E.V.O.: Search for Eden

The Good
Original side-scroller, good boss fight design.

The Bad
GRINDY, long necks are OP (as is ape/human's weapon) - in much of the levels, attacking without lunging is an advantage (except against those annoying amphibians you can't bite with a long neck). very few levels/situations try to balance it out. White long-necks are your main fodder throughout much of Reptile and Mammal chapters. Controversial: primitive humanoids are shown as being brown. Weird: Even in small size, earliest ape's bone weapon is bigger than any in-game creatures' would-be bones.

The Bottom Line
A weird side-scroller that is very grindy, yet the non-grind parts are kinda fun.

The Good
The different types of settings is one of the most successful aspects of Evo: Search for Eden. Playing the first area in the water as a fish is very different than the second area as a lizard-like creature, and i was quite shocked when i saw this happen. Shocked, because i felt like this game would be another one of those short, monotonous games where you do the same thing throughout and just killing different types of enemies. In fact, another surprise is that the menu screen that allows you to upgrade your organism's body parts is quite advanced, despite the fascility with which evolution points can be gained. Personalizing your character to this extent is not seen very often in side-scrolling games, which gives a touch of originality to EVO.

The Bad
I was surprised to see the good aspects i mentioned above, mainly because the overall mood and look of EVO are very disappointing at first. The storyline is pulled 'out of the blue' and the game creators have made a bad impression of who Gaia really is. The way in which you can kill the same monster over and over again to gain points, then simply buy out all the upgrades at the first level is also a disappointment. Finally, at some points of the storyline, i felt like the writing was spoon-feeding evolutionary facts to me in words rather than incorporating the educational points into the game. Although the game itself is quite historically accurate, it's disappointing that it's so focused around the idea of evolution down to the last detail, for this has put limits on an otherwise very creative game!

The Bottom Line
I would recommend this for those who want to experience a different type of side-scroller, but wouldn't guarantee more than a couple hours of satisfaction. What seems like an innovative idea gets old... very quickly.