A Prehistoric Sandbox with Next-Gen Teething Problems
Taming dinosaurs and building civilizations never looked so good, but can your rig (and patience) handle the strain?
Early Access Review
last updated Nov 26, 2023
If you can run it without turning your PC into a futuristic campfire, there's an incredible world waiting for you.
Welcome to Jurassic Lags
ARK: Survival Ascended is like stepping into a time machine, cranking the dial to 'prehistoric' and finding out the machine's got a few screws loose. The gameplay mechanics are familiar and comforting for veterans of the series, refining the previous iteration's foundation with some neat quality of life tweaks. You can track your dino-pets on the GPS, and baby dinos are so cute you might forget you're in a world where everything wants to eat you. Building and crafting continue to be as compelling as ever, although sometimes you might feel that the game prioritizes form over function like a T-Rex values arm day at the gym.
Auditory Anomalies and Sonic Sublimity
Let's crank the volume and dive ear-first into the aural ocean of ARK: Survival Ascended. The sound design steps it up, pulling no punches and no roars. The dinos' roars rumble and shriek with a sense of weight and danger that your flimsy wooden spear can't hope to match. The soundtrack, an ever-present and sweeping homage to the cinematic era where giant reptiles first graced the silver screen, keeps the adrenaline and nostalgia in full supply. It captures the thrilling essence of exploring new territories and the impending doom when you know you've wandered into a dino's dinner plate.
Visual Valhalla Meets Performance Purgatory
The leap to Unreal Engine 5 is akin to evolving from a humble Velociraptor to a mighty Argentavis, but even majestic creatures have to land sometime, and when ARK lands, it does so with the grace of a beached Ichthyosaur. The visuals are stunning in their depth and detail, serving up environments that cry out to be explored and Instagrammed. However, performance is the anchor that holds this airship from reaching the skies. The requirements to sustain a smooth experience are as monstrous as the carnivores stalking the lands. Sure, everything's lush and photo-realistic until the frame rates drop faster than my character's hopes and dreams when surrounded by Compys.
It's a Bug-Eat-Bug World
ARK: Survival Ascended plays host to an ecosystem strain of bugs that could make a paleo-entomologist blush. From game crashes that feel like extinction-level events to disappearing loot and AI that seems to have devolved, rather than ascended, the bugs present here can take a dino-sized bite out of the fun. Optimizations are rolling out slower than a doedicurus, and the stability and exclusivity woes with server hosting might leave some tribes wishing they had stayed in the stone age.
EARLY ACCESS RATING
Developer
Studio Wildcard, Grove Street Games, Instinct Games
Publisher
Studio Wildcard, Snail Games USA
Early Accesss Release Date
October 25, 2023
Verdict & Summary
If you can look past the digital underbrush of launch period issues and can run it without turning your PC into a futuristic campfire, there's an incredible world of survival, taming, and exploration waiting for you. ARK: Survival Ascended is a rough diamond the size of a Brontosaurus that needs a ton of polishing. Still, for those equipped with high-end gear and the patience of a Mesozoic era, it promises a stunning and vast sandbox to leave your mark (or your fossilized remains).
