It's a rare case in video games when an entire genre just clicks for you. The moment when an appeal makes sense. Climbing into an elevator with a backpack full of loot and hastily beginning the evacuation procedure with only seconds to spare, the Arc Raiders did just that. Fireworks went off in my head. How could I not be a fan of this??
Arc Raiders is, simply put, a third-person shooter. It is a factory that mass-produces tense moments, inherently a source of intense anxiety: high stakes, devastating losses, ecstatic victories. If you step back, this is a game of gradual self-improvement, both your inventory full of resources and your character's abilities, as well as your own know-how.
The game is set in a world that has already been taken over by a dominant artificial intelligence called Ark, who is constantly surveying the world with the help of a seemingly endless army of drones and giant robots. Their initial goal seems to be to brutally kill you while your backpack is full of loot, but Ark also seems to change subtly. Something's going on, and it's up to you and your fellow raiders to figure out what's going on while you fill your pockets with springs and apricots.
The cycle is like this. You start in Sperenza, a human survivor center that serves as your home base underground. There you equip the necessary weapons and equipment and pick up any quests that are available from several vendors. You then venture out into the world, alone or in a squad, across a variety of different maps. Here you fight Ark and other players in search of loot, completing quests, or for the love of the game. If you can, go home through the elevator or raider hatch, the latter is only accessible with a key.
It's an exciting jumping experience. At the time of writing, I've put about 40 hours into the game, participating in both public testing and a private press release. These early hours were characterized by constant exploratory walks through abandoned buildings and ruined highways: the remains of civilization. Arc Raiders does a good job of directing you to points of interest using the in-game map, but off-road adventurers will find rich rewards away from such hubs.
All players are somehow caught in tense moments of player-to-player confrontations or harrowing robotic antics through an ever-decreasing timer. Not only are you on the clock, but the exit options close as time goes on, meaning the longer you delay, the more dangerous the match becomes.
Once you return home, you'll be left to manage your stock of gadgets and gizmos and customize your raider. I really like the player character in Arc Raiders. Visually, they're a mixture of space-age punk gear plus a mullet. The story of a typical wayward soul from a forgotten future, evading the usual stereotypes. In a game where you expect to need full camouflage, this approach doesn't really work. The art team at Embark Studios managed to create a post-apocalyptic DIY aesthetic without making things too complicated or awkward, a pitfall that others in the genre fall into all too often.
I'm also a big fan of the skill tree system in Arc Raiders. It is divided into three areas rather than classes. You have survival, stamina and mobility. The developers responsible for this part of the game have defined and provided progression paths for players of the various types of loot. Survival is designed for the passive player and silent robber. Noise reduction bonuses and expanded mid-match crafting options eventually lead to the ability to disarm mines and hack into otherwise inaccessible security lockers.
Perhaps you prefer to be in the thick of things, in which case conditioning provides additional boosts to stamina regeneration and melee damage. Or perhaps you like the idea of ​​fast travel, chasing other players and tense escapes. Mobility offers a variety of movement options for those who invest enough points. You may be able to unlock all of these over time, as there is no confirmed level cap at the time of writing. But personally, I hope you won't be able to make the most of everything. By forcing players to dedicate themselves to more of one branch of the tree, players' fantasies become possible. A sense of expertise in specific approaches to complex problems.
Your abilities as a player are also enhanced by your hideout, where crafting benches and a cute little chicken named Scrappy can be found and upgraded. This is where you'll find another path or constant progression in Arc Raiders, as some upgrades require certain materials but result in significant bonuses. An upgraded medical bench will allow you to create better healing items, this is true for weapons, gadgets, and so on.
You can then take your raider (hopefully a little stronger than before) to different maps. I played four: Dam Battlegrounds, Buried City, Spaceport, and Blue Gate. They all differ from each other in layout, features and secrets to be discovered. I've heard some people claim that the maps in Arc Raiders are boring or passable. These people don't know what they are talking about.
Take “Dam Battlegrounds.” The sprawling concrete dam at the center of the map is a labyrinth of long corridors, ripe for ambushes and hectic chases for those who enjoy PvP. There are many paths leading to the dam itself, including open staircases around the outside of the dam. Improvised raider shelters with ropes hanging from the edges or secluded pipes leading into the bowels of the megastructure. Exploring the heart of the battlefield at the dam, carefully climbing metal ladders and tiptoeing around corners is a pleasure.
