Video games exist to let us live out incredible fantasies and ARK: Survival Evolved has plenty of that to go around. The sprawling landscapes let you explore alone or with groups of up to 100 players.
Like many survival games, ARK Survival Evolved drops you off on the deserted beach of a foreboding island, with nothing but the clothes on your back – no food, weapons, nothing. And the challenge to survive begins. First, finding food and water while trying to avoid getting killed and eaten by a variety of monsters. Early on, you could face a Dilophosaurus with just a spear and hope your hut doesn’t get trampled during the night.
Auto-play Mode
The game provides smooth graduation of technological progression that allows advancement with more than just improved stats. A day or so later, you may have progressed into a stone castle and find yourself sniper shooting at Pterosaurs flying through the air. In the final stages, you could have a massive steel fortress complete with a blast furnace and electric lighting.
Menial Non-Stop Grinding
But, ARK: Survival Evolved loses its excitement when there is just too much menial grinding needed to climb higher. It can take an entire day of solid playing just to get ammo for certain weapons. This is a real drag, especially when you’re just getting to the good stuff, and don’t have enough other players on your team to help with the work.
Other Players can Help or Hinder
When you play on a public PvP server, you can be helped and hurt by other players, depending on which side they are on. You have to make sure your shelters are well hidden. Protecting yourself from looters is more important than the strength of the structure. While you are offline, other players can come and clean you out. This can be prevented if you are part of a tribe. Tribe members look out for each other. Playing solo presents a whole different set of challenges.
Weakest Components of ARK
Although ARK has developed over time with most of the nasty bugs ironed out, there are still a few odd graphical glitches everywhere, like strange shadows randomly popping in and out of frames for no apparent reason. Probably the worst part is the terrible AI on bigger creatures. About the only way to kill anything larger than a raptor is to repeatedly plink it on the head from a safe distance. Your own, tame creatures often get stuck so badly that you have to kill them to retrieve important items they are holding.
Verdict
The good times with ARK – Survival Evolved, are very good. The problem is those times are few and far between. The majority of the time is spent with menial grinding and crafting tasks. This gets worse in the higher-tech levels. Putting in so much effort after losing a battle feels like undeserved punishment. On the bright side, there are few survival games capable of holding a player’s attention for as long as this game does.
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