In Turtle Rock Studios’ Evolve (2015), the game’s pacing is largely focussed around the Hunters’ tracking, pursuit and confrontation of the Monster, designed to gradually increase in pacing the longer the match continues. Its initial tension is maintained through the simulation of the hunt – the idea of perceived danger, and through the building of anticipation that the Monster could be confronted at any moment.
Each session of the game consists of several subsets of the archetypal three-act structure. The opening scenes of the level depict the Hunters’ banter as they are deployed into the level, featuring unique dialogue that is dependent on that particular combination of characters. This light exposition in the midst of the opening scenes not only reveals some backstory to the player and establishes the scene, but also serves the added purpose of providing the Monster with time to find their bearings.
The opening scenes of each match carve out some space for character exposition.
Once the stage is set and the players are deployed, the search for the Monster begins, in which the tension begins to rise. There is often very little anticipation of encountering the Monster at this stage due to the initial headstart that is provided to the Monster. Occasionally the Monster may trigger particular cues (such as startling a flock of birds), which assist the Hunters in their search and heighten the anticipation for the fight.
Once the Hunters have spotted the Monster, the pursuit begins, as the players must then get close enough to the Monster in order to trap it. The tempo increases, and urgency between both Monster and hunter increases, though the speed of the movement does not. While a jetpack allows Hunters to scale obstacles with relative ease, the rate at which they use it does not necessarily increase to match it. Despite this increase in both tempo and intensity, such pursuit is often not as tense as it could be, and is often at risk of being reduced to constantly trailing the Monster.
Trapping the Monster in with the Hunters forces it to engage them in direct combat.
If the Hunters succeed in cornering the Monster, however, the final act of this structure comes to the fore. Getting close enough to it allows the Hunters to deploy a timed dome that traps the Monster within, forcing it to confront them and making the previously implied danger a very real threat. In this circumstance, the tempo of the Monster approaches an all-time high, as the gameplay becomes especially action-oriented until the dome is released, and the Monster can continue fleeing. Each encounter becomes increasingly tense, specifically as the Monster becomes increasingly stronger and hence closer to winning the game by destroying a Power Relay or defeating the Hunters.
Perhaps the pacing could have been improved by increasing the difference in overall gameplay speed throughout the second phase of each match, which would aid in distinguishing the pacing of both the tracking and pursuit of the Monster. Whilst the tempo is still rather absorbing, this tension has been somewhat diminished after its recent changes to a more action-oriented focus.