14.5.2018

The TLDR: This is one of the most immersive, difficult and detailed game I have ever played. I just can't stop playing it.The full review:I'm going to start with my first thought when I was about to buy this game. WHY IS IT SO EXPENSIVE!!!?!!? After some time I answered this question myself.The game is to date priced like all other AAA titles even though it's not by any means new at this point. It was in early access for about 2 years and released in late 2017.There aren't a whole lot of maps but this is not important given the sheer size of the maps, variation in gameplay and how much time you actually spend per map.You start off on the beach of an unknown island, naked and confused as to where you are,and why you have some sort of crystal embedded in your wrist.Soon you start to notice that you are not alone. There are oversized chickens walking around that are almost up to your waist in height. Within a few minutes, you'll likely run into your first aggressive dinosaur, who will be quite the challenge unless you've already managed to build a spear.To get to that however, you need to start gathering rocks. punching trees (while hurting yourself) to gather some basic resourses to craft some tools.Soon you start building a little home where you can safely sleep and trust me, the amount of customisation options and different styles of builds is nearly limitless (go search for 'Amazing bases in ARK' to understand).After some time, you'll start to get more confident in the odd small predator that comes by and tries to steal your food or eat you and will begin to wander further and further away from home. You'll open the map and realise that even though you spent 10 minutes running in 1 direction, you've only wandered about 10% of the map's length, showing you just how big this world is. But at this point, you've run into a new type of predator. This one however, you can't take out and you end up dieing.Luckily, this is not the end of the road. You die, it eats you and you can choose to respawn somewhere again and make your way back to your little home. If you find your body (and the predator is gone) you can recover your items.Like any survival game, creatures are not the only thing to worry about. You have to worry about temperature (too cold or too hot and you start to lose health), hunger, thirst, oxygen (when swimming) and more importantly, depending on the server, sometimes you have to worry about other players attacking you and looting all your stuff.It's a brutal game and that's exactly what's so beautiful about it. You are a human and you're on a prehistoric island with nothing but your own hands, skills learned through experience and will to survive.Even when you have become the top player on the map, making the wrong move, or running into the wrong dinosaur can and will result in your death.While extremely brutal, this game does however have 1 fantastic mechanic that once utilised, will make your game a whole lot more enjoyable, immersive, deep and survivable. This is the ability to trap and tame almost any of the dinosaur's found on the island. You can then use these for breeding, harvesting, mobility, pvp or even defence against other dinosaurs. From the first chicken-like Dodo to Triceratops and tonnes of other types of land, air and water dinosaurs which can be smaller or much much bigger than the above mentioned. I'll let you discover these yourself though.What makes the game even better is it's integration with the steam workshop. This allows people to create mods to use which will modify the game in several types of ways to add more content, make things easier, balance changes etc.There aren't a lot of negative things I can say about the game.My first problem in the game was the start screen which could be a bit more user friendly for new players. Such as having the ability to create a new game session with pre-defined settings like "easy-medium-hard-insane" rather than customising each little stat. It's just overwhelming for a first timer.The price is also a little steep (or at least feels like it before you invest time into it).It would also be great if there was somewhat of a tutorial for basic survival to introduce new players to the very basics of survival and features such as stat points and talent points (used to unlock the different crafting designs).I'm quite lucky to have been introduced by a friend who helped me understand basics at the beginning.You may notice there are quite a lot of negative reviews and I have to address some of them in my own experience.1. Those saying you can get killed by other players too easy and lose everything: Yep, it's not an easy game and it's made to be brutal like this. Ever played Dark Souls? There are also what's known as PVE servers where players can't attack you. It's a good place to spend you first 100+ hours to learn how the game works, how to build fast and gather enough to survive against basic issues.2. Dinos too scary: Yep, it's a hard game and you can't simple take on most dinosaurs at the beginnin (nor in the end). you have to use traps and lure bigger dinos in before killing/taming.3. bugs and crashes: like every game with this much content, there'll be bugs. I haven't come across any bugs in 150+hours but have unfortuantely crashed a few times. I did reinstall my graphics drivers and did a file integrity check on steam (which found 2 errors) and haven't crashed since then.4. Performance: I run this on a GTX 1060 6GB and it plays near maximum settings at 1080p. You have to remember that this is a HUGE game world and you may need to reduce graphics. that's normal for any multiplayer game.5. Any review with under 100 hours game time can probably be disregarded completely (in fact even my 150 is quite little compared to the average player who knows what they're doing)So we go back to the original question and ask, is this game worth the full AAA Price?There's a short answer and a long answer.The short answer is HELL YES.The longer answer is, I have 150 hours of play time and I'm not even close to being finished with the first map. I play with some people that have over 2000 hours played. How many other titles can you honestly say have brought you this much game time (at any price point, except titles played in e-sports events).If you're still reading this and it sounds somewhat interesting, I'd recommend you go ahead and buy this and add me on steam and I'll be happy to help out at the start on the server I play on.Happy surviving!

