughts;

- The tracking process devolves into running around randomly and following blue footprints and/or Daisy. I was expecting some cool visual cues, and maybe some devices that would allow us to get a look at where the monster has been and what it has been doing. Instead it's just run around with three other people until the find the monster.
- The combat feels straight forward and unsatisfying. It's just, drop a bubble around the monster and shoot it. Sure, as the medic I get to heal teammates, as support I can shield, and each class has a variety of abilities, but the basic premise is just don't die and shoot the monster until it dies. It doesn't feel intense, intimidating, or strategic and the guns feel pretty dull to use.
- The game relies extremely heavily on other players to reach it's gameplay potential. L4D did as well, but it's even more front and center here. Which is a big risk because often times, games can be quickly over before anything remotely exciting happens.
- Visually, it doesn't feel like a next-gen game all that much. Considering the game is really pretty small in scope, I was expecting nicer visuals, animations and physics. It feels like a last-gen game with some small next-gen spruces. The snow effects on the one map are cool, but other than that, there's nothing too wow-worthy.
- The atmosphere is pretty disappointing. I don't feel creeped out, lost, like I'm hunting or like I'm being hunted. I just feel like I'm running around until I find the monster and occasionally shooting some kind of animal, most of which just keel over and die in a shot or two.
- The progression system feels just fine the way it is. I have no problem with it, and I did find the prospect of unlocking new characters and perks, etc, to be one of the reasons that I continued playing. But I feel like the core gameplay experience just isn't all that strong.

I am willing to chalk up the ridiculously long loading times, poor matchmaking and server issues to the fact that the game is in alpha status. But playing the alpha has made me drop Evolve down my list from "buying" to "eh might buy." While I think Evolve is a great concept, the realization is underwhelming due to the things that I posted above and possibly the pressures Turtle Rock felt to try and keep the game fast paced and "exciting" for the mainstream, itchy trigger finger gamer. When the reality is, this isn't a game that should be for that type of gamer. It should slow down a bit, showcase more nuances and intricacies and deliver a deep, atmospheric and tense gameplay experience.
Click to expand...

I...pretty much agree with everything you said. However, I DO think the combat will open up once all characters are unlocked and you have more customization options.

I unlocked Lazarus, the Medic. He has a semi-auto silence sniper rifle that tags the enemy's weakpoints, the quick AoE health boost, cloak ability, and the Lazarus gauntlet.

The Lazarus gauntlet allows you to basically instantly (takes 1.5-2 seconds to "charge") revive anyone. Used in conjunction with stealth, it made me VERY important to the survival of the team, especially since I could essentially hide from a distance and snipe, then cloak to glide in, heal and/or revive.

It's a very different dynamic vs Val (I think that's her name). She has a bolt-action sniper, the tranq gun, heal beam, and AoE heal.

Otherwise, yeah. There's something a little underwhelming about it all. I just straight up ignore the other wildlife, as spending time on them just wastes time you could be using to find/kill the monster. Some wildlife is so powerful that your time might be at risk if you DO try to kill them.

It doesn't help that some wildlife looks very similar to the Goliath, too.
 
Imo, that description of combat only really applies to assault, which it should. It feels very specialized for each character otherwise.
 
I can't even get IN the damn thing. Failed to find servers at first (PS4 version) and now my game crashes while searching. I was a bit anxious to play, now I don't even care anymore. 13GB of space and download time wasted. smh...
 
Oh yeah--is there a control scheme that actually makes sense? Using a combo of bumpers/buttons to switch between weapons will never not feel awkward to me. Mapping them to the d-pad makes a lot more sense, especially since I have only ever switched between available roles maybe 1% of my playtime so far (which is default assignment to d-pad).
 
Experien said:
I'd say this is fairly accurate. And this is AWFUL for a game that is trying to be $60 and multiplayer only. It barely felt like a $20 DL title, if that.

I might do $20 for it.
Click to expand...

Feel the same way as well. No way should this game be close to that $60 price range. $20 as you said is much better.
 
Still can't get into a game on the PS4 version. My friends and I tried the solo trick but that doesn't work either. Hope they fix it soon.
 
So far my only experience with the alpha on PS4 has been waiting on the matchmaking screen for two minutes until the game crashes and I have to send an error report to Sony.

Pretty dissapointed that I'm not having any luck with it as I really want to give it a try.
 
Got into a few games on PS4. Not really my thing. I enjoyed playing as a trapper but the other classes are boring and don't feel like they're contributing enough. The pacing of the game is kind of dull too. Just follow some glowing blue tracks and Daisy until you trap it, shoot for a while, and repeat.
 
