3 Creatures That Would Be Cool To Have As Monsters In Evolve

Evolve is one of those game concepts that is just awesome. If you haven't been following this game you must know that Evolve will be a first person shooter that pits 4 player controlled human hunters vs 1 big and powerful creature (that is also controlled by a player) in futuristic maps where both sides will have to play in a very strategic, but fierce way in order to survive. Up until now they have only shown us 3 creatures which are Goliath (A big bi-pedal grunt-like monster), Kraken (based on the legendary creature) and Wraith (which seems to be a monster with weird powers that was the result of human experiments gone wrong).

Those are just 3 monsters, but there could be a lot more of them coming in the future and that sparks the imagination to a point where we find ourselves thinking about other monsters that could appear in the game. For now let's see 3 of them.

Note: Don't take these as full featured ideas. They are just a imaginative glimpse of what it could be if these monsters were in fact included in the game.

Unicorn

Story for the monster:
The Unicorn could be a mutation caused by the dumping of chemicals and radioactive materials caused by an accident on a forest facility. The creature would be born of these mutations as the local fauna got contaminated. This creature would obviously look nothing like the mythical one as it will be twisted and deformed and its horn could have a form different from what we are used to see.

The Map:
An open facility found in a dense forest. This forest would be most likely covered in fog and will have places where the contamination is just too bad for humans to go in. This map would have several human outposts and natural places like a basin and a small system of caves to help the humans move around dangerous areas. In the human outpost there would have some devices that could be temporarily activated to help keep the Unicorn at bay or even hunt it down.

The Monster:
Unicorn would have its original equine form (horse-like features) with one big horn as the mythical Unicorn does. It would have blinding speed and use this horn to impale its unlucky victims. The creature would also use its hind legs to kick hunters and send them flying and lay on the ground (like a sleeping horse) to hide in the foliage. Unicorn would get even faster as it evolves and would get new powers like throwing lightning out of its horn and been able to jump and do a lunge attack. When the Unicorn gets to its highest level it would be able to use its own grown body to damage its opponents by just running through them without having to use its horn.

Notable Abilities: 
Fast speed, stealth

Monster cons:
It becomes vulnerable when failing to hit with a horn or lunge attack, questionable defense.

Hunter Strategy:
When hunters are pitted against Unicorn they should focus on slowing him down a little so they can damage it. They do so by using some left over mechanisms that are found on the human outposts in the forest. Humans could use the small cave systems to move around, but would not be able to camp there because toxic fumes would fill these passageways from time to time. So they have to move fast and set a perimeter on these mechanisms so they can trap the Unicorn in some sort of time continuum breaking laser barrier that will slow the creature down a bit. They will also have to protect the mechanism from been destroyed by the Unicorn because once it is gone, they will have to hunt the creature while it is a full speed for the rest of the fight.

Hydra

Story for the monster:
The Hydra would the result of thousands of years of artificial inter-species breeding of aquatic and terrestrial animals. Human scientists were basically playing with genetics until this beast was conceived and escaped the controlled environment, hiding in the deepest parts of a giant lake. Several years later the Hydra resurfaced and caused a disaster on a special facility that was built on this giant lake. Now humanity has lost everything that they have learned on this research because the creature doesn't let anybody to get near the facility so that is when hunters come in.

The Monster:
The Hydra would be the walking/swimming type looking sort of like a dragon with multiple heads. It would start as something big, but not that menacing to the hunters. It would be able to swim really fast underwater and shoot toxic or fire out of its heads. On land it would be a lot slower, but would be able to attack with its tail in addition to the toxic/fire attack. As it evolves it would be able faster on land, learn a third attack from its heads that could be a water blast or something similar and also be able to do lots of damage by biting with its heads. On its final evolution it would become huge and be able to ram the platforms on the lake so hunters would have to be very careful of where they step in. It is also important to say that the creature would breathe oxygen from the surface, so it cannot just stay in the water for too long.

Notable abilities:
Proficient at swimming, abnormal body size, good defense.

Monster cons:
Slow speeds while on land.

The Map:
The map would be a facility that goes around the whole lake with several "pads" on the lake itself. These pads would provide long distance harpoons that can be used to strike the creature down. On the facilities around the lake, the creature would have several spots to get out of the water and into the facility itself as well as tunnels to get back to the lake.

Hunter Strategy:
The strategy here is to be able to keep the creature at bay long enough to be able to use the harpoons. The effort really involves the whole team because this creature can cause a lot of damage especially when on its final evolution where it can ram the pads and throw hunter to the water where they are easy pray. First, they have to activate the harpoons by restarting the generators inside the facility, then they have to run to the pads as fast as they can and coordinate an attack.

