Why Evolve had to wait until this generation

By Brenna Hillier

Evolve isn’t coming to PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, because the older consoles just can’t do what Turtle Rock envisioned for its 4v1 shooter.

When developers and publishers say a game can only run on current-generation consoles, it’s hard not to wonder why. After all, if you turn the graphics down a bit, what actually is the difference between “next gen” games and older ones? We’re still running, shooting, and driving in circles, after all.

According to Turtle Rock, Evolve is an exception, because one of the core tenets of gameplay simply isn’t possible on less powerful machines.

Turtle Rock “had this idea for a game even before L4D but couldn’t make it because of the technical limitations”, producer Chloe Skew said in a Reddit AMA.

“CryEngine is so good for creating lush, realistic environments, that in combination with the new generation of consoles and PC hardware, it was perfect for generating an environment where a 22 foot Monster could actually hide, which is sort of crucial to the 4v1 gameplay.”

So this is one instance where what you see on screen – huge environments with rich vegetation – actually has a pretty important gameplay effect.

Elsewhere in the AMA, writer Matt Colville said Turtle Rock had to cut one “next gen” feature during development because it just wasn’t very fun – a huge variety of independent wildlife.

“We originally had a much more ambitious plan for the wildlife. Like, the planet was almost a third team and it wasn’t unusual for one side to win because the other got destroyed by the wildlife,” he explained.

“But we pretty quickly dropped that. It was very unsatisfying to be running through the world, looking for the monster, and get HEROES WIN out of nowhere. You won, but you didn’t cheer. You sat around wondering what happened? It was a huge letdown. So we scaled the wildlife back to make them more situational.”

Evolve is coming to PC, PS4 and Xbox One in February.