ARC Raiders (Steam, PS5) is a new shooter developed by former Battlefield devs. The new gameplay trailer primarily showcases PvP, which not everyone is pleased with.
What kind of game is this? ARC Raiders is the new extraction shooter from Embark Studios. Many former employees of EA and DICE, who were responsible for the Battlefield series, are working there.
- CEO Patrick Söderlund was recently Chief Design Officer at EA
- Stefan Strandberg is the Chief Creative Officer at Embark and developed the concept for Battlefield 1
- Johan Andersson played a key role in the development of the Frostbite engine and is now the Chief Technical Officer at Embark
The Embark Studios have already demonstrated their ability to create good shooters with the Free2Play shooter The Finals. The Finals is receiving “very positive” feedback on Steam and at its peak, garnered over 240,000 players simultaneously on Steam (according to SteamDB).
In a trailer lasting around 6 minutes, the developers showcase the first gameplay of ARC Raiders:
PvPvE in a dystopian future
What is the game about? In the distant future, Earth has been attacked by machines from space, the so-called ARC. Humanity has retreated underground. As a Raider, you venture out as one of the few to search for supplies.
On the surface, you not only fight against AI-controlled robots but also against other Raiders. They usually prefer to sell your loot themselves rather than leaving you a piece of the pie.
The gameplay shows how interactions with other Raiders can unfold. You have the option to ignore them, hunt them, or team up with them. However, one thing was overlooked: the ARC itself. As titko257 comments under the trailer on YouTube: “Hey, um… where are the giant killer machines?”
Hardly any killer robots, but outstanding sound
The ARC are only briefly shown in the trailer, and that in a montage. The really large robots, which were advertised in previous trailers, are nowhere to be seen here. However, the game is still in development – it is quite possible that nothing presentable was ready yet.
Great praise has been given for the sound. Many find the sound to be very well done already:
- KingfishWatch:
Did the entire old DICE sound team work on this game? The sound design and mixing are absolutely outstanding.
- Vaizen07:
The sound design is amazing.
- riloegaming:
The weapon sounds are sharp and raw, I love the sound design in general!
Another extraction shooter on Steam aims to captivate players with its dark atmosphere and realistic gameplay. You can read more about it in the following article: Shooter on Steam fully focuses on atmospheric gameplay, combining realism with pure horror
