The hole that was left by my crew completing Abiotic Factor last year still remains to be filled and so we continue to roll the dice on numerous games to see if we can capture that same magic. Whilst I think that quest is bound to end in failure (as Bluey teaches us sometimes special things just come and go from our lives) the journey we’re undertaking has brought with it some rather unexpected gems. Enter ARC raiders which, I know, we’re very late to the show on but the fact that the game is still as active as it this many months past release should tell you a lot about it. Couple that with the fact that I also didn’t feel particularly disadvantaged by not being there on day 1 shows there’s been a lot of care put into the overall experience, not just that of the loud minority.
In the far future the world has been besieged by machines of an unknown origin. Dubbed ARC they first went to war with humanity, their ruthless efficiency in pursuit of their unknown goal driving the last of the world’s population underground. There they have survived, bolstered by the brave few who dare the surface in order scavenge the materials that they need to keep the subterranean cities functioning. You are one such raider, tasked by various members of your contrada (one of the many arms of the underground network called Toledo) to seek out what they need whilst avoiding the watchful eye of ARC. They aren’t the only ones you have to watch out for though, as not all raiders are out there to help the greater good.
Unlike many other titles that come to us via the Unreal 5 engine ARC Raiders has managed to avoid that typical feel that seems to come along with it. It doesn’t take much searching to see why: their first game, The Finals, was built on it but they’ve also made deliberate choices to use third party solutions for certain aspects in order to create the visual experience they’re after. The result is incredible, from the tightest indoor areas all the way to the vast open areas you’re assaulted with a highly detailed environment that’s simply begging to be explored. Not only that the whole thing runs absolutely glass smooth, even on a rig like mine which is fast approaching it’s 7th birthday. Embark really have done an amazing job of building, fleshing out and optimising the world of ARC Raiders.
ARC Raiders represents my first foray into the extraction shooter genre as a whole as my only real experience with something similar was the Dark Zones that were, strictly speaking, optional content in The Division. Still I can see the core aspects that the genre has expanded on here: the PvPvE construction of the core game loop, using what you can find, the risk/reward balance of good loot locations and the tension that comes from trying to read other player’s motivations when you stumble across them. There’s a number of traditional progression systems here though as well: skill points you gain as you level up, blueprints to unlock crafting for certain desirable weapons/mods/consumables/etc., crafting station level ups and, of course cosmetics galore. Whilst the live service title usually comes with a lot of ill-connotations ARC Raiders, along with others like Helldivers 2, feels like a template for how they can be done right.
The core loop is pretty straightforward: choose a map that you want to explore, build out the kit you want to take with you (or choose a “free” loadout if you think things will get hot), deploy, explore and hopefully extract. As you explore around though things will start to get in your way. That can be something as simple as the platforming required to get to the place you want to loot all the way through to the various ARC enemies and fellow raiders who can potentially end your run without you even seeing them. What this does is create a sense of low, but unrelenting tension that only breaks when you finally extract. It’s hard to put words on it but it feels like you’re both in control and completely out of control at the same time. You can totally do a low stakes run, risking only what you want to lose, and will most of the time come out OK. On the other hand you can go balls to the wall with everything, going to the hot zones and seeing whether or not you’ll make it out alive. You only control your choices though, not that of the other players.
Which is where the genius of the aggression based matchmaking system comes into play. Among all the other metrics that Embark uses to put players together on a map one of the key aspects is just how much you engage in the game’s PvP aspects. There seems to be some contention around whether or not being in a group has a higher propensity towards more aggressive lobbies than singles do but given I’ve only ever played in groups I can’t be quite sure either way. What I can say though is that, after playing with a friend who’s almost exclusively PvP, I spent a great deal more time dodging bullets in subsequent matches than I ever had previously. But it didn’t take long for us to return to our usual, much more chill lobbies where much of the challenge came from taking out ARC.
Even with the PvP aspects tilting towards the calmer end of the spectrum I wouldn’t say player interactions were any less intense. To be sure when I’m playing with the casual crew you’re much more likely to have someone shoutout “Hey buddy, friendly!” right when they spot you but that still comes with a few tense minutes where we figure out just how genuine that friendly voice is. Probably the best example of this was when we went to extract and saw another duo running to the same spot. We were all good and just about to hit the button to extract when another 4 separate players all show up together. Not a single shot was fired but holy hell, having that many people show up so quickly was enough to ratchet up the pucker factor significantly.
I remarked to my friends early on how accessible all the higher tier loot seemed to be which, for anyone who’s played ARC Raiders for a spell will know, is for a reason. That reason is, of course, that in any run that you die on anything that’s not in a safe pocket is lost. Suffice to say the first time that happens it hurts, especially when you lose one of your best guns with all the mods that you’d scrounged up. This of course feeds into the need to gather just about everything you can on any run as you never know when you’re going to find yourself coming back completely empty handed. Even though it can be painful I do like how that helps to level the playing field somewhat. To be sure higher gear is still locked behind progression mechanics but even those can be stormed through with the right person to guide you along.
There is a narrative but honestly it pales in comparison to the stories that you’ll forge either with your crew or on your own. You’ll bond over stories of how you felt like that leaper you saw only a couple hours in looked doable (Read: it was, barely), how you finally found a cat bed only to have forgotten to put it in your safe pocket before you died or that time when you brought all these resources for your friend only to have them die in a rather undignified way and lose them all. They won’t mean much to anyone else who you tell them to, but they’ll mean an awful lot to you.
ARC Raiders shows how the live service model can work and not simply be yet another way for VC and private capital to extract value from a large number of people. The game is extremely well crafted; from it’s amazing visuals derived from Embark’s mastery of the Unreal 5 engine through to the mechanical depth that you can get into using the games various progression and crafting mechanics. It’s a game I expect to come back to from time to time, not because of any burning desire to or that there’s new content I want to explore, more that it serves as a great medium with which to have a great time with mates. It might not fill the Abiotic Factor hole I and my friends have within me, but it makes for a great distraction none the less.
Rating: 9.0/10
ARC Raiders is available on PC, Xbox Series X/S and PlayStation 5 right now for $60.78. Game was played on the PC with a total of 12.3 hours playtime and 30% of the achievements unlocked.
