Summary:

ARK: Survival Evolved is one of those games that can be difficult to decide on purchase due to the polarizing opinions you will often see from the community. This title is for people who enjoy an unforgiving survival experience, deep craftng/progression systems and building. But most of all, it is for those of us that light up with a smile and hear Jurassic Park music in our heads because we love dinosaurs so much. ARK is quite possibly one of the most ambitious games I've ever engaged with when you look at the various systems at play (food/water, resources, taming, etc.). I'm hoping that this review will serve as a fresh assessment on the game, considering that I purchased at the end of 2017 when it had already been released out of early access. I haven't had the opportunity to become jaded through these release cycles, and look at this purely based on my experience as a working title now that I have sunk enough hours in to feel comfortable on this review. While I realize in retrospect that the publisher released a paid expansion onto the game before it was even a fully released game, my experience tells me that the core game by itself will give you far more hours than most games on the store.

Pros:

    DINOSAURS!! I don't think I'm alone in my infatuation of dinosaurs. Jurassic Park movies now span across several different age generations, and I'm near positive that regardless of your background or culture, there might have been a few plastic dinosaurs around your house when you were a kid. The excitement you receive as a new player when seeing your first dinosaurs is something truly special and would often strike awe. Whether it's the first time you see a brontosaurus towering above you or the first time you get mauled in the face by a raptor, there are always memorable moments. There are 167 creatures with assuredly more to come, so there is plenty of opportunity to find new curiosities if you like to explore.

    The crafting system will both shine as a pro and a con, but it has certainly been one of the more enjoyable aspects of the game for me. For transparency I have played some PvP on official servers, but a majority of the time on my account so far has been on my private server with a few friends. Once you add in some of the Workshop mods for the game such as Structures Plus+, the possibilities for your imagination really open up with what is possible within the game...I even started to build my own castle using a different mod.

    The ability to cater to so many different types of players is certainly something that should be noted. With the ability to play on either PvE (Player vs Environment) or PvP (Player vs Player) official servers, as well as host or pay for your own private servers, really opens the options up wide for what type of game experience you want. Would you rather build an amazing base and tame dinosaurs, or use your dinosaurs to try and conquer against other players? This in addition to mod support from the Steam Workshop really allows this game to be the kind of experience you prefer to play if you are creative enough.

    Similar to the crafting it will serve primarily as a pro, but with some con listed below. Beyond that disclaimer lets be honest, this game is gorgeous. The game is running UE4 using a lot of assets from the UE4 workshop which has probably made the game easier to scale into it's ambitious state. There are moments where I'll just stop and look at at a vista or look up at the sky for a moment to take it all in.



Cons:

    Do you have a good computer? No but seriously...do you? This game is an absolute beast to run with settings turned up. Part of this is because of the sheer expansiveness of the environments they have crafted, some of this could probably boil down to optimization. Running a 1080ti I can do most games at 4k resolution (if not slightly tweaked down), but running this game on epic is beyond being an option. If you fall into column B and know that your computer might not be up to snuff, you will either have to enjoy potato graphics settings, or may not like the experience at all.

    Snap points and terrain/mesh issues become a very common occurrence during your playtime in ARK, and one that will infuriate you some days and on others just annoy you. As long as you have a good attitude most of these things can be funny as long as you have the philosophy that nothing is sacred in ARK, and that you might lose everything including dinosaurs in a single moment. Regardless of how you cope, be prepared to lose a few hours here or there because a dinosaur got stuck in a tree or a rock. Also be prepared to yell at your monitor when building sometimes, because a piece will just simply refuse to go where you want it to. Beyond this the game has it's fair share of bugs as well, but the sheer scope of the game and the fun you can have at the very least make this more redeeming.

    I would say that this would be rather specific to the type of player that I am, but PvP can be very difficult for a casual player on official servers. In a younger stage of my life I avidly played MMOs and would graciously spend my waking life at the PC, and there will be an audience of players that are in fact looking exactly for this. Unless you are able to secure joining a large tribe of players and or play a large amount of time, you're living in ARK will be "humble" to say it nicely. While I still enjoy what time I have played PvP and do plan on playing more soon, I could see this being a punishing aspect for newer or more casual players. Metas may become frustrating, and some of the reasons that I'm not upset with the developers on, may instead be something you are upset about in this situation. As a lone wolf you can still have fun in the game on a public PvP server, provided you do not want to complete all the content.


Conclusion:

For people who have not played ARK and are considering to pick-up this title, seriously don't fret over the mixed reviews. The base game will provide you more hours of content than 98% of games on the Steam store, and the season pass could potentially provide you just as much. Play the game in the ways that you enjoy having fun, if you aren't enjoying yourself you are probably doing it wrong. Choose PvP vs PvE based on your needs and play style, and if you get really bored just spin-up your own server and start having some mod and admin fun! I would suggest this game to anyone who likes a challenging experience, enjoys progression and enjoys an open world with beautiful attractions.