Game review: Evotinction (PS5)

I remember back in 1999 playing Metal Gear Solid on the PSOne, and it was the first game I ever played that employed stealth tactics. Normally, in video games, you are forced to fight enemies, but in Metal Gear Solid, it was encouraged that you avoid them.

Due to the success of Metal Gear Solid, other stealth franchises followed, giving rise to the Assassin's Creed and Splinter Cell games. Sadly though, the stealth genre has faded in recent years thanks to the Souls genre exploding in popularity.

Well, the stealth genre hasn't died just yet because a new game has arrived called Evotinction. The game has been developed by Spikewave Games, which is an independent Chinese studio. Even though the game is the studio's first effort, graphically, Evotinction looks sleek and modern due to its futuristic setting. 

Anyway, Evotinction lets you assume the role of a character named Dr. Thomas Liu, and he's the head of the AI development department at a futuristic state-of-the-art facility called HERE. Things go awry when the main AI controlling the facility goes rogue and releases something called the Red Virus.

The Red Virus corrupts some robotic drones called genies, and this causes a lockdown that kills everyone. Thomas Liu and a friendly robot named Oz need to seek out if there are any survivors as well as find out what the heck went wrong with the AI.

Evotinction is a stealth game at heart because Thomas Liu will have to hack, decommission, or avoid the aforementioned genies when he is roaming around the now desolate facility. Hacking is pretty easy because no minigames are required. Not to mention, more enemy types appear later in the game, such as a flying drone with an invisible cloak.

In terms of combat, Thomas Liu is able to hack the drones to blind their sight. Other abilities also include disabling drones or hacking them so that they are unable to hear sound. Tons of other abilities become available later in the game when you unlock them. My favourite ability in the game is hacking drones so that they fall on the ground.

Thomas Liu is also given a gun called the E-blaster, which can be used to shoot electricity to disable drones, or you can sneak behind to scan their barcodes to shut them down that way. The gun is also used during the game's boss fights, although these happen few and far between.

Thomas Liu also has a special attack in Evotinction called DDOS, and he can only use this when a special meter is filled up. This attack temporarily hacks all drones in the area, allowing you to go and shoot them with the aforementioned E-blaster. This is a helpful technique because it doesn't use up all the batteries from the E-blaster.

Another combat item that is available is throwing items called chips. One chip creates an annoying sound that can distract drones, while another creates a hologram of Thomas Liu. My favourite throwing item in the game was the magnetic chip, which attaches itself to drones and immediately disables them. 

As I mentioned before, the visuals in Evotinction are pretty cool because the game uses augmented reality to simulate different locations. Some of the locations that Thomas Liu can explore include a fancy futuristic museum, a shopping mall, an aquarium, and even an arcade with games. Sadly, you cannot play the game in the arcade, though...

While I enjoyed a lot of what Evotinction had to offer, the game isn't without some annoying faults. I won't spoil anything here, but I will say that the final boss is annoying and very frustrating. It took me quite a while to finally beat it at the end.

Speaking of the end, some people might think that Evotinction is a pretty short game. I managed to finish the game in only six hours. That being said, the game is being offered at a discounted price of only $54.95 for people living in New Zealand.

Another minor flaw is that some people may find the story to be a little confusing at the start. When you progress and get closer to the end, though, the story's mysteries start to get uncovered.

Overall, Evotinction is a fun little stealth title with unique game mechanics and surprisingly good graphics. The game might not be for everyone, but I do think it's worth checking out if you want to try something new for a change. 

Verdict: 7.0/10