PseudoViper said:
I can't even get IN the damn thing. Failed to find servers at first (PS4 version) and now my game crashes while searching. I was a bit anxious to play, now I don't even care anymore. 13GB of space and download time wasted. smh...
Click to expand...
Yeah, its really frustrating trying to even join a match on PS4. Took me a good 45 mins to finally get into a server after countless crashes and other stuff. :/

Pretty sad seeing the game this broken, I mean its only 3 months before its released.
 
I keep getting disconnected due to "server issues". Can't get into a game :(.

(PS4)

Who do I blame? Valve or Sony? XD
 
I actually ended up enjoying this way more than i thought i would. I actually found the game play loop to be compelling, i just felt that the monster was too weak, and easily cornered to threatening. Basically, if all 4 Hunters can corner the monster, and are at all competent, it's game over.

This makes the game seem sort of like hide and seek with a flamethrower mouth and machine guns.

I feel looker the monster needs some way to potentially separate the Hunters and pick them off or, failing that, maybe the mobs should be more of a issue, add they can be in l4d. However it is accomplished, I feel like the monster needs an offensive boost, and the Hunters need the opportunity to feel hunted.

Like i said, i was pleasantly surprised by alpha, and I'm interested to see his this develops.
 
First the negative. The load times, ability to even load, and connection timeouts were buggy as all hell. But it is an Alpha so those things are to be expected in my mind.

Now the positives. Once I got around the buggy loading stuff and waiting, I really REALLY enjoyed the gameplay of both the hunters and the monster in this game. I wish I could have gotten some more time in and leveled things up more so that I could experience more of the game. However from what I experienced I think I will be picking this one up in February.

I really liked the combination of a co-op + vs style of gameplay. The concept was very unique to me and filled a void that other FPS games in my library couldn't. Count me in.
 
I'm surprised so many people have had bad experiences gameplay-wise. My gf an I played together non stop all day Sunday and I never once got bored. I do think the tracking system is tough, but effective. Most of the times I couldn't track down the monster, it was either my own fault, or my teammates (having to leave the trail to help). Not to mention once you unlock the next trapper character he gets radar traps, which are very effective.


Bottom line, I'm loving it. Can't wait to see what the beta brings us. (Played on PC)
 
I'm enjoying the game personally, more when I have a competent team that doesn't distance himself too far from the group.
The only problems so far with the game I've had was trying to get into a game with a party (2 people).
When the other guy was the leader we couldn't get into a game so we changed leadership and we got into a game after quite a while compared to the near instant matchmaking when I'm solo.
That... and the atrocious loadings.

Skyzard said:
An earlier attempt:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_4MRA1UISs

May take a few mins for higher quality.
Click to expand...
Lol at the beginning. Looking at that I can't wait to fight a Kraken myself.
Nice 60fps footage by the way.

metareferential said:
Anyone with a key left?
Click to expand...
Yes I still have my 3 keys (for Steam!). Anyone who doesn't have one feel free to quote this post and I'll send one your way.
 
Bummed out by the abundance of CoD-style skill trees. I wish developers had more confidence in their core mechanics without all of these idiotic dangling carrots. Just make a fun game that's fun to keep playing. Have the confidence not to muck it up with a bunch of compulsive collectibles and achievements. The core game is great, but the skill trees have soured me to it. Bummer.
 
Train of Midnight said:
I'm surprised so many people have had bad experiences gameplay-wise. My gf an I played together non stop all day Sunday and I never once got bored. I do think the tracking system is tough, but effective. Most of the times I couldn't track down the monster, it was either my own fault, or my teammates (having to leave the trail to help). Not to mention once you unlock the next trapper character he gets radar traps, which are very effective.


Bottom line, I'm loving it. Can't wait to see what the beta brings us. (Played on PC)
Click to expand...

I love it too, but I'm not surprised at the mixed feelings, as I don't think it leaves a great first impression with just being dumped into a game. The matchmaking issues/load times are also a deterrent to playing more which may add more to that.
 
ToyMachine228 said:
- The atmosphere is pretty disappointing. I don't feel creeped out, lost, like I'm hunting or like I'm being hunted. I just feel like I'm running around until I find the monster and occasionally shooting some kind of animal, most of which just keel over and die in a shot or two.
.
Click to expand...

By far my biggest issue.
Just felt like we were on a timer waiting to run into it.
 
Papercuts said:
I love it too, but I'm not surprised at the mixed feelings, as I don't think it leaves a great first impression with just being dumped into a game. The matchmaking issues/load times are also a deterrent to playing more which may add more to that.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I've been through the early access, alpha/beta deal quite a few times now, Guess I'm just used to it, haha.
 
