ARC Raiders, the upcoming extraction shooter from developer Embark Studios, has blown me away with its level design, world-building, and tense, often white-knuckle combat encounters with players and enemy AI alike. The up-and-coming studio’s veteran team proved its mastery of multiplayer design with the release of The Finals, a first-person shooter I praised for bucking trends. After playing ARC during a recent three-day press event, the sophomore release seemingly follows suit.
While extraction shooters have cultivated engaged fans since emerging in the late 2010s with releases like Hunt: Showdown and The Division’s PvPvE Dark Zone, the genre has yet to gain a foothold with mainstream audiences. However, the genre is ripe for mainstream attention with Escape From Tarkov’s upcoming Steam 1.0 release and Bungie’s Marathon just around the corner.
ARC Raiders – Tech Test 2 Trailer:
Embark has crafted an intriguing retro-futuristic setting, bucking the subgenre’s typically muted aesthetics while producing ample hostility and hard-earned escapes that make extraction shooters so sticky. Old-world architecture grounds the firefights erupting within, and an armory of futuristic gadgetry adds playfulness, contrasting otherwise daunting missions. Ziplines, door blockers, mobile barricades, odd grenade types, and traps complement satisfying rail weapons and shoddily crafted, bygone arms.
ARC’s third-person perspective sets it apart from most extraction shooters, but it still maintains a similarly harsh ruleset. Before selecting a map to explore, players kit their character with as little or as much gear as they like (a terribly-basic loadout is freely available), with the acknowledgement that they’ll lose almost all of it in the event of death, save for any precious items stowed away in an included Safe Pouch.
Long-term progression relates to homebase upgrades that house helpful crafting recipes for new weapons, healing items, gadgets, and beneficial augments like increased carrying capacity and the option to equip high-tier shields. Additionally, vendors frequently offer missions to collect specific items (essentially, a shopping list) in exchange for new gear, resources, or experience points to invest in a sizable skill tree — the latter is a welcome addition to the niche design formula.
Every match demands careful decisions; your risk threshold likely changes based on the loot you’ve acquired. It’s increasingly more difficult to extract later because exits expire at various frequencies as the match progresses. Some players may retreat five minutes into a run if they nab something desirable, while others may max out their backpack space until the 30-minute time limit runs out. Regardless, other players may have a similar plan, so it’s crucial to consider ambushes in offensive or defensive planning.
Embark’s mastery of various game art disciplines is on full display in ARC Raiders, with beautifully rendered environments that are rewarding to explore. The Dam features dark hallways beneath its surface, ripe with rollerbots that swarm if the security system detects suspicious movement or noise. The environment features a mixture of dry, desert-like red rock and wetland isles below the towering walls of the dam. Elsewhere, derelict conservatories house abundant loot (and risk) due to their central location. Another level, Spaceport, features incredible science fiction imagery. The broken chassis of building-sized spiderbots lay in ruin, as an attractive looting area or a critical path to scramble up otherwise difficult-to-climb perimeter walls.
Weather systems, time of day, and other modifiers change the conditions of its maps, and even enemy spawns and pathing behaviors. A giant, crab-like robot called a Bastion patrols a garage in the Abandoned City by day. However, it’s seemingly elsewhere during the night. While exploring what we thought was an empty location, a hostile player squad ambushed my teammates and me in the moonlight, giving way to a gripping chase reminiscent of my favorite action thrillers.
ARC’s visual and sound effects help to realize its aesthetic while distinguishing important actions, which is critical to signaling feedback to attentive raiders. Players emit a flair when knocked down, signaling their general whereabouts to friendlies and enemies alike. Sparks fly as weapons pepper characters with bullets, adding a satisfying effect whenever you successfully land a shot. Each weapon I used distinguished itself with various reload times and fire rates, but the sound design does a lot of heavy lifting. Lower-tier rifles feel cheap due to the bell-like plinks accompanying their bullets, subtly conveying the instrument’s lack of effectiveness, as if the projectiles are ricocheting off the material rather than piercing it.
Lastly, the artificial intelligence powering enemies facilitates hairy field scenarios. Even basic enemies possess overwhelming power in numbers thanks to the excellent logic dictating their behavior. It often feels like you’ve barely scraped by, making almost every combat scenario significant, especially when other raiders might be lingering nearby.
Harsh consequences make extraction shooters satisfying to master, but they’re also the greatest hurdle for new players. Time will tell if ARC Raiders can penetrate the mainstream, but Embark appears to be making meaningful progress in a niche ready for more attention.