7.9.2017

I love this game - I have been playing it for about 7 or so months after buying it before it was finished, having said that it is still not entirely finished but has made some vast improvements of late. The lack of available server issues that were evident on day one seem to be slowly getting sorted as the server I re-started on seems to be a lot less crowded now... Either that or our resident alpha tribe has succeeded in obliterating the competition until they switched server (This might actually be what happened - but hey ho! our server is no longer crowded :) ).There is still work to be done as occasionally the server crashes and has to be reset - I lost about an hours worth of play earlier (first time this has happened to me since full release just over a week ago).

11.3.2020

My son loves this game & I have to admit to also playing a bit. we only play on xbox and on single player as he doesn't subscribe to xbox gold.He loved the idea of being stranded on an insane island filled with dinosaurs & having to survive. He spends Lot of time building bases and fortifying them against dinosaurs.At least in single player others can't come along & destroy everything however multi player on a split screen is possible.We did experience some glitches for eg getting stuck in rocks, however after an update that appears to have been fixed.There are artifacts to collect & this allows you to fight a boss in an arena.There have been quite a few add ons,

3.9.2017

It's been a while since I've played anything as addictive as this game! It's infuriating, challenging but still you keep coming back for more. I'm still dying regularly which is a real PIA unless you get a bed or sleeping bag as you don't know where you died and lose everything you had......and if you die at night you will just keep dying as you can't see where you're going. If you get too cocky once you've built a house and wander off too far you'll die. Yes it's a recurring theme and if you keep doing the same thing over and over it will keep happening so you need to think, plan and change strategy. At night stay in your house until you get a bed and can respawn there.

1.1.2019

I hadn't played Ark prior to purchasing it for the Switch and honestly I was slightly concerned after reading so many negative reviews. I had pre-ordered the game but would not be able to try it until Christmas for that was when I was receiving my Switch console. Having tried the game now I can say I did not find the game that bad. The graphics may not be as amazing as say Rayman for example but they aren't aweful and the game is far from unplayable in that respect. I couldn't give this game 5 stars for the simple fact that I feel it does not have an adequate tutorial within the game for how to play. I frequently found myself looking online at how to play which inevitably led to my character dying (of course).

5.12.2018

Best game in to world to me I have played it almost every day sins I got it and I am now the king on the server you get to tame animal build where ever and what ever you want and get to breed Dino's to insane levels tame water Dino's and have wars on pve and PvP it's a long road on the PvP side of things. There are weekly events like X2 tame and gather and from time to time X2 breeding it dose not go on so much now as it did back then but from time to time it comes back and I love it and with all the holidays having the on event on ark you get some crazy looking Dino's that are one of a kind that only you have so yeah get the game.