Xenomorphs (Alien Queen)

Story for the monster:
Many of you know what Xenomorphs are like, but in case you didn't know they are a vicious alien species featured in the Alien movies as well as the Alien vs Predator ones. The explanation of this creature appearing in Evolve could be something as simple as to say that a human colony ship was in the wrong place at the wrong time. In this case a player will play as an Alien queen that is pregnant and stuck in the middle of the map, sending its children to protect her.

The Monster:
On this case the player would be able to use different types of Xenomorphs, each with their own attacks. In the beginning, the alien queen will just be able to use the common Xenomorph that everybody knows, but as it "evolves" it will be able to use stronger types that will make things more difficult for the hunters. In case her minions fail to stop the hunters and they get too near, she would have her own attacks that she can use to defend herself until the hunters get far enough for minions to be effective again. Her minions can also damage the self destruct mechanisms by throwing acid at them and that would force hunters to fix them, giving the queen a break to pick them off. The cool thing with the alien queen is that the player will be able to have up to 3 minions roaming the place at the same time and would be able to switch them at will. When a minion is not been used it would have a normal A.I that will keep them roaming the place, but will be completely open to attacks.

Notable abilities:
Send up to 3 minions to do her bidding, her own attacks are quite strong

Monster cons:
Not been able to find and stalk the hunters in time could make it very easy for them.

The Map:
A human space colony that is now a wreck as the Xenomorphs have claimed it. It would have several corridors and rooms including air ducts and sewage disposal tunnels. The Alien queen would be right at the middle of the map and from that point it would be able to send her minions to protect her. The map would have 3 places where the colony's self destruct mechanism can be activated as well as places where hatches can be opened, sending any unlucky fellow (hunter or creature) to the vacuum of space. These hatches can be activated by either human or creature.

Hunter Strategy:
The main objective is to destroy the alien queen and this can be done in one of two ways. The hunters can tackle the queen head on in quick attack patterns until it is destroyed or try to activate the self destruct sequence and get out of there as quick as they can. It is a test of speed and consistency because the team would have to be very fast and precise on what they are doing or else the queen will get the upper hand and overwhelm them.

These are the 3 creatures folks, but if you have any other ideas you can share them on the comments section below as imagining stuff about a game is always fun. If Evolve manages to give us lots of creatures and also lots of hunters, it will be an epic experience.

A Couple Reasons Why Destiny Suceeds Amid All The Chaos

September 9th was the day when Destiny launched worldwide and up until now we have been reading and hearing the same thing: bland story, repetitive enemies, repeating missions,etc. At first it seemed as if that backlash would hurt the game, but now after the dust starts to clear, the game still stands on its own as a great experience regardless of lukewarm reviews and heavy criticism. The reason why a game like Destiny is still strong even after the bad press it had on launch is that most of the bad mouthing is thrown in the wrong direction and for the wrong reasons. This gives the backlash a lesser importance so little by little players are just enjoying the game regardless of what they read or heard. Wanna know the reasons why most of the backlash is bogus? Let's mention a few.

Gotta love the environments, they really outdid themselves making those.

The game is not your typical first person shooter.
The first thing that detractors need to know that Destiny is not your average shooter. If you expected to simply choose a stage (or play a linear campaign), run and shoot your way through this isn't your game. Destiny is all about exploration and absorbing the world in which you are playing which is a very fun thing, especially if you explore it with some friends. The planets are huge, you have lots of treasures to find (most hidden in really clever places) you have quests to do and story missions to accomplish, not to mention the random events. This means that this is a game that requires a little more of your patience so if you don't have that, its o.k to pass, but not to say the game is bad because of it.

There are lots of skills between the two job classes featured per each type of character.

The game is not fully a full RPG.
Destiny is one of those games that have pretty neat RPG elements like character progression (by leveling, equipment and skills) including the use of stats, looting, battle rolls (as in damage/defense calculation), element based weapons and so on, but it is not a full fledged RPG. Many people were expecting to walk in the middle of Mars and find a caravan with an old man that tells them a story over a campfire and hot dogs sending them to a cave where they find some plot twist in the end of it or something and that is yet another wrong expectation. Destiny is not Final Fantasy or The Elder Scrolls, it is an online FPS with strong RPG elements and growth based game play. If we really have to compare it to some other game, let's mention other growth/action based ones like Phantasy Star Online or any action rpg game with similar characteristics. You will have a story, but don't really expect something like the ones you would find on an single player RPG, because that is not the main emphasis in this game, see it for what it is.

