Those who didn’t play with toy dinos as a child were uncool. And rightly so, because dinosaurs are just cool. If these appear in an MMORPG where the survival aspect is in focus, then the inner child cheers with joy.
The developers at Studio Wildcard want to offer such a mix with ARK: Survival Evolved. You are stranded on a mysterious island where dinos roam. Completely naked, you have no chance against these giants. So survival is the order of the day.
You start by crafting your first useful equipment by gathering and processing the necessary raw materials. From stones and wood, you can make spears or axes, for example, to defend yourself, at least rudimentarily, against smaller dinosaurs. Later, you’ll mine ores that you can use to create more powerful weapons. However, you will quickly realize that you will have no chance alone against the larger representatives like the Tyrannosaurus Rex.
Pretty hardcore
Fortunately, there are other people on the island with whom you can team up. With these other players, you form tribes, build huts and palisades, and support each other. However, not everyone may be friendly, as PvP plays a role. In raids, it is possible to wipe out entire villages and steal the items produced there. This is interesting as your character does not disappear when you log out of the game. He merely sleeps, which means that his items are still available and can be stolen.
Your pets also remain in the game, but they can be taken over and commanded by your friends during your absence. These “hardcore” gameplay elements go a step further. Your character needs food to avoid dying, so you must ensure that edible plants are available that you can grow yourself. Weather conditions like rain and snow also affect your health. Permadeath and the possibility of capturing players and using their feces as fertilizer or their blood for rituals are also included in the game. Through rituals, it is possible to summon special, god-like beings that fight for you.
Survival of the fittest?
There will be slightly more than 100 players online per server. That sounds like a small number, but it emphasizes the aspect that there are only a few survivors on the island. Moreover, it requires tactical decisions about whether it’s wise to fight each other or better to cooperate against the dinos. Traveling between servers will also be possible. The developers even want to support modding so that players can help shape the world. The Unreal Engine 4 is being used, which provides excellent graphics, as can be seen from the first screenshots and the trailer. The Early Access version of Ark is expected to be available on Steam next month. It is being developed for PS4, Xbox One, and PC. By the way: Virtual reality support is also planned.
Andreas says: Wow! I didn’t expect that at all. An online game with hardcore elements and dinos. I think I need a vacation in June urgently. Of course, one needs to wait and see how it all plays out and whether all elements mesh well. I find permadeath, especially if your character remains in the game after logging out, quite problematic with open PvP and full loot. Nevertheless, ARK: Survival Evolved seems to be a highly interesting online game that should definitely be kept an eye on.
