Don’t you just love it when a game has only just come out and there are already dozens of DLC packs for it on sale?

Well then you’re in luck, because that’s exactly what has happened to Evolve, 2K’s hotly-anticipated “4 vs. 1” shooter.

It came out yesterday, and take a look at this:

That, dear readers, is the bottom of one of four pages of downloadable content packs for the game. Four pages. That’s a lot of extra content that didn’t make it into the main game, and if you want it all you’re looking at shelling out another R65 per skin pack or R25 each individually, of which there are many. You’re looking at hundreds of additional rands on top of a game that already costs R899.

And even if you were to buy the Season Pass for R199, you won’t get all of the game’s DLC, because all the Season Pass gets you is four new Hunters and some skins for the three monsters that ship with the game. There are still several dozen additional monster, character and weapon skins to buy that make up the rest of the DLC options. What bugs me the most is that skins are basically just different paint jobs for the game’s monsters, characters and weapons and thus entirely cosmetic.

Ironically, there’s a quote on the official Evolve website by Turtle Rock Studios’ creative director Phil Robb that says “There’s nothing that pisses me off more than useless DLC”, and to me, there’s nothing more useless than skin packs. I may not be in the majority – Free to Play games are created on the basis of giving gamers a platform from which to sell them cosmetic items for their characters, and clearly the business model works – but it still irks me.

It’s not all bad; Turtle Rock will add new monsters to the game via paid DLC in the future, and that, at least, is somewhat useful, and nobody is forcing you to buy anything – the game plays the same with or without it. And should other players have things in their game that you haven’t paid for, you’ll still get to see it and fight against it, it just won’t apply to your character or weapons.

Turtle Rock will also release new maps for free throughout the game’s lifespan, which is highly laudable, so they can perhaps be forgiven for attempting to cash in with expensive skins.

What do you guys think? Is this DLC business getting out of hand, or does this trend of day-one DLC not bother you? Let us know.

[Image – Xbox Live Marketplace]