ARC Raiders
Preview
At Long Last, Embark Studios' Extraction Shooter Shows Itself
by Jordan Helsley
previewed on PC
A Threatening World
The titular Arcs are a force of robots, usually of the spider-or-quadcopter-like variety, that stalk the surface of the world, and they're no pushovers. The aerial drones seem to be the most prevalent enemy, constantly forcing the player's eyeline towards the sky to ensure the field-of-view of these patrolling drones is pointed in another direction. When they spot, or hear, a target and spring into action, though, they do so with a rapid fire machine gun that hits like a jackhammer, as most bullets do. The impactfulness of bullets adds to a feeling of almost surrealism. The other-the-top reactions feel more like a classic kung fu movie than actual realism, and they're most satisfying because of it. Again, vibes. It's bad enough when the bullets are hitting, but Arc Raiders also leans heavily into the dangers of audio. Flocks of birds take off as you run by, security cameras, metal detectors, and car alarms blare, and gunshots carry a long way. Other actions, such as crowbarring open a chest or a door, offer additional elements of high risk, high reward to this formula in meaningful ways. It truly feels made for the methodical genre veterans of hardcore players, even if the gameplay is slightly less extreme.
The decision to make this a third-person experience is also a conscious one, but just as you can peek around corners, so can everyone else. So much of the game seems crafted specifically to create tension when playing in this world, and as it does actually remind players that they don't have to immediately kill each other. I had a lot of success in open chat, with both teammates and "enemies," (which seems like a good indication that Arc Raiders is drawing in the exact players it's aiming for) but you can never really trust someone when the good loot shows up. Even in the face of larger, more resilient AI "bosses" in the world that require, at the very least, team coordination to take down, anyone can turn at any moment, and so far that's working beautifully in my experience.
Key Persistence
As usual, the gameplay loop has a built-in element of failure, no matter how friendly you can be to everyone around you. Arc Raiders leans into that, but understands that some persistence makes for a more enjoyable experience. Each player has (by default, at least) three slots of a "safe pouch," a small bit of exclusive inventory that comes back to base with you no matter how embarrassingly you perish. I mostly filled these slots with recipes I came across, which were extremely easy to identify at a glance (a perk of the game being set in a relatively contemporary world), but anything that fits goes, and it seems like actual weapons are the only things that won't "fit" in there. At the very least, if you're managing your inventory, you'll come away with three items no matter what. These could be crafting recipes to use back at base, or even quest-critical supplies sought by the many dealers back home.
Your base is an underground network, as opposed to the hostile "topside," and this is where you'll do various inventory juggles and item crafting at various workbenches you also craft with supplies. There's no shortage of things to work for, and the same dealers that give you quests will sell you items when they have them, minimizing the need to scavenge every little thing. These quests are often straightforward - kill five Arcs, collect 10 bandages - but they also don't seem critical to engaging with the loop, as rewards were simply XP and some items from the ones I completed. Additionally, and presumably with the help of this same underground network, you'll also get a free loadout of basic gear if you ever end up flat broke and empty. And if you're really hurting for supplies, your trusty rooster Scrappy (yeah, it's definitely the most ludicrous part of the game) will randomly head topside and bring you back some stuff. He's trainable, too, so presumably that loot can get even better.
Perhaps the friendliest part of the experience is a lengthy skill tree with three branches. These skills offer helpful upgrades to things like searching speed that don't look to be game breaking for players at a high level vs those at a lower level. In every match you'll gain XP for various actions, like damaging or killing arcs or other raiders (players), scavenging, and time on the surface, and this accrues regardless of whether you extract. In a pretty basic match, just running around and doing whatever felt right at the time, I routinely gained more XP than the early quests were offering. I can see grizzled veterans thumbing their nose at some of these features that make the experience more casual, but they help to ensure that even losses offer some benefit.
Component Parts
As I alluded to before, looting is simple and easy. It'll take a while to get a true sense of the value of all of these little items, but I was never confused by what I was looking at in those inventory squares. Helpful in the desire to perform said looting are the maps that feel expertly designed. They're sprawling and varied, but become recognizable quickly. They're also marked with limited events, specific loot types, and difficulty ratings. I also saw mention of "night raids," which are also limited. There seems to be plenty to do, see, and discover.
Arc Raiders feels very polished. The sound design is fantastic, the art feels cohesive, and the gameplay mechanics feel really well-considered. I did check out how it plays on a controller, and with the exception of being a game that desperately needs (and doesn't have, to be clear) a virtual mouse cursor, it feels great with that, too. The entire time I felt like Arc Raiders was made for extraction shooter veterans in the gameplay and accommodating to newcomers everywhere else. It's a mix that seems to work well. It also feels well-tuned for solo and team play. With combat encounters prioritizing tactical engagements that often play out over a significant amount of time and at medium to long ranges, I even had success getting some full-solo team wipes. Then there are small touches, like the ability to activate the extraction elevator in a down-but-not-out state, that proved to me that Embark, once again, wants its players to have fun. It feels and looks great, and I will have my eyes on it when it eventually releases.
As always, follow Hooked Gamers on Instagram for news updates, reviews, competitions and more.
