Game Review: ARK: Survival Evolved

ARK: Survival Evolved, an exciting dinosaur filled, survival game, is the subject of this month’s game spotlight. Ark is free from September 22-29 on the Epic Game Store, so now is a great time to pick up the game for the first time. Ark is playable on PC, Xbox, and PlayStation. In Ark, players must survive dangerous creatures as they go from primitive tools to high-tech equipment. The fictional world of Ark is composed of many separate “Maps” with their own geography, dinosaurs, and bosses. 

In terms of actual gameplay, Ark is most similar to other survival games such as Minecraft, albeit much more difficult.  I find Ark to be the most enjoyable at the early stages of the game. The difficult yet rewarding experience of struggling to survive massive dinosaurs is where the game is at its best. The endgame is pretty repetitive but the difficult boss fights still make the game enjoyable. The main issue I had with Ark is the technical bugs. From the dinosaurs getting stuck on rocks, to the main menu blue screening, and bugs running rampant throughout this game. These bugs definitely lessen the immersion that is otherwise experienced within the game. Ark also has very high technical requirements. Not only does it require over 100 GB of storage to download, it also requires a very powerful computer or console.

Ark is a game that can be played many different ways. Some players opt to play single players, while others join cooperative servers with their friends. Others may even try their luck at a PVP server, a version of the game where players fight and raid one another. However, it is worth noting that many of these PVP servers are very competitive and often a hostile environment for new players..

Overall, Ark offers something for everyone to enjoy, building, fighting dinosaurs, selectively breeding your best dinosaurs, and of course, adventure people who are willing to put in effort to receive gratification are the ones who will best enjoy Ark. New gamers may struggle a bit with the difficulty, but given time, they will adapt. I highly recommend trying out ARK: Survival Evolved.