Evolve

Tactically deep, and bursting with character, Evolve offers a level of nuance rarely found in multiplayer shooters.

Evolve is a tense and gratifying online shooter.

This is a shooter with ambition, designed with skill and craft, and rich with tactical possibility. If it had the punch and physical feedback of some of its less-intelligent genre mates, Evolve could have been a classic. As it is, we'll have to do with a monster with plenty of bark, but not quite enough bite.

A refreshingly asymmetrical FPS with terrific competitive depth, but the thrill of the hunt eventually begins to wane.

Evolve offers something different, even if it doesn't always succeed

Fun, if overly frantic, Evolve is a genuinely unique online offering. Its intriguing ideas don't always pay off, and content-wise the game is a little bare bones, but hey, monsters!

The 4v1 formula is original but inherently limited; how long Evolve holds your attention will depend on how much you enjoy the hunt.

With the ability to play as a monster against a human team, Evolve offers something unique – and surely one of gaming's best-ever tribute acts. When you're fleeing from the hunters and get trapped in their containment field, swatting desperately while looking for an out, you think back to those Power Pills and how far we've come.

Don't underestimate how clever and how careful Evolve is, and just how many deeply different elements it genuinely manages to balance. But sadly that's not backed up by a huge amount of personality.

If you can find four people who are willing to sign a blood pact to convene for a ritual night of Evolve once or twice a week, then by all means enjoy the hunt (and where do I sign?). If not, you have to ask yourself if you are really prepared to deal with the peaks and frequent valleys of the experience. Personally, I think there are better ways to spend your time than gambling on a decent match, hoping one or two of your friends can make it on sometime over the weekend.