Between the tameable dinosaurs, huntable yetis, and insanely wide array of weaponry, the game offers a distinctly different take on the survival genre, and all that can be experienced on the Nintendo Switch come November 30th. As you can see in the game's launch trailer, a largely intact version of ARK will soon be playable anywhere you find yourself with a Switch in hand.
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The new content, which drops in October of this year, will take players the expansion's namesake, Aberration, a derelict ARK with a massive underground biome for them to explore. Of course, a new environment isn't the only enticing addition. The expansion will also contain wingsuits, ziplines, crazed humanoids, and, naturally, radioactive sunlight. What more could you ask for?
Absolver (PC and PlayStation 4) - Supports three player online co-op. Brawl together through the ruins of the Adal Empire in order to learn new combat moves and gain new equipment as you journey to become an Absolver. Our Co-Op Review will go up later this week, and you can check out a recap of our co-op stream here.
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While the console (and PC, too, but we'll be skipping that platform for now) versions of the game do allow you and your friends to join up online in a private session, the main method for doing this is via a non-dedicated session, meaning the game is only available/running when the host is around. Additionally, players are essentially tethered to the host and cannot run off wherever they want. If you and your friends want to play whenever/wherever, then you'll need a dedicated server, which means someone will need a second console, a decent Internet speed, and do some setup to get that up and running. It's a bit much to ask of a friend, not to mention you shouldn't be stressing them out over five nines reliability.
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It's been a long road for ARK ever since it first hit Steam Early Access back in June 2015. In that two year timespan, the title saw over 200 updates, got into the Xbox Game Preview (i.e., early access) program on the Xbox One and a similar program on the PlayStation 4 before it finally got a "final" release date. That in itself caused some (understandably) ruffled feathers as the price jumped about $20 from what it was during the Early Access days. Still, an end was in sight so everything's good, right?
Wild Card studios, the development team behind the game, has supplied a consistent flow of updates as well as a slew of DLC, all of which is available to buy at a variety of price points. As for the game itself, there are a number of purchasing options available, too. At the highest priced tier there is a pre-order exclusive that weighs in at a hefty $159.99, providing the game, all three pieces of previous DLC as well as two currently unannounced additions, leather-bound books, maps and more. The next option is an Explorer’s Edition that is offered for $99.99, which includes the base game as well as a season pass granting the three previously released DLC and the future two. Finally, the base game alone is now being offered for $59.99 in both physical and digital forms.
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If you do pick up the game, then you should have access to all of the content that's been released thus far. The bundle also includes the title's first expansion pack, Scorched Earth, as well as some PlayStation 4 exclusive cosmetic skins for the Gigantosaurus and your in-game character. The ARK: Survivor's Pack will go on sale in both North America and Europe next Tuesday, December 6, for $54.99 USD and €49.99, respectively.
So, naturally, I'd be pretty ecstatic about any changes made to my harsh surroundings (such as the one that'll be revealed tomorrow for ARK: Survival Evolved), if nothing else but for the slight chance that something will be added to improve my survivability. We don't know a great deal about the forthcoming update, but Studio Wildcard was kind enough to leave us with a teaser image to analyze and overthink.
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The new Redwood Biome is, as you might expect, filled with the huge trees that were the setting for a certain Lucas film. Much like the furry inhabitants of that area, you, too, can build your own tree-based cities with wood and metal platforms, buildings, and retractable ladders. Of course, if you manage to tame the newly added (and massive) Titanosaur, you don't need to worry about those treetop dwellers raising the defenses; you can just march on in and do what you want.
On the Xbox One, the latest patch brings all of its content up-to-date with all of the content through patch v240 on the PC. It also fixes some bugs and memory crashes along with the Center map and the 100 player servers for that map. As far as the Center map itself is concerned, it is described as "a rich, hand-drawn Tolkien-esque aesthetic... filled with stunning lighting effects, lava rivers, giant picturesque mountains, misty floating islands, ancient underground ice caves, and more."
Originally slated for a summer release, the game has been pushed back, according to the developer, due to all the features and dinosaurs the developer that have been added (and the more that are in the works). Of course, this news also comes after Studio Wildcard and Trendy Entertainment (the developers behind Dungeon Defenders) reached a $40 million settlement in a lawsuit filed by Trendy as they contended that a former employee - Jeremy Stieglitz - was in breach of his contract and working on ARK in secret. Stieglitz was also, according to the suit, attempting to hire Trendy employees out from under the studio in order to come work at Studio Wildcard.
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For those who may be unfamiliar with them, the devs have a forum thread on their website that goes into more detail about how these non-dedicated servers work. Essentially, a player can create one of these servers by choosing to host a session and specifying the appropriate settings. The server will only exist while the host is active so you can't get back into it when the host is not playing. Additionally, players are tethered to the host by a range of 200 meters, so you're not free to roam about wherever you choose. Studio Wildcard has plans to improve some of these current limitations, but for now, if you want to combo co-op with your friends, this is the only way.
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