Have only played part of a match so far, but want to play some more. My issue was that I was dropped into a match with no instructions. Basic movements are obvious, but how gear works and abilities is not. I don't mind this in a single player game (I'll just sit there and experiment), but in a co-op game I feel a bit of pressure as my teammates are getting a bit ripped off if I have no idea what I am doing.

I played as a medic and had very little idea how to use my abilities. The cloak I figured out, but the shield I was afraid to use in case it was one time use or had a a big cool down. I wasn't even sure how to heal.
 
Papercuts said:
I love it too, but I'm not surprised at the mixed feelings, as I don't think it leaves a great first impression with just being dumped into a game. The matchmaking issues/load times are also a deterrent to playing more which may add more to that.
Click to expand...

Defiently. I don't blame people for finding it underwhelming. My first few matches I spawned in, the monster clearly didn't know what he was doing so we killed him in 3 minitues and I didn't feel like anything was happening other then running around and shooting.

Honestly, my gameplay experience picked up a lot once I started playing the monster. I'm not GREAT at it, I think. I've lost a good deal of matches with him (Though in my defense, in the post-game they were all on mics and very experienced.) but I have had a ton of real nail-biters, including two times when I took out the entire team only to be done in by that damn dog reviving someone at the last moment. It was heartbreaking, but I was happy that when we were all in the lobby even the other team was saying it was a great t
 
Evolve feels like a game where the game mechanics need to be nearly invisible to the user in order to be effective, but in-game, it's unfortunately the complete opposite.

I'm not sure what it is. With a "gamey" game like L4D, it is easy to suspend your disbelief even though you understand exactly how the game works.
 
Yeah this is insane. About 15 straight times of disconnecting and not being able to get in a game. 5 more and I'm done with this. This is beyond stupid.
 
After a couple of matches, I've come to realize that this game is absolutely not for players who'd want to just drop in, play with a couple of randoms and be done with it.

My first couple of matches were pretty underwhelming and it pretty much was what a lot of people in this thread summed it up, "Follow footprints, run around aimlessly, shoot monster... rinse and repeat". It was so dull. But after getting a group of friends today to try it out again, we've had a hell of a lot of fun. Constant communication is a must and constantly following footprints won't get you anywhere with a good monster player. We as a group had to split up and predict the monster's route by going around the pathways the footprints led. A newbie monster player can easily get flanked and slaughtered few minutes into the game if he was playing against a communicative team.

The Alpha left kind of conflicted, once we figured out the game out, me and my friends had tons of fun but I can see this game being an extremely hard sell to people who just wanna go solo without a group of friends playing with randoms. At least in Killing Floor and L4D it's somewhat manageable to play with randoms or even solo but Evolve really requires a communicative group who know what they're doing.

If you have a group of friends to play with, Evolve is definitely worth getting but I personally don't think it's worth the initial asking price. I'll grab when it's on sale for like 30 or so dollars.
 
ToyMachine228 said:
While the Alpha is at least mildly entertaining, after all the hype around Evolve, I am fairly disappointed with the experience as a whole. My thoughts;

- The tracking process devolves into running around randomly and following blue footprints and/or Daisy. I was expecting some cool visual cues, and maybe some devices that would allow us to get a look at where the monster has been and what it has been doing. Instead it's just run around with three other people until the find the monster.
- The combat feels straight forward and unsatisfying. It's just, drop a bubble around the monster and shoot it. Sure, as the medic I get to heal teammates, as support I can shield, and each class has a variety of abilities, but the basic premise is just don't die and shoot the monster until it dies. It doesn't feel intense, intimidating, or strategic and the guns feel pretty dull to use.
- The game relies extremely heavily on other players to reach it's gameplay potential. L4D did as well, but it's even more front and center here. Which is a big risk because often times, games can be quickly over before anything remotely exciting happens.
- Visually, it doesn't feel like a next-gen game all that much. Considering the game is really pretty small in scope, I was expecting nicer visuals, animations and physics. It feels like a last-gen game with some small next-gen spruces. The snow effects on the one map are cool, but other than that, there's nothing too wow-worthy.
- The atmosphere is pretty disappointing. I don't feel creeped out, lost, like I'm hunting or like I'm being hunted. I just feel like I'm running around until I find the monster and occasionally shooting some kind of animal, most of which just keel over and die in a shot or two.
- The progression system feels just fine the way it is. I have no problem with it, and I did find the prospect of unlocking new characters and perks, etc, to be one of the reasons that I continued playing. But I feel like the core gameplay experience just isn't all that strong.

