Plague Inc: Evolved is a is a real-time strategy, simulationvideo game, developed and published by UK-based independent games studio Ndemic Creations. The game is a remake of the developer's previous game, Plague Inc., for PC and consoles. In the game, the player creates and evolves a pathogen in an effort to destroy the world with a deadly plague. The game uses an epidemic model with a complex and realistic set of variables to simulate the spread and severity of the plague and has attracted the attention of the CDC.[1]
Gameplay
The core game of Plague Inc: Evolved is the same as Plague Inc. - the player controls a plague which has infected patient zero. The player must infect and kill the whole world population by evolving the plague and adapting to various environments. However, there is a time pressure to complete the game before humans, the opponent, develop a cure for the plague. The developer has said that the game was inspired by Pandemic 2, a browser-based Flash game released in 2008 by Dark Realm Studios.[2]
The game series has been praised by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention who said "it uses a non-traditional route to raise public awareness on epidemiology, disease transmission, and diseases/pandemic information. The game creates a compelling world that engages the public on serious public health topics". The developer of the game was invited to give a talk at the CDC.[3]
"City Cams" - Street level images of the world showing disease progression
"Body Scanner" - Shows how evolutions impact the human body
End game replays, government priority indicators and new stats/graphs
Better overall graphics
It also includes all of the expansion packs from the original Plague Inc. game.[4]
Development and release
Plague Inc: Evolved went live on Steam Early Access on 20 February 2014.[5]
The developer used "almost half a million pieces of feedback and feature requests from players" to help him understand what players wanted from the game and is currently "only 50 percent of the way through the original Plague Inc. design document".[6]
A multiplayer mode, titled "VS. mode" was added to the game on 1 December 2015. In this mode, players compete against each other to spread their own plague across the world, while preventing in-game humans from inventing vaccinations and cures and hostile diseases, controlled by another players from eradicating the player's own disease. The mode adds new genes, evolution and abilities to the game.[7]
The 1.0 release took place on 18 February 2016.[8]
