Evolve Devolves into a Pointless Cashgrab
You know, never in my life did a video game involving four hunters and one giant beastie make me sick to my stomach before, but Evolve does just that. And it’s not even because the game is bad… in fact, it’s fun teaming up with friends and hunting giant monsters. There’s just a severe lack of content. Or rather, the content is there… you just have to pay for it separately.
Since the launch of next gen, there have been many annoying things about this new age of gaming. I remember the days when Day One patches were a rarity. Now they’re the norm. I also remember the days when buying a Season Pass would get you all of a game’s downloadable content – or at the very least the lion’s share of it – at a discounted price. Nowadays, if you don’t read the fine print, you’re likely to get screwed. Case in point: Evolve, which just hit store shelves yesterday at an MSRP of $59.99+ tax. I really have to call bullshit on this one.
So you get the game, right? Cool! You run home and find out immediately that there’s no real single player campaign to speak of. Fair enough. It’s not that kind of game, and you should have known that going in. We live in the age of the Internet, and you should always do some research before you buy.
Anyway… the game’s Season Pass. The Hunting Season Pass contains Magma skin for Goliath, Wraith, and Kraken creatures as well as four additional hunters who will join the fray. The price? $24.99+ tax. That brings us to around $85.00 before tax.
What you may not know is that there’s also $136.00 worth of paid DLC available consisting of skins, assists, and weapons at the game’s launch. Ponder that. If you want everything, you’re looking to spend in the neighborhood of $221.00 BEFORE TAX. That’s like around $150.00 shy of buying a brand new Xbox One or any number of last gen systems.
Does that $136.00 include the $24.99 for the season pass? Does it even matter? Even if it did, that’s STILL $196.00 BEFORE TAX. One visit to the Xbox online marketplace tells the tale. There are four pages of DLC priced between $2.00 and $7.00 each.
The game’s developer, Turtle Rock Studios, has stated that new maps will be free to all so as to avoid segregating or divvying up players in this mainly multiplayer game. They’ve also stated that they intend to release new hunters and monsters as DLC – monsters for $15.00 a pop, hunters for $7.50 a pop. That’s in addition to the $220.00+ you’ll spend IF you want all of the existing stuff… you know… the added content to make it seem like you got your money’s worth from a complete $60.00 game.
Gamers are so confused and bewildered by this that they’ve gone so far as to create spreadsheets in an attempt to try to figure out what is worth what. This is just insane and, in the end, just plain wrong.
Evolve has just enough content on the disc to make it playable and little else. You want the full experience? The Goodfellas said it best – “FUCK YOU, PAY ME!”
Usually at this point in an article we’ll list some links for you to buy a product from Amazon. However… this time? We just cannot in good conscience do so. Hey, Turtle Rock… You want the faith and love of the fans? FUCK YOU, PAY US!
Categorized:Horror Gaming News
