Evolve, is the 4 vs 1 game from Turtle Rock Studios that was released last year to much excitement. Unfortunately that excitement quickly turned sour due to the terrible DLC and micro-transaction strategy. Well we are happy to announce that they have thought long and hard about this and decided to essentially reboot the whole game in what they are calling Evolve Stage 2.

What that means for you and I friends, is that starting today, you can go download Evolve Stage 2 for free on Steam for PC. They have announced a plan for the people that have already bought the game in what they are calling the “founders” so that they won’t be left out in the cold, going as far as to say everything that they have unlocked will be available to them in the “new” game as well as some ongoing bonuses as well. Founders can expect such goodies as:

• 3,000 Silver Keys, all past and future Adaptations for previously owned Hunters and Monsters, dozens of Weapon Skins, and four unique, animated Founder badges.
• If you owned any Hunters, Monsters, or Skins previously, those will be carried over to Evolve Stage 2.

In future, there will be new, exclusive badges, skins and assorted cosmetics for Founders.

Evolve’s very large cast of characters and cosmetics will all be unlockable in Stage 2 by using an in-game currency called Silver Keys, earned by playing. There’s no mention yet of whether you’ll be able to pay cash, although I am sure that they will be mentioning something about it soon.

They also announced that not only are they going free to play, they are also overhauling the entire game, they gave us a small taste of the changes that we can expect to see when logging in now

Major changes include a renewed focus on the signature 4v1 Hunt mode, with rejigged classes to lighten the load for inexperienced Medics and Trappers:

• The MOBILE ARENA is now a shared ability that always centers on the Monster, and all four hunter classes have been redesigned to be more easily accessible and have better team synergy even when you’re not playing with friends.
• TRAPPER – With the mobile arena a shared ability, all Trapper class hunters now come equipped with a PLANET SCANNER ability that tells the hunters generally which direction the monster is located within the map. Trappers also get a speed boost when activating the ability to help them close the distance and Dome the Monster.
• MEDIC – All Hunter classes now have passive health regeneration that automatically heals players when they aren’t taking damage.
• SUPPORT – All Support class hunters now have a SHIELD BURST ability that automatically charges the shields of teammates that are close enough to the Support.
• All Assault class hunters now have a DEFENSE MATRIX ability that replaces the personal shield’s invulnerability and instead provides damage reduction to the Assault character.
• MONSTER – All Monsters now have more health and start with enough skill points to activate all four abilities at the start of a match. Alongside new found power and speed, the Monsters are back to terrorize Shear.
• VISUAL FX and UI have been redesigned to provide a cleaner, more easily understandable experience for players of all skill levels.
• MAPS have been redesigned specifically for HUNT using countless hours of gameplay data and player feedback since launch, resulting in maps that create consistently fair fights for Hunters and Monsters.

If you want to see what this game is about, or maybe what has changed, you can download the new Stage 2 version starting right now on Steam.

By Dayne “Anjel” Cody
Twitter @DayneCody