23.5.2018

I'd ignore the bad reviews, this game is awesome!! I have over 200days game play (apparently) since the beta was released on xbox, been playing PVP the whole time and has been a mega fun journey, i play PVE now on unofficial because all my mates stopped playing but considering i still find it fun to play here and there without the risk of human players just shows it....it's a unique game, there isn't another one like it so i'd persuade anyone who likes survival games to try it, just don't play PVP solo because you won't enjoy it! Find a group of 3-6 players or more you can start playing with!

4.1.2018

This is the best game of 2017/18. The options in gameplay are incredible, and will keep you entertained for hundreds, if not thousands of hours. The best way to describe it is a combination of mine craft, CoD and Far Cry.The only downside is that the official PVP servers are ruined by huge alpha tribes. However, I found a great unofficial PC server called "Free UK Ark server". You can search for this on the "Join" screen. It has some boosts to XP and taming which really helps in the game.In summary, whether you are playing solo or in a tribe, this game is worth every single penny. Enjoy

29.1.2018

Minecraft with guns and dinosaurs!I’ve been playing for a couple of weeks now and am still enjoying it.I do like a game with little in the way of instructions and no clear objective (yup, I also play Elite: Dangerous) so this has proved to be a little addictive.It is a little buggy but what game isn’t these days?There’s quite a lot of terrain “pop up” and I’ve witnessed the larger dinosaurs getting stuck behind trees occasionally (perhaps that’s why they’re extinct) but I’m rather enjoying it.I haven’t investigated PVP yet so can’t comment on that aspect.

12.9.2017

Doesn't matter what any one says on bad reviews they are reviewing it as a first impression without sticking with the game. I have played this game for about 8 month now as i had the pre-game and I'm still playing on it now. yes it is hard to get started some times if joining a PvP server but if you manage to stick with the game the graphics are good for what the game is. Also there is plenty to do to keep you entertained for a long time. id recommend it to any one who wants a good game to play and have months of enjoyment out of it.

21.2.2019

This game looks visually stunning. In my opinion this game has some of the best graphics during gameplay of any game optimised for the xbox platform. The game itself is so in depth you can play this game for years with its replay ability and many people do. You can chose to play pve or pvp, personally I think this game is much more worthwhile played as pvp. The game evokes so much emotion and brings out the survival instincts in every player & that's before you even tame a dinosaur! Very happy!

7.3.2018

Absolutely love this game, had it on pc, but I love the Xbox so had to get it on Xbox too. Controls are very hard to figure out, I am constantly pressing the wrong buttons . Graphics arnt that great compared to he pc. But there isn’t any lag on single player unlike the pc. Really enjoy taming dinos and building bases, and I love the fact that my partner can play also with it being co-op but we can’t join an online server only a friends non-dedicated one. But other than that it’s my best game.

29.8.2018

Great game, at times there are the odd glitches and bugs. But I really enjoy this game. Sometimes it can be quite scary to play and other times can make you a little angry.Playing on servers are good, however there is not many servers. Americans keep joining the European servers. Other players can be quite irritating, constantly killing you, destroying your bases etc.It’s fun to form a tribe though.Single player mode is not as fun compared to online. But at least you can make progress.

19.10.2017

Single player is solid and if your willing to put the hours in, a very rewarding experience, there's a few niggles. (not enough review space) Multliplayer PVE: find or start a tribe, makes dino taming easier and to kite for raids and supply runs BUT there are people who will steal your hard work and that Quetzal Egg! Multiplayer PVP: This is where all the griefers hang out YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED. Graphics, environment and ecology are perfect. Wait until you see your first Bronto!

22.11.2019

My son and his dad have not stopped playing this game since they got it. This is partly because it is so difficult. They spend ages collecting all the stuff they need only to be wiped out by a T-rex or something. And that's with the settings adjusted to make it easier. Great if you like a challenge. Not great if you just want to play around and have fun / can't handle getting wiped out constantly. Also it's huge so needs lots of free space on your xbox.

ARK: Survival Evolved - Reviews

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