Despite the strain on my eyes and aches in my fingers after playing Evolve for nearly 12 hours straight, I didn’t want to stop. It sounds like hyperbole, but I assure you it isn’t. Trying out every combination imaginable of the 12 Hunters, exploring new and more deadly maps, and deep-diving into Goliath and Kraken all combined to make a fantastic 720 minutes of cat and mouse.

The way that the balance of power shifts throughout the course of each and every match of Evolve is incredible. The mid-match role reversal between the four Hunters and the lone Monster that occurs after a few fantastically-tense minutes completely changes the dynamics of how all five players think about themselves, and their opponents.

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As either a level 1 Goliath or Kraken, the first few minutes of any given round are terrifying. I found myself juggling multiple goals: desperate to find creatures to eat, scrambling to create some distance between myself and the Hunters, and trying to find a safe place to evolve – all without leaving a trail. If I got spotted in these opening minutes, I’d have to turn tail and run for my life.

Smart, communicative Hunters could trap me in an energy dome, tether me to the ground using harpoons, and slather me with a Damage Amplifier that made any incoming shot a life-threatening one. Despite their frightening exteriors, the monsters during the opening moments of any game are wounded prey, hoping to survive long enough to witness the turning of the tides.

But all of that changes when you evolve. The hunted becomes the hunter, and the rush of power I felt as a level 3 Kraken was exhilarating. Flying high above my prey, showering them with lightning strikes, and generally making their lives a living hell makes me feel like the most powerful video game boss of all time. Taking down the Hunters one-by-one, or destroying their base and winning the round provides an awesome sense of satisfaction.

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On the flip side, the Hunters start out as the kings of the map, but with each passing second where the monster grows bigger, faster, and smarter, Hunters start descending into panic and paranoia. We began each round with a swagger of confidence, sweeping dark forests, deep canyons, and snowy mountains for any sign of the beast. We weren’t worried about an encounter, but instead excited. Having your team of Hunters stumble upon a level 1 Monster is fun walk in the park, but once you’re up against a fully-evolved Goliath or Kraken, all hell breaks loose.

More than any shooter in recent memory, Evolve demands that you adhere to your role on the team, and respect the fact that a single weak link on the chain will be disastrous. For example, without new medic Caira peppering the ground with Healing Grenades, a monster will cut through the team like they’re nothing. Without new support Cabot covering the map with layers of radioactive dust that keeps track of the monsters movement, the creature will be able to hide long enough to fully evolve and cause the team all sorts of problems. Both of these Hunters are part of the game’s third suite of characters, which we’ll be doing deep-dives of throughout the course of November.Aside from the cat and mouse game that occurred between the five players, I appreciated some of the subtle touches across the half-dozen maps that occupied our time. For instance, on the snowy Distillery, storms will randomly roll through and obscure everyone’s vision. This tends to hurt the Hunters more, considering the nature of playing in first-person compared to the Monster’s more zoomed out, third-person camera. While I really liked the small details like these, I’m hoping to see some more variety in the maps leading up to launch. Despite the half dozen we’ve played looking different, none of them seemed to really throw any wrenches that forced me to completely rethink my strategy. Well, aside from some of the terrifying native wildlife and bestiary.

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After playing a few dozen rounds of Evolve throughout the course of the year, I thought I had a firm grasp of what to expect from the game. But all of that changed after I experienced my first round of Nest, a new mode that gives the humans an objective other than “kill the beast,” but also allows gives the Monster the option of enlisting some help in the hunt. Again, more on that later in November.

No matter whether I was one of the 12 Hunters, Kraken, or Goliath (2K tells us the third and final Monster will be revealed closer to the game’s February release), each and every round unfolded with a unique narrative and gameplay arc that ratcheted up the tension to fantastic levels. Playing Evolve for so long provided a glimpse of just how deep the rabbit hole goes, and what sort of nasty creatures and situations we can expect when we reach the bottom.

Marty Sliva is an Editor at IGN. He just wants to play another 12 hours of Evolve. Is that too much to ask? Follow him on Twitter @McBiggitty