I am willing to chalk up the ridiculously long loading times, poor matchmaking and server issues to the fact that the game is in alpha status. But playing the alpha has made me drop Evolve down my list from "buying" to "eh might buy." While I think Evolve is a great concept, the realization is underwhelming due to the things that I posted above and possibly the pressures Turtle Rock felt to try and keep the game fast paced and "exciting" for the mainstream, itchy trigger finger gamer. When the reality is, this isn't a game that should be for that type of gamer. It should slow down a bit, showcase more nuances and intricacies and deliver a deep, atmospheric and tense gameplay experience.
Click to expand...

Exactly how I fell about the game. Which is a shame I was incredibly hyped by it.

I think the main flaw on the core mechanic is that the monster is too weak. The hunters should be the ones trying to avoid a direct conflict and looking for strategies on how to tackle the enemy. On some matches my group decided to let the monster get to level 3 and still was an easy kill.

It feels like the monster has to be a better player than the hunters to be able to overcome them.
 
I don't usually speak out against things like this, but Evolve's characters stood out to me. Out of 8 only 1 is of color? With a game like that, set around a set gameplay goal that you repeat, it would be nice to at least have some character diversity.
 
Holy crap after the 20th try, I'm in a game! OMG I CAN ACTUALLY PLAY! 0_0

...this game is gonna have Diablo 3 disconnects when it launches.
 
Garteal said:
Lol at the beginning. Looking at that I can't wait to fight a Kraken myself.
Nice 60fps footage by the way.
Click to expand...

Thanks! I was pretty slow to figure out what's happening at the start (it was like 4am) but also not faced too many Krakens before. Usually you get a few minutes to settle in!

Those guys were all in their 20s in terms of level as well.

Maybe if the medic tranq'd him more to slow him down some, maybe.
 
ToyMachine228 said:
While the Alpha is at least mildly entertaining, after all the hype around Evolve, I am fairly disappointed with the experience as a whole. My thoughts;

- The tracking process devolves into running around randomly and following blue footprints and/or Daisy. I was expecting some cool visual cues, and maybe some devices that would allow us to get a look at where the monster has been and what it has been doing. Instead it's just run around with three other people until the find the monster.
- The combat feels straight forward and unsatisfying. It's just, drop a bubble around the monster and shoot it. Sure, as the medic I get to heal teammates, as support I can shield, and each class has a variety of abilities, but the basic premise is just don't die and shoot the monster until it dies. It doesn't feel intense, intimidating, or strategic and the guns feel pretty dull to use.
- The game relies extremely heavily on other players to reach it's gameplay potential. L4D did as well, but it's even more front and center here. Which is a big risk because often times, games can be quickly over before anything remotely exciting happens.
- Visually, it doesn't feel like a next-gen game all that much. Considering the game is really pretty small in scope, I was expecting nicer visuals, animations and physics. It feels like a last-gen game with some small next-gen spruces. The snow effects on the one map are cool, but other than that, there's nothing too wow-worthy.
- The atmosphere is pretty disappointing. I don't feel creeped out, lost, like I'm hunting or like I'm being hunted. I just feel like I'm running around until I find the monster and occasionally shooting some kind of animal, most of which just keel over and die in a shot or two.
- The progression system feels just fine the way it is. I have no problem with it, and I did find the prospect of unlocking new characters and perks, etc, to be one of the reasons that I continued playing. But I feel like the core gameplay experience just isn't all that strong.

I am willing to chalk up the ridiculously long loading times, poor matchmaking and server issues to the fact that the game is in alpha status. But playing the alpha has made me drop Evolve down my list from "buying" to "eh might buy." While I think Evolve is a great concept, the realization is underwhelming due to the things that I posted above and possibly the pressures Turtle Rock felt to try and keep the game fast paced and "exciting" for the mainstream, itchy trigger finger gamer. When the reality is, this isn't a game that should be for that type of gamer. It should slow down a bit, showcase more nuances and intricacies and deliver a deep, atmospheric and tense gameplay experience.
Click to expand...

There are actually some more advanced ways to track the monster, they just don't explain any of them in the game. There was a guide posted in this thread 4 or 5 pages back that went super in depth into this kind of stuff. Certain animals will show up in areas where the monster killed multiple animals shortly after the fact. Trees get knocked down as well. There were some more that I can't remember. I guess we'll see how deep these things are when people get more time into the game.

If you're just blindly following the tracks you only have yourself to blame. At the very least you should be splitting up into groups of two to try and cut the monster off.
 
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