Evolva is a kind of tactical shoot–em–up game, but it is unlike any other that I have experienced before. The game takes place sometime in the future when we have mastered genetic engineering (maybe not so far in the future after all?). You control four Geohunters that have the ability to mutate themselves and take on the qualities of the creatures they kill. It’s your job to defend worlds against alien parasites by absorbing their genes and then inventing new weapons.

Computer Artworks takes AI to another level with Evolva wherein all of the creatures in the game are truly realistic. While most computer–controlled characters in other games are quite predictable, the creatures in Evolva are extremely dramatic and dynamic. The indigenous plant–eating species will normally keep away from your Geohunters, but sometimes one will approach with caution. If you move too quickly, it may run away, or it may show no fear and walk right up to you. The same goes for the plethora of enemies — they will attack with vengeance in groups, but once you have annihilated a few of them, they become cautious and some even run away from your approach.

Evolva truly does immerse you in a variety of new worlds, all comprised of stunning graphics, despite the fact that they require a super–computer to display them. I think that the folks at Computer Artworks predicted this problem, because they made default keys to increase and decrease the graphics detail on the fly. The worlds are truly amazing and feel as if you could explore each one of them forever.

Another Evolva innovation is the uniqueness of every game. There are infinite ways to beat each level, and because there are so many different ways to evolve, each game is truly one–of–a–kind and there are many different ways to go about completing each mission.

The control in Evolva is fairly simple and is similar to most first–person shooters, using the mouse in conjunction with the keyboard to control the Geohunters. You have four Geohunters to control, all of whom have different abilities. However, I found little difference between them. You control one Geohunter at a time, selecting them with the F1 through F4 keys.

The developers provide an overhead view of the characters instead of a true first–person view, which I think is a good idea for this particular title. In other games, when the character has his or her back to a wall, the game play would become confusing, as you cannot see the action because you are basically looking from inside the wall. Such is not the case in Evolva.

All in all, Evolva is an innovative, fun and challenging game. However, I wouldn’t recommend this title to you if your machine is anything less than a Pentium 350 with a 16MB video card. The graphics are one of the high points of game, and with anything slower, you simply will not be able to appreciate them. I have included a screenshot of the same scene shot with full graphics and at the lowest settings to prove my point that this title is perhaps just a little ahead of its time.