E.V.O. : Search for Eden
The story of E.V.O.: Search for Eden follows the same patterns as modern evolutionary theories. The player initially controls a prehistoric marine organism and struggles to collect evolution points that can be used to improve the body parts of his fish and expand its attack and defense capabilities. The gameplay is not completely linear, which means that certain decisions about paths and stages affect the player's success. The game consists of a series of stages in which the marine organism slowly evolves into an amphibian and later into a land creature. The physical changes are scientifically quite accurate, which also gives the game a certain educational purpose.
Story
E.V.O. tells the story of the evolution of life on Earth, with a subtext of creation myth and polytheistic evolution. The player takes on the role of one of the many billions of life forms created by Gaia, the nurturing and benevolent daughter of Sol, the sun. There is competition among the creatures known as life to evolve, and the best life form is eventually given the privilege of entering the Garden of Eden and becoming the husband and partner of Gaia. As the game progresses, it soon becomes apparent that a mysterious outside force is destructively disrupting evolution on Earth. Strange crystals that are not native to Gaia are appearing all over the planet, and creatures that eat the crystals are transforming into monstrous, powerful beings that dominate all other life forms, over-consuming resources and disrupting the flow of evolution. In each age, it is the player's task to fight the species transformed by the crystals and defeat them so that the evolution of life can continue as intended. In the last age, the Age of Eden, the player learns that a mysterious being controls the other life forms of the world and sets them against the player. This being turns out to be Bolbox, a life form that has evolved into a freakish and evil advanced being by consuming the crystals, and believes itself to be the first human, but is actually a giant single-celled organism. In the final battle of the game, the player and Bolbox fight to see who can gain access to Eden and become Gaia's partner. Bolbox is defeated, and the player joins Gaia in Eden and receives the gift of intelligence. It also turns out that the crystals were brought to Earth by an advanced civilization on Mars that mistakenly wanted to help Earth by accelerating its development with the crystals. Realizing the dangers posed by the crystals, the Martians decide to leave Earth alone and observe it until it is advanced enough for them to interact with it.