ARK: Survival Evolved has received a major expansion with Extinction that shows how the survival game has changed over the years.
ARK has a story, which many may not have been aware of. Since 2016, fans have been following a narrative that has moved away from what the game was at the beginning.
Those who see the new expansion “Extinction” can hardly remember the Dino-ARK of the past.
From Sandbox to Story Game
This is how ARK has changed: The original sandbox game, where you wake up on an island, tame dinos, and engage in PvP battles with other players, has done exactly what the subtitle suggests: “Survival Evolved”. The survival game has evolved.
This is how players have known ARK since the early access phase in 2015, where you woke up almost naked on an island and fought dinosaurs with sticks and stones to tame them.
But then everything changed:
- In 2016, notes were introduced into the game that tell a story
- The story revolves around a mysterious tech cave and implants in the player’s body
- Players discover that the island is a kind of Ark on a space station that is likely orbiting Earth
- In the expansion “Scorched Earth” from 2016, you travel to a desert Ark
- More and more clues about the true nature of the Arks are found
- More tech elements find their way into the game, including dino mechs
- The Arks are controlled by so-called Overseers that you must defeat
- You explore another Ark in “Aberration”, where a cave system plays a significant role
- With “Extinction”, the story now returns to Earth
The End of the Story
This is what Extinction offers: With Extinction, Studio Wildcard aims to provide a worthy finale to the current ARK story.
- The story places you on Earth, where you face the powerful Titans
- You explore a new, large map
- A kind of plague is spreading on Earth, and you must contain its further spread
- The Titans represent gigantic monsters that you face in challenging boss battles
- The expansion introduces new creatures, such as the Velonasaurus and the Snow Owl
- With the Cryopods, you can “store” tamed creatures and take them anywhere
- You receive supplies from orbit
- Just like with the expansions “Scorched Earth” and “Aberration“, you get to play as your hero, but not the tamed creatures
When is it coming? Extinction is set to launch later today, November 7th. There is no exact start time yet.
Sandbox or Story? Players Are Divided
This is how fans are reacting: ARK started as a sandbox. The story came later. For many players, ARK is thus fundamentally still a sandbox. Some perceive the story as unnecessary. Accordingly, the reactions are also polarized.
- Dinoman9887 writes on Steam: “Do you remember when ARK was still all about dinos? Those were the good times…”
- MessagePuppy on the other hand says: “That looks fantastic!”
Play for free: You can currently play ARK: Survival Evolved for free. The survival game is “Free2Play” until November 11th. Additionally, there are discounts available for the title on Steam. The new expansion Extinction is also available at a discount.
And from November 30th you can also tame dinos on the Nintendo Switch.
