The Evolve round-up

2K and Turtle Rock have today announced a number of updates on how their 4v1 monster hunter, Evolve, is coming along.

• Details have emerged on the third playable monster, the Wraith, "a small, terrifying, stealthy assassin" per the press release.
• It has been revealed that Evolve will be fully playable offline as either a Hunter or Monster. "Every character, every map, and every mode" they say.  
• And that the Xbox One will getting an Open Beta January 15-19 to test the campaign, called Evacuation. The previous game mode from the Alpha will  be up as well, and the PC and PS4 will get a limited technical test starting on the 16th and 17th, respectively.  If you were invited to the Big Alpha (or for PC if you have a copy of Left 4 Dead or Bioshock Infinite in your Steam library) you can get in on those technical tests. More details on the Evolve website.

I really wasn't expecting the offline availability but am very pleased by the news. In any multiplayer game knowing the map is just critical, and getting to play offline to really explore the arena, as well as experimenting a bit without letting your team down is a big plus, but it's also nice to know Turtle rock isn't turning their back on all the folks in rural areas and whatnot who can't get reliable service.

Evolve will be available February 10 Xbox One, PS4, and PC. I'll leave you with the two videos released today: the first being a 2 1/2 minute cinematic trailer showcasing the Wraith, the second is 50 minutes of play footage of the character and more. It's about an 8 minute match of Wraith v. Hunters with the rest of the footage being the same battle from each character's perspective. Head to the actual youtube page to check out instructions on how to turn the annotations on and jump through each of the perspectives as you watch, hence the "Interactive" bit.