Trailers on Trial - Evolve to Guillermo Del Toro

Welcome back to trailers on trial, where we break down trailers for games and movies to see what works and what doesn’t. When all is said and done, we pass a verdict as to whether we buy into the hype of the trailer or decide it just wasn’t interesting. Today we’ll be discussing Crimson Peak and the launch trailer for Evolve (because why not be somewhat topical). Enjoy! 

Crimson Peak, if the trailer is anything to go by, appears to be a movie about Loki (I mean, Tom Hiddleston) in a suit taking women (specifically our protagonist) to his strange mansion in a secluded area in the mountains. This is under the guise that he has some vested interest in her or her vagina, but the truth looks like it leans more towards the whole “secret murderer” aspect, but not the justifiable kind like Dexter Morgan from Dexter. How can we determine his murders are justifiable? Well, because it’s Loki, I mean Tom Hiddleston, and he always seemed to play the charming but obviously psychotic monsters.

Anyway, Loki brings protagonist to a house where it’s obviously haunted by CGI monster effects, strange butterflies, and hands popping up in random places. I’m sure more scary things happen, but the trailer can’t show everything or else we lose some of the effect in the movie. That being said, monsters are Guillermo Del Toro’s thing as seen in films like Hellboy and Pacific Rim. If anyone has a good handle on making a proper monster flick, it’d be him most likely (which is likely why he was handpicked to help make Silent Hills the game). From what I can see so far, yes, I get the unsettled vibe and I like where that’s going so far.

What I can’t tell is what kind of horror this film is truly aiming for. I mean, it gives a sense of creature feature, maniacal murderer, and subtle psychological horror all in one trailer, but I can’t tell which comes across as the more prevailing direction this is taking yet. But that’s also good because it leaves us speculating and guessing. It leaves us wanting to explore and see more, which is what good horror should do. It should freak you out, but still leave you wanting to see what’s next only to get freaked out again. This trailer certainly delivered on keeping us just enough in the dark to not spoil anything too major but also give us enough where we’re interested.

What’s really throwing me off is how our protagonist is wandering around with a machete in a heavy snow/foggy area with broken down machines all around her. Said machines could even be remnants of the house where the bulk of the movie takes place, but where she is and why she’s there still are unclear. But this adds to that psychological horror vibe I get in thinking about Silent Hill. Once again, if the direction in this film really is solid, then it actually brings up my spirits for Silent Hills to maybe be a good game.

Verdict? Finally, a horror-film trailer for something not only original, but something that actually looks quite good. Perhaps it’s biasness for the director and Loki… I mean Tom Hiddleston, but there’s just enough creepy shit happening here to get my attention, but so much mystery that it also has my curiosity. Unless major leaks happen that spoil large chunks of the movie to reveal something stupid, yeah, count me in for this one. This looks to be a fun ride of a film.

Okay, yes, I’ll admit it’s wholly unfair that I’m analyzing a trailer for a game I’ve already spoken about how disgusted I am on the business end of things. I’ve also already said I don’t have interest in getting the game based on that for the most part. Not to mention I’ve seen several let’s play videos of other people playing the game, which is a much more useful indicator of the quality of a game instead of a 2-minute trailer showing pre-rendered animations and very select game footage. But, again, topical. As such, we won’t be saying whether this is a buy or not, because you know which side I’m mostly on. But let’s compare this to a good game Turtlerock Studios made once… Left 4 Dead.

There is a stark difference between the two trailers as can see by watching them now. In Left 4 Dead, it starts off slow-rolling with the characters merely talking as they walk down a dark alley looking at the carnage left behind by the infected. There are no graphics to show how many awards or accolades this game received before it even launched. There’s nothing in your face about reviews or how impressive the game was designed to be. You get to see the characters and get to know the characters.

Obviously, Evolve is different. It throws that information in your face with the same bluntness of a bag of hammers. You see character classes, but you don’t really get to know the characters or why they’re there. It has a similar vibe to Borderlands in which the explanation for the goal was vague and no one really seemed to have much personality or identity beyond their unique skills. That doesn’t make them characters though. It makes them blank-slate avatars with nothing more to offer. Even if all the Left 4 Dead characters played the same, people still had preferences based on personality and character, which already makes me lean in favor of the zombie-shooter over the monster-hunter-imitator.

Continuing on, the Left 4 Dead trailer also shows us the core aspect of the game, the co-op. Once the infected appear in the trailer, you get a good sense of what they do and how to counter them. If a Smoker or Hunter gets you, you need your teammate to help free you. If a Tank or Witch appears, it’ll likely take the whole team to bring it down. But we actually see the characters doing that, which helps reinforce that same action during gameplay. But during the Evolve trailer, I saw very little demonstration of players working together or usage of co-op specific mechanics.

That’s a detriment to the game because if the main aspect is co-op, then that needs to be demonstrated front and center so players can SEE it in action before they do it. Again, it helps reinforce the team-building aspect over the strength of individuals, which can help put players in the right mentality for success. Yes, it’s subtle, but subtle is good for a trailer and these details go a long way into enticing players to be interested in your product even more. Right now, I feel like Evolve takes more cues from Borderlands than Left 4 Dead, and most already know I’m not a fan of Borderlands.

The last problem is how the monsters are introduced. All of the Left 4 Dead infected are introduced organically, as if the characters were in the game. They stumble upon a witch first. Then a smoker appears to attack them. Then they pursue a hunter, only to get pounced. Then the trailer ends with a Tank pursuing them to a rooftop. But it all takes place in scene and shows just how chaotic a particular run of the game can go. Granted, Evolve’s limitation to one monster per map does make doing this approach harder, but it beats what they’re already doing which is just an intro graphic with their name and then seeing them fly around for a split second.

Verdict? The Evolve trailer failed to evolve past the standards set by Left 4 Dead, which knew how to present the elements of the game best without feeling like it had to spell everything out. The fact Evolve’s trailer has to include the awards it won and the reviews it landed makes me feel like it doesn’t have confidence in its own ability to sell the game that it has to rely on third-party information to pad out the trailer. I sincerely wanted Evolve to be good and really would like it to be a solid game that does well. But there’s just so much that keeps me from wanting to try it and this trailer kind of seals that deal. I might get it on a cheap Steam-Sale, but that probably won’t be for a year or so. Sorry, Turtlerock, but 2K Games fucked your game over and I’m not interested in touching it at the moment.

That’s all for this week’s Trailers on Trial. Please come back next week when we bring down the hype train for other AAA games while praising another horror movie… possibly. If you liked us and want to see us evolve into a better blog or YouTube channel, please be sure to like, share, comment, and subscribe. We’ll see you next time for more Trailers on Trial.