Evolve is one of the biggest games at SDCC 2014, as part of the Xbox One booth and Xbox Gaming Lounge. Developed by the team behind the Left 4 Dead series, Evolve is a multiplayer monster-hunting game that pits four hunters against one giant, fearsome monster. We talked about playing as the hunters when we demoed Evolve at last month’s E3 Expo… but this time around, we got an entirely new experience: playing the monster.

In each four-on-one match, one player controls the monster, and has to survive long enough to evolve into its ultimate form. For this demo, we took control of the Kraken – a flying, projectile-shooting, Cthulhu-looking beast.

The Kraken has to run through the level, killing animals and eating them to build up its armor and work towards his next evolution. Even at level one, the monsters are too tough for any one hunter. So when we saw a support bot that had wandered too far from its group, we reunited it with its buddies… by electrocuting it, then hitting it with a vortex that sent it flying back.

By level three, we’d earned enough upgrade points to make the Kraken’s powers utterly devastating. We launched lightning strikes, cluster bombs, and area-of-effect attacks against the tiny, puny hunters. And, not to brag, but we totally unleashed the hell out of that Kraken – destroying all four hunters, a ton of little snack creatures, and a generator to boot, thus securing our victory.

While the human side of Evolve requires teamwork, communication, and planning, the monster side feels more organic. There’s still a lot of strategy to it, but it’s more aggressive, flashier, and so much fun.

What makes Evolve so great is that both sides of the game feel and play differently, but they’re equally awesome. And we’ve only seen four hunters, and two monster types so far. Turtle Rock promises more characters on both sides of the battle, with different abilities and styles.

Evolve hits Xbox One on October 21, 2014 – and we can’t wait!