Bug-eyed monsters. Whether we're fighting them or trying to keep them as pets, we're fascinated by them. Wouldn't it be cool if you could sort of evolve them by manipulating their genes? You'll soon have the chance...
Andy Smith

Bug-eyed monster gene manipulation! Sound's wacky.
Hey! We're always bemoaning the lack of innovation in games these days so it's great to see someone taking a chance on something a little out of the ordinary.

I know, but it's been done before. Remember ECO?
The old Ocean (pre-Infogrames) game? Sure. In that game, though, you were just looking after a small creature and trying to get it to survive long enough to produce offspring whose genes you could manipulate, hopefully to make them more suited to surviving in their virtual world. But Evolva's not like that, really.

Why?
Actually, it's more of a thinking man's shoot 'em up.

Come again?
Let's start at the beginning. The world's in danger (we'll skip the unimaginative background stuff) and you're out to save it by using your gang of Genohunters. Essentially, these are warriors that absorb the flesh of their dead enemies and then, after examining their DNA, mutate themselves to incorporate any useful abilities they may have had.

Sounds gruesome.
Sounds great to us! You want a Genohunter with ruddy great claws? Fight a monster with big claws, absorb it and take its DNA. Then mutate until you've got a fine pair of pincers yourself.

That novelty would wear off pretty quick though.
Ah, you'd think so, but Evolva's developers Computer Artworks have been rather clever. We've had a play of the game and though the hook is this ability to change your four Genohunters as they progress, there's a lot more to the gameplay than first meets the eye, bugged or not.