Evolve by Turtle Rock Studios

Yesterday evening we learned that today Game Informer would reveal the cover story for their February 2014 issue and teased it as a title that gamers will "flip out over," only revealing that it was a next-gen-only title that's hitting multiple platforms. The multiplatform nature ruled out major franchises including next-gen installments of Halo, God of War, Gears of War or Uncharted while they also quickly simmered the hype surrounding any potential reveal of Half-Life 3. The latter would never be revealed so soon after Valve boss Gabe Newell explained why there hasn't been any news or reveals surrounding Half-Life.

Among the speculation and rumors, some users and outlets suggested that Evolve, a property picked up by 2K Games after the THQ bankruptcy for a hefty $10.8 million. Those pundits were correct. The big price tag for the new IP stems from the game's pedigree with its developers having previously created Left 4 Dead. Evolve is another co-op shooter, but with an alien theme so it's an easy success story for whoever owned it, and it's hype train begins now.

The Game Informer coverage doesn't reveal many details, outside of confirming that they've played on of the game's modes and that it features four different playable hunters that each sports unique abilities. From the image on the back of the issue, we can gather as much.

Evolve Game Four Hunters

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Looks like there's a traditional soldier class, a brute of sorts what what might be a flame thrower, a character who can fly and another who we're guessing could be a ranged marksman/sniper class.

Where Left 4 Dead has four survivors on the run from endless hordes of fast-moving zombies, Evolve has the four hunters battling one giant alien monster, a beast that evolves through the matches and is actually controlled by a fifth player More details and in-game screenshots can be found in the 12-page story in the February issue but we're definitely excited at the idea of the next-gen consoles getting a co-op focused exclusive shooter, especially one that comes as a new IP.

We're also interested in finding out more on how Turtle Rock Studios designs the asymmetric gameplay around a team of players fighting just one enemy creature, if that truly is the case throughout the game, and what that means for level designs and environments.

Curious? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!

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Evolve releases for next-gen platforms at an unspecified date in time.

Follow Rob on Twitter @rob_keyes.

Source: GI