These guys look big, but their size makes them easy targets.

Many other famous online games have repetitive content.
The "repetitive enemies/quests" outcry is something that is a little hard to understand if you have been playing online games (especially RPG) since long ago. This is something that happens all the time, yet now many people seem to be blaming this game for something that has been there since the very beginning. If something can't be stressed enough is that Destiny is a growth based game. The hook it has is to make you fight enemies/players and get treasures so you can enhance your character and become better. This has been successful so many times, yet people chose to complain about it now. What makes this so curious is that most people had a chance to test the game before it launched so even when they knew what the game was about, they decided to nitpick on a characteristic that almost all online games have.

Epic moments are common when you play with your friends.

Detractors are not trying the game as they should.
This one is a mix of the previous reasons and then some more. If you got the game, you should try it with the right mindset, not only because of the previously mentioned reasons, but because you can't judge a game just by looking at it from only one angle. If you are a game reviewer, you have to loosen up a little and throw your gaming bias through the window. If you are not, then just try everything that the game has to offer before passing judgement. Pass some missions, explore the various planets with some friends, team up for difficult parts, go into exploring trips in order to find the golden chests (don't cheat by looking for their location on the net) and also while you're at it, give the crucible (player vs player) a chance. If you still don't like it its totally o.k, but it doesn't mean that it is a bad game.

I know this is just a concept art, but... Giant frogs with medieval style goblins and druids? Yes please!

Wrapping it up

To get everything into perspective. The game is a mix between a first person shooter and an online rpg and it shouldn't be looked upon like it is supposed to be the holy grail of any of the two genres, because no hybrid is ever perfect. This time around we have to look at it like we should look at life itself, enjoying the small things, having fun and transcending the so called standards for a change. I am NOT implying that we should ignore the game's faults because the game does have some things that still need some work, but that doesn't mean that should count this one out.

To tell you the truth, this game seems to be running on some interesting loop within the gaming community. First the player has a bad impression about it, but out of curiosity they try it anyway. After that, most of them get hooked  or at least go into the "the game is not perfect, but it is fun" sort of thinking. This is something that has been happening over and over again since the game launched and that alone proves the point of this article really well. So bottom line, the game is doing well, Bungie is working hard on new stuff to keep us busy with it so things went on to a bumpy, but good start. Just try it and you will see.

Destiny - Changing How Online Gameplay Feels Like

If there is one game title that many gamers around the world have roaming in their heads since a couple weeks ago or so, is Destiny. Bungie has just showed us the tip of the iceberg in terms of game content and the gaming community is loving it. I had been playing the beta for a while now and I must say that my overall impression is that the game is not only excellent, but very comfortable to play because the people at Bungie went out of their way to fix many annoyances that have been common in PVE (player vs environment) online games since the very first one was made. This game breaks away with the classic "robotic" gameplay style that had for a long time been a staple of playing online games and give us something different that favors exploration and having fun over routine and doing the same thing countless times.

One of the first things I noticed is that this game was not designed for "rushers" and that is a relief. The worlds in this game are so huge in size (for a first person shooter) that there is almost no room for those "picturesque" players that go through a mission as if they had rockets on their feet unless they want to miss 2/3 of the good stuff featured in the missions. Obviously you will always have the option of playing only with friends, but if they are not online at the moment and you enter with a group of strangers, there is still some degree of exploration going on even if they seem to be in a hurry. Is as if people are been suggested to go around and search for stuff, instead of just rushing through all the objectives.

Another thing is the auto-generated looting. I find it very fun to enter a mission I already played and find some neat loot that I wasn't expecting to find. Nowadays this is very rare, even on MMORPG standards as loot has changed into various different systems that seem to award the items instead of them been something you have to search for. It is also good that at least through the beta phase, nobody have seemed to decipher the drop rates or treasure tiers and I hope this stays like that because otherwise the game world will have a lot of "play once then forget" places with a few heavily crowded ones.

On the other side, the skill progression in this game goes back to the "growth per use" style, meaning that you will get new skills and stuff by using those you already have. It is good to have such a dynamic system back because it has been sometime since any game developer wanted to use it. This was all based on fears that such a system could be exploited, but now Bungie brings it back and I am hopeful that they had devised someway to balance the game in order to prevent exploitation of such a nice growth system.

