Ark: Survival Evolved Review

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Posted: 9 months ago, last updated 7 months ago.

Author: Andy Robertson.

OverviewOverview

This game offers hunting-and-harvesting gameplay in a primal setting. Although not as polished or streamlined as a game like Horizon Zero Dawn, this is a more ambitiously open world where you can choose your own way to survive. With crafting and building, like Minecraft but with realistic visuals, this is a game where you step into your own monster movie.

The game offers additional expansions to bring new maps, hazards and enemies:
  • Scorched Earth expansion pack
  • Aberration Aberration expansion pack
  • Extinction expansion pack
  • The Center map
  • Ragnarok map
  • Valguero map
  • Crystal Isles map

DetailsDetails

Rating: PEGI 16+, ESRB TEEN

Release Date: 08/08/2017, updated in 2018

Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One

Genres: Action, Fighting, Open World and Simulation

TipsTips

View our choice of games like Ark: Survival Evolved. This game is good if you want to:

CommitmentCommitment

Players: You can play with 2 players in the same room and up to 8 players online. Multiplayer allows you to form tribes of members in a server. The max number of tribe mates varies from each server. There's a split-screen mode for two players on Xbox One and PlayStation 4 by creating a local server.

Cross-Play: You can play people on different systems: PC and Xbox One.

CostsCosts

Additional in-game purchases are offered for items that enhance the experience. This includes a regular subscription fee (known as a 'battle/season pass') to unlock access to reward items and other aspects of the game.

You can purchase Scorched Earth and Aberration expansions to add maps, creatures and hazards. The third expansion, Extinction, is available through a battle pass.

This game is free with Xbox Game Pass.

Age RatingsAge Ratings

This game has been rated ESRB TEEN.

 

This game was rated PEGI 16 for frequent scenes of moderate violence. It is not suitable for persons under 16 years of age. The examiners report expands this rating with the following: Violence consists of you fabricating a variety of weapons from pointy sticks to rocket launchers and using them against enemy humans and dinosaurs. Physical responses vary from minor to realistic but blood is shown and bodies remain until they’ve been harvested for parts or decompose.

Users Interact: The game enables players to interact and communicate with each other, so may expose players to language usually associated with older rated games.

AccessibilityAccessibility

Accessibility for this game is as follows:
System Settings

Nintendo Switch has some built-in features, including a lockable zoom, that can be used on all games. Windows has extensive accessibility features. Some, like colour correction, work with games. Lots of accessibility software can be used with PC games, from voice recognition to input device emulators. PlayStation 4 has a range of accessibility settings. Some are system only, some work in games (invert colours and button mapping). Xbox One has a system features, the excellent co-pilot share controls mode and adaptive controller support for all games... read more about system accessibility settings.


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