EVO - The Search for Eden

"Varied combat and a unique experience system balance the myriad minor issues this game sports."

Every so often, games come along that just compel you to like them. These games can have glaring flaws, but they'll contain one massive redeeming feature that balances everything wrong with it. EVO – The Search for Eden is one such game. One could drone on about its detriments, but the game's trump card, evolution, makes up for a large number of its shortcomings. The unique game puts you in the role of a constantly-evolving creature that must traverse and survive various eras of earth's history.

Graphics/Design: 8/10
For the most part, the game looks excellent. All of the many creatures you'll encounter – from the real, to the historically fictitious, to the completely original – are well-designed, detailed, and varied. The scrolling backgrounds look surprisingly well-produced, with a lot of attention to minute details like seaweed and fossils. The world map would be embarrassing to the otherwise good visuals, but you'll spend very little time on it in total. The biggest graphical problem is with some slowdown issues that occur, often during boss battles.

There are really are no major problems with its design either. The settings all look exactly the way they should. Rugged prehistoric mountains, earthy swamps, vast life-filled oceans and a meticulously designed fortress populated by a race of birdmen are among the locations you'll encounter, all with a suitably organic feel to match the natural, evolutionary theme of the game. It is somewhat easy to get lost in the larger caves and rooms, however, which can be frustrating.

Music/Sound: 8.5/10
If nothing else, EVO boasts a strong soundtrack. Creepy, tentative themes for undersea areas and tense, edgy melodies for caves, among others, combine perfectly to create the ideal tone of the game, and help to give the right sense that you've just been dropped into an unknown, dangerous world.

Sound is decent, but certainly not perfect. There is nothing outright bad about E.V.O.'s sound effects, they just seem a little off. In short, they get the job done.

Gameplay/Story: 7/10
EVO's gameplay is where its individuality truly comes into play. At the outset, it appears as a very typical action-RPG. You travel to areas on a world map, which will take you to numerous side-scrolling action stages. Once inside a location, your task is often just to make it to the other end of that room, cave or path. Along the way though, many enemies, some more hostile than others, will try to make your life difficult and attack you. Many of these areas conclude with a difficult boss as well. EVO's main attraction however, is its evolution system.

You begin the game as a fish in a massive ocean where the only rule is survival of the fittest. After defeating enemies, (accomplished at the beginning of the game with bites) they will appear as chunks of meat which will replenish health and give you EVO points. These points can be spent at any time to upgrade your body in any way you see fit. Your evolution is completely customizable, so you'll always be able to adapt to your situation. Enemies taking too many hits? Evolve your jaws to be more powerful. Taking too many hits yourself? Change yours fins to increase your speed, or develop your body to resist more damage.

Once certain points in the game are reached, you're sent to the next evolutionary era. At these points, you evolve into other creature bases than fish, including amphibian, reptile, mammal, human and even a few secret ones. By reaching these points, you'll gain more evolutionary options like alternate attacks, (charging, jumping and punching, for example) extended necks and increased body size to name a few. This system really is EVO's selling point, and with good reason. Not only does it work as a useful and distinctive alternative to the tired level-up concept, but it's really cool to see what kind of creature you end up with. Each time you play through EVO, you'll probably end up with a completely different creature than the last, and it is immensely satisfying to observe your creature grow from debility to potency with a few EVO points.

Outside of evolving, the game is still a top-notch action-RPG. Every enemy is different, which means you'll rarely get bored unless you're fighting the same enemy repeatedly. On that note however, there is quite a bit of grinding in some areas to ensure you've evolved enough to challenge the game's demanding bosses. Speaking of bosses, EVO's are exciting and enjoyable, even if they are a pain. Other than that, there's not much to say. EVO certainly seems like it would get repetitive, but with your constantly changing abilities and varied enemies, it feels fresh throughout.

The story definitely won't blow you away. Gaia (Earth's personification) has selected one creature of all those on Earth (you, of course) to be her partner in Eden, and you must travel through the various time periods to prove yourself worthy. That's about it. There are a few offshoots that deal with evolution-altering crystals and the like, but you're really just given one goal and stick with it through the entire game.

Play Control/Innovation: 6.5/10
The most frustrating part of the game is easily its hit detection and control. Simply touching an enemy will incur damage on you, even if it's not as much as being hit by an actual attack. Large enough enemies can often move “through” you, hitting you multiple times in the process and then turning and dealing a devastating attack on your backside, all the while you're completely immobile. Additionally, the game has a dash function achieved with a double-tap in a given direction, already non-intuitive, but if you dash into a wall, you'll be stunned for a few seconds. And the game is very picky about what constitutes a wall. Combine these with a large lunge before each attack and the sloppy controls account for half of a battle's challenge.

To just keep nagging about the controls would be doing EVO an injustice – it really is a good game. By far the best examples of its assets are its original concepts. The evolution system is possibly the best stat-augmenting structures ever put into a game, and it should not be surprising if it becomes quite common in the action-RPG genre. Not to mention the way you seamlessly transition from fish to amphibian, etc.

Replay Value/Challenge: 6.5/10
EVO is an adequate length for a game of its type. Some areas may only take about a minute to complete, while others will take upwards of 45 minutes, and the large number of them add up to a game that is about 7-10 hours long. It's not a mind-blowing amount, and the only side-quests are really just alternative evolutionary steps, though, so it's probably not a game you'll replay many times.

The difficulty level of EVO is not bad or good; in fact, it takes more of a schizophrenic tone. Many rooms are filled with weak enemies that do nothing but wait to be eaten, while others are overflowing with tremendously powerful enemies that will require you to fight one then heal completely before the next. And the bosses, as mentioned before, can be near-impossible, even with a heavily-evolved animal at your disposal. The sad fact about its challenge level is that it probably could have been reduced significantly if the enemies couldn't move through you the way they do. But perhaps this is being a bit too hard on the game. The areas that don't have bosses and obscenely powerful enemies are all much more balanced, with a great learning curve and easy to understand instructions.

Overall: 7.1/10 (not an average, rounded to 7)
To put it simply, EVO is not game of the year material, but it deserves recognition for what it does. If you can forgive its flaws, you'll find a deep, rewarding experience. If you're easily frustrated, though, steer clear.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 07/01/08

Game Release: EVO - The Search for Eden (US, July 1993)