I also enjoyed very much how exploring limitations while going on a mission are so thin that it they are almost invisible. The best example I can give is the session I had with a couple of buddies on the moon event mission last Saturday. At first we passed the mission as everybody would normally do, but then decided to give it another run so one of us could play though the whole mission as he arrived half way though our first run. This time we kind of got side tracked and ended going through some strange entrance that lead us to a very awesome looking place with lots of enemies and places to explore. It looked like sort of a descent to hell, because the way always seemed to be going down and down through narrow caves and some rooms that were were full of bones, chains, hooks and that kind of stuff. We kept at it and we were really enjoying ourselves, looking for hidden stuff and extra pathways to go through. In the end, we found a chest and in it was an emblem that looked like this:

We even found some level 12 enemies that we managed to defeat, but found that way to be a dead end.On the last cave entrance we found, we got all the way to the Temple of Crota from a different side than we were supposed to which also lead to a dead end, but not before fighting some more waves of enemies that included ogres and wizards. After that, we got out of the place and finished the mission and finally realized that a short half an hour mission turned into a 2 hour exploration trip. For me, these kind of things are what makes Destiny to be such a great game with tons of potential.

Wrapping it up

A game design that doesn't favor "rushers", good looting that stimulates exploration, a growth per use skill system and an expansive world to explore with very limited boundaries. This was only the beta phase, but I already can imagine how interesting things will get when the final version is released on September 9. As you people read this entry, some of you may be going like "what's this guy talking about?" and if you are one of those, I suggest you play the game with a single player game mindset so you can see the great things that Destiny has to offer and how it changes the atmosphere that we are used to have on online games.

Doom is back! An awesome mix of the old and new.

It has been a very long time since we last had a Doom game. This was because the popular first person shooter franchise took a really long hiatus after they made it a trilogy. From a player's stand point, the first two Doom games were classics and the 3rd one kind of divided the community between the fans that loved it and the fans that hated it. Nevertheless, the big bad granddaddy of first person shooters is back as a reboot that was just called "Doom" and so far so good, as it looks like an exciting mix of the old and new. Based on the descriptions given by the ones who were lucky enough to be in this year's QuakeCon, this is what how the game appears to be:

The classic style game is back with a modern twist to it.

The old

In the visual department, it seems that this Doom title carries along a visual style that is very similar to its antecessors.  With its setting been in a research facility on Mars, it features all the post-apocalyptic settings, the concrete and metal walls surrounding everything and also the gory effects of the third game. The big "F" heavy looking guns are back, complementing the assortment of normal weapons. The speed of combat on this one went away from the survival horror style of Doom 3 and more into the classic feeling of the earlier titles, with several enemies coming at once and not much room for error. The game's fast paced action game play also has an emphasis on going swift and deadly so no duck and cover mechanics this time. All while also giving you the old school hazard of enemies that can teleport and surprise you very easily, just like the classic Doom many of us know.

Up until now, weapons seem to have taken the old school treatment as there is no reloading and no bullet limits on your clip. Finally to top it off, they decided Not to include regenerating health, so like in Wolfestein: The New Order, if you want to stay alive you will have to look for health and ammo items or die trying.

Yep, hes back.

The New

There is quite a few "new school" elements in this game so newcomers shouldn't feel cast out. For instance the game will run at a smooth 1080p/60fps on all platforms it will be released in. The game also features execution mechanics where you damage an enemy as you normally would, then kick the hell out of them and finish it off with a gruesome execution (take note that the same thing can happen to you if you are killed and the type of execution will vary depending on which type of enemy fragged you). You will get weapons with alternate firing modes, enemies that can use jet packs and attack from the air and of course the movement mechanics you have known from modern first person shooters for like sprinting, mantling and if you like to go a little on the arcade style, double jumping.

Wrapping it up

This new Doom reboot looks like it will be the best of the past with the best of the present. It is that sort of mix that many of us have been waiting for years and that is more than enough reason to be hyped about it. Remember that if you bought Wolfestein: The New Order, you already have a pass to the Doom beta phase, so stay alert. No details where given about when this beta phase would start, but it could happen at any time now and we are ready for it.

Doom trailer prior to the Quake Con 2014

EVOLVE: redefining the online first person shooter experience.

When EVOLVE was first shown to the gaming community by the people at Turtle Rock (Left 4 Dead), many gamers were surprised because of how much of a fresh idea it was. Up until now the concept of an online session on any first person shooter game was always about just shooting the enemy down, capturing their flag, dominating their spots,etc so the game took that into a whole unexplored direction. Now with a game like EVOLVE we see a re-imagining of the online first person shooter experience with a fresh and interesting new idea. This time you are not only the one behind the guns and gadgets, but also a mighty creature who's job is to make sure that all its enemies are dead at once. The great thing about this concept is that it is surely something that many gamers were wanting to do ever since the first time we had to defeat a giant boss in a video game, so now that we can opt to be the heroes or the big bad guy, let's see how good the idea is holding off.


