Evolve suffered from massive issues going from unbalanced gameplay, to many game modes to manage and a non-existent player base to play them.
The various monsters, DLC, Skins and unlocks only added to the commercial confusion for players that wanted to get into it.
Stage 2 does away with all of that: Everything is struck flat into a fairly straightforward unlock system using Silver Keys (ala Riot Points or Gold or other F2P currency) and you get some every match to upgrade your character, unlock new monsters and various skins as well. A much cleaner system that allows for people to get their feet wet and unlock things gradually, but not requiring a large up-front commitment.
The gameplay has also been rebalanced / redone in various ways. Firstly, all modes except “hunt” are gone. This might upset some people, but i view as a good thing. It allowed focus on balancing one game mode to the best of their ability, instead of spreading resources to thin.
And they did a pretty damn good job so far. The gameplay changes have shifted a lot of the “run 15 minutes and pray your trapper doesn’t miss” or the “dont let them find me until i’m LvL3 Evolved” into a more gradual shift in power and more interaction and combat between players and monster, with less stress and more teamwork for the hunters allowed a much less toxic experience.
Overall, i REALLY do suggest taking a second look at Evolve Stage 2. It’s core hasn’t changed, but it has received one of the best rebalance and business model changes I’ve seen in years.
