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ARK: Survival Evolved

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Ark: Survival Evolved is a survival video game available for the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Windows, OS X, and Android. It was developed and published by Studio Wildcard and first released on August 27, 2018. It can be played both single-player and multiplayer.

This is an open-world...[read more below]

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Ark: Survival Evolved Will Test Your Video Game Skills To Their Limit

Ark: Survival Evolved is a survival video game available for the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Windows, OS X, and Android. It was developed and published by Studio Wildcard and first released on August 27, 2018. It can be played both single-player and multiplayer.

Concept

This is an open-world video game that takes place on an island where the player has been stranded. The island is full of dinosaurs, woolly mammoths, other prehistoric creatures, and natural hazards that you must contend with. In addition to fighting these creatures, players can tame and ride them. In multiplayer mode, other players can be friend or foe. Players have access to weapons, including guns, that are used to take down hostile animals and other players. You can craft weapons, clothing, and structures like stone castles. Crafting items is a major component of the game.

Graphics and Audio

Ark: Survival Evolved is a visually polished game, though less visually pleasing on the Nintendo Switch. Each other version features crisp graphics and excellent frame rates. Sometimes there are graphical glitches, such as dinosaurs getting stuck in trees, though this does not effect gameplay. The audio features a soundtrack that gets you into the action. The weapons sound like they have a heft to them. The creatures make all the appropriate and engaging sounds such as Tyrannosaurus roaring and giant birds cawing.

Gameplay

This is a very tough survival game and you will die early and often. The bosses, especially, can be very difficult to defeat even with a human player team. On PVP servers, some players take joy in being serial killers. In order to do well, this video game requires strong commitment. When you die you lose all of your equipped weapons, ammo, and armor. It can take a long time to gather the items needed to create these so this is especially punishing. Technically, you can rush back to your corpse and get your items before they disappear, but realistically this is extremely difficult. It can be played from either a first-person or third-person view. Ark: Survival Evolved is an open-world game with endless possibilities, where if you can see something you can travel to it.

Conclusion

If you aren't daunted by a game where you die often, then Ark: Survival Evolved is up your alley. It's a lengthy game that can take 80 hours or more to complete. It has had three DLC expansions that add to the length of the game. These are Scorched Earth, Aberration, and Extinction. These expansions add additional maps, creatures, weapons, and more. Aberration added new items such as a glider suit and climbing hooks used to scale walls and cliffs. Extinction takes place in the future after the Earth has been corrupted.

Ark: Survival Evolved was developed to be a very tough challenge and so is best-suited for players with a lot of patience. If you are motivated by challenge and have time to put in, Ark: Survival Evolved is great game to try!

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From the Developers

What follows is the official description of ARK: Survival Evolved, from the developers.


Stranded on the shores of a mysterious island, you must learn to survive. Use your cunning to kill or tame the primeval creatures roaming the land, and encounter other players to survive, dominate... and escape!

TAME, TRAIN, BREED & RIDE DINOSAURS, IN A LIVING ECOSYSTEM

Over 50 creatures can be tamed using a challenging subdue-&-protect process. Weaken a feral creature to knock it out, and then nursing it to health. Once tamed, you can issue commands to your Pet, which it may follow depending on how well youve tamed and trained it. Pets continue to level-up and consume food, and carry Inventory and Equipment. Fly a Pteranodon over the mountains, race through the jungle with a pack of Raptors, or chase down prey on a T-Rex! Experience a dynamic ecosystem with its own predator & prey hierarchies. Breed Pets through successive generations to generate the best traits. Or put more simply, breed & raise Dino Babies!

FOOD, WATER, TEMPERATURE AND WEATHER

Eat and drink to survive, with different foods having different nutritional values (including human meat!). All actions drain food and water, and long-distance travel is draining. Inventory weight slows you down, and the day/night cycle and weather alter the environment. Craft clothing, build shelter, and use fire to protect yourself against damage & the elements.

HARVEST, CRAFT, AND PAINT ITEMS

Harvest trees, ore, and more to become a master crafter. Use your hands, a Smithy, or a Fabricator to craft increasingly complex and powerful gear. Build a massive base using modular pieces--ranging from Thatch, to Wood, to Stone, to Metal. Customize your base by painting it and placing signs that you can actually draw on. Weapons, clothing, & armor gear can also be painted to express your own visual style.

SUMMON THE ULTIMATE LIFE FORMS

Bring rare items to special Summon locations to awaken the ARKs mythical creatures, who arrive ready for battle. These monstrosities provide an end-game goal for the most experienced Tribes and their Pets, and yield valuable items if they are defeated.

RPG STATISTICS

Level-Up your survivor by gaining experience through in-game actions to learn new crafting Engrams, or find higher level item Blueprints in the most dangerous parts of the ARK. Customize the look of your character with a complex character creation system.

HARDCORE MECHANICS

Items have durability and wear out with use if not repaired. When you leave the game, your character remains sleeping in the persistent world. Your inventory also exists in the persistent world, vulnerable to theft. Death means permanent loss, and you can even enslave other players for your own purposes.

LARGE WORLD PERSISTENCE

On the 70+ player servers, your character, everything you built, and your pets stay in-game even when you leave. Special themed events will occur in the world with corresponding limited-run items!

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