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For those just hearing about Evolve now, this is the first game from the developers of Left 4 Dead since they parted ways with Valve. They're bringing back their traditional four-player co-op shooter gameplay and turning it into an asymmetric competitive multiplayer arena. The game is 4v1 pitting four hunters against one player-controlled monster. There are three monsters for the solo player to choose from while the other four players must choose from hunters that fit into four specific categories.

It's a simple yet innovative system (that BioWare is now copying), but more importantly, it works and works well. Evolve took home a pile of nominations and awards at E3 2014 earlier this summer and last month at Comic-Con, our crew made it our top priority to play it at the Xbox Showcase. Now, 2K Games is showcasing Evolve at Gamescom 2014 in Cologne, Germany, and even had a small presentation during the Xbox conference where they also announced Evolve's open beta date for Xbox One.

The gameplay video up top features Hyde the Assault, Lazarus the Medic, Hank the Support, and Griffin the Trapper facing off against a Kraken monster on the newly revealed Distillery map that features all-new wildlife to fight (or eat) in an arctic environment.

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As the video demonstrates, the four hunters must work together not only to battle the fifth player and their monster - in this demo, a Kraken who's halfway to hitting max level - but they need to be cautious of environmental hazards as well. The maps feature not only different aesthetics and terrains, but different wildlife as well, some of which is hostile.

Evolve is one of our most anticipated games and was recently delayed from its fall 2014 date to 2015 to allow for more polish. With so many titles trying to squeeze in before the holiday as the player base grows for PS4 and Xbox One, we're happy to see some higher profile games get more time in the oven (see the full list of delayed games here). This one's looking worth the wait.

Evolve releases for PC, PS4 and Xbox One on February 10, 2014.

Follow Rob on Twitter @rob_keyes.