Evolve is already shaping up to be one of 2015’s premiere game releases, a four-versus-one multiplayer opus where a quartet of heavily armed hunters pursue a dangerous creature – all of which are controlled by human players (or AI, if you’re a solo combatant).
With the game set to arrive next month, 2K Games has taken the initiative and launched a separate app that will get players excited for the game, while at the same time providing a nice diversion with its own take on the “match-three” formula.
Evolve: Hunters Quest is available now for iOS, Windows, Android and Amazon Fire devices, and provides players with the opportunity to join a team of Hunters on the planet Shear, as they seek out dangerous new prey to hunt. Players need to match up icons on a playfield to attack enemies in turn-based style, while staying alive from their incoming attacks. Along the way, they can activate special abilities to knock their foe for a loop, as well as earn Mystery Points to level up characters.
It definitely has a Puzzle & Dragons vibe to it, and that’s what 2K is counting on, since GungHo Entertainment’s game continues to be popular worldwide on mobile devices. However, the design stays true to the Evolve formula, with familiar characters that appear in the original game, including the monsters.
The game, developed in conjunction between Evolve‘s Turtle Rock Studios and mobile app team Cat Daddy Games, is available for free of charge, and features a number of power-ups that can be unlocked using in-game currency. It’s unknown at this time if it supports Microtransactions, but, given that it’s a promotional release, it’s not very likely. It can be downloaded for iTunes here.
Launching a mobile app alongside a premiere console release is a sound business strategy, as it drums up additional business and hype in a way that isn’t really considered clear advertising. Plus, to be fair, Evolve has been quite popular with the community with the two betas it’s gone through over the last few months.
We’ll see what kind of impact these monsters make when Evolve launches on February 10 for Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC.