But let's say you don't like this part of the map, fortunately, Dam Battlegrounds has alternative options that are just as rich in the field for unique exploration and combat moments. The swamp is a highlight, with small islands of greenery that provide natural cover while destroyed Arc shells and makeshift metal shelters dot the landscape. But my favorite place is not even marked on the map. On the southern border, near a scrap metal dump, far from all the action, there is a lone tower. I've never seen another player here, but those who make it there will find some great loot for their troubles.
Every map I've played is like this. Weapon boxes hidden in the high towers of the Buried City, the chaos of the central tower of the Spaceport, the huge underground roads and corridors of the Blue Gate. Each map contains locations, large and small, obvious and hidden, that offer valuable rewards to those who brave them. Each one is also filled with interesting environmental stories. The water on the east side of the battlefield at the dam is red. Why is it red? It's iron in the water, man, it's Ark in the oceans. Or the giant walkers outside the Buried City map, which highlight how little of a problem raiders are for the artificial rulers of the surface world. Here's something interesting: the most dangerous robbery site in Blue Gate is littered with the bodies of humanoid robots. Perhaps these robots were a big part of civilized life before everything went wrong. Arc Raiders is rich in these things.
So the game is good, but what makes it special? I think it's a matter of tone. Arc Raiders is, paradoxically, hopeful. This may seem strange, given both the setting and the genre it is part of. One might think that this makes Arc Raiders inherently lonely, or makes its atmosphere terrible. This is really not true. Arc Raiders seems like a strange place for collaboration, even for those playing solo.
I attribute this to several factors. Firstly, the safe center of Speranza is where your player lives, as well as many of the surviving people. This is not a dirty, unforgiving hole in the ground. Instead, it's a bright, lively, colorful place. Raiders sit and drink together in bars, people weld, wear and support each other. At first it turns out that the raiders go up not only for themselves, but also for the sake of their brothers.
There is also a social aspect. I wrote about this recently, but Arc Raiders encourages communication between players. You don't have to kill things to gain experience, in fact you can ruin levels just by looting. When you fight a player, you won't need most of their stuff. In tense moments, spinning the emotion wheel or talking through your voice can quickly release the tension.
Of course there are risks in it, the players stabbed me in the back – and it still stings – but such are the risks when you trust someone. I also managed to get out with two “enemy” players and found myself playing the flute after an intense PvE battle while another squad danced around me. Every Maybe grab what they want and get home safe and sound, and when it works, it will be unforgettable moments.
Lastly is the way the game is presented, especially in comparison to its peers. Escape from Tarkov is obviously the granddaddy of evacuation games, and it's a brutal and challenging monster. At this depth comes the realization of mastery, but it also arguably encourages the kill-or-be-killed mentality one would expect from a game like this. That's not a bad thing, I bet it goes a long way toward explaining why it's so popular.
However, there are some caveats. Embark Studios does not hide the fact that it uses artificial intelligence in development. As with the previous game The Finals, the studio used real voice actors and reproduced them (with permission) using artificial intelligence in the game. They also used machine learning to animate many of the Arc enemies' movements, such as when you shoot one of the Hornet's propellers and it crashes to the ground.
If you are completely against using AI as a tool in game development, this is something you should know. If you personally agree with it being used as a tool alongside human-led development – a view that Embark executives likely embrace – then perhaps you could draw a line that allows Arc Raiders. In any case, there is something to think about. To be honest, this still bothers me a little, even though Arc Raiders uses AI carefully during development.
It's also worth noting that my experience is based on various tests and not on the full game. There will undoubtedly be more maps, more quests, more things to unlock. I know how things like Expeditions work, the seasonal feature that allows you to agree to a character reset to receive rewards, but given that I haven't actually experienced it myself, I can't write about it with much insight.
But reservations aside, Arc Raiders strikes me as something truly exemplary. I haven't felt this way about a big multiplayer game since maybe the original Destiny. Arc Raiders is a fantastic first step in a long journey for Embark, who I hope showcases a pipeline of talent here. And like Destiny for many others at the time, Arc Raiders ended up getting me into a whole new shooter genre.