The Game Play

The game play in EVOLVE revolves around a group of 4 hunters, trying to defeat a giant monster. Looks simple enough, but it quickly becomes fascinating when you see that the battleground is not arena styled. On this game you will have to move through very well designed maps that feature a mix of jungles, forest, caves and small urban areas as you either hunt the creature or as the creature, you creep on the hunters looking for a way to wipe them out.  The nice thing about these maps is that they are packed with various types of flora and fauna that can either be helpful or harmful, giving each session a good sense of survival, rather than a plain fire fight. The mood on the game maps is also something worth noting, as it has this eerie feeling, sort of like the one you would get if you were walking through a jungle late at night, heard a sound of some bushes moving, pointing your flashlight at them and managing to catch a glimpse of something that has been creeping on to you from the shadows. It is all a mixture of elements that give the game a very intense, but suspenseful feeling.



The Hunters

As the hunters, you will fight the monster with a party of 4. The basic jobs for these hunters are assault, trapper, medic and support (which means 2 damage dealers, a healer and extra support), but many other different types of hunters have been shown which seem to have their own characteristics and skills which may or not differ from the basic classes. Assault, medic and support are class types that are already known in the first person shooter genre, been the trapper is the one that makes a difference. On this game, the trapper is the one that has the task of playing "tricks" the monster by slowing it down, holding it in place and various other things that will help the rest of the party in their effort to put it down for good by maximizing damage which makes the trapper one of the most important classes other than the medic. If this were a medieval styled game, the trapper would be some sort of wizard who puts status effect hexes on the enemy in order to weaken them.


The Monsters

As the monster, your goal is to wipe the hunter party any way you can. There will be a lot of monsters to choose from as you progress through the game, but right now the ones that have been shown are Goliath and Kraken, with Goliath been the basic "grunt" type monster you start with. Playing as the monster puts you in a disadvantage early on, as you begin small and not that powerful, but if you manage to survive the first encounters with the hunters then you get to move around and feed of the local plants and animals in order to get bigger and stronger, which is separated in "evolving stages"(hence the name of the game) as each stage make you bigger in size, gives you new attacks and even some special skills if you live long enough.

EVOLVE E3 gamplay footage by IGN

Balance is king

A game formula such as the one featured in EVOLVE is very prone to balance issues, considering that we have the possibility of the monster been too powerful or too weak and the chance that giving too many tools to the hunters can somehow turn into players finding some way to exploit them. Up until now it seems that most of these issues have been dealt with while playing as a hunter or the monster so neither of them have any unfair advantage.

Playing as the hunters gives you a fair deal of weaponry and tools as well as fluid movement which doesn't have you confined to any tight space (including some sort of jet packs used to float around a bit). While it looks "safe" enough to play as a hunter, you are still only human so you can still be mauled if you are not careful enough. While playing as the monster, you may believe that you will be at a clear advantage or disadvantage, but in reality what really decides how well you do, is your instinct for survival. You have to think like a beast and not like a human. Forget about cherry-picking your enemies because the hunters will constantly find you with the help of their trapper and also forget about "camping" because this will prevent you from getting stronger. You will have unnatural strength and powers, but you will not be able to spam your way through, because the game design will not allow it. The game flow in this game involves several skirmishes followed by some calm moments that serve for you to prepare for the next fight, so use them well and don't try to rely on dirty tactics and they don't seem to work. In summary, with game sessions averaging on 12-15 minutes each, we can see that there not much room for error with game play as balanced as this, it all relies on your skills and not on the game's technical issues.

Kraken joins the battle!

Potential for greatness

Right now, as far as we have been able to see about the game, we can conclude that it has lots of potential. Not only it redefines what an online first person shooter plays like, but does it in a balanced way and promises to give us a little extra for our effort as the game will feature unlockable things like new monsters and hunters, so in order to try them all, you will have to go the distance. Add this to the well done game maps (it seems that there will be 12 in total), eerie and suspenseful atmosphere, balanced game play and fast paced action and you have a possible winner in your hands.

Wrapping it up

EVOLVE looks like it will be an interesting, different approach into the online first person shooter experience that has the makings of a great and fun game. If you ever wanted to feel how would it be to be the big bad boss at the end of a stage or if you love long and difficult boss fights, this game is right up your alley and it will become available to you on October 21, so get ready.

Sources: 
Youtube: IGN
GameSpot