ARK 2

Continuing from where the multiplayer, online, survival game ARK left off, ARK 2 promises to give players everything they loved about the original and then some. With a very popular cinematic that featured Vin Diesel, many thought that the sequel might have taken a greater focus on narrative. Luckily for fans of the original, ARK 2 is set to keep the focus on online play.

ARK’s Evolution

While the original ARK might still be a great game, there are plenty of reasons why a sequel is much needed. Coming out in 2017, the original ARK was developed on Unreal Engine 4, which has been greatly overshadowed by the technological feats of Unreal Engine 5, of which ARK 2 will be created with.

The Past And The Furious

ARK 2 places players into a world of survival that is filled with terrifying dinosaurs and dangerous humans. While it might seem like a prehistoric Earth, the game is actually set on a totally different world to our own. The unearthly planet where ARK 2 takes place is filled with giant waterfall cascades, thick jungles and of course, plenty of strange alien creatures. Whether it's the in-your-face dinosaurs or strange animal-fauna, the world of ARK 2 is certain to be filled with strange and interesting sights.

Clearly not on planet Earth, ARK 2 can take advantage of a sci-fi influence in order to inject creativity into its creatures and environmental designs. And while story is not the focus of the ARK 2 experience, players that helped to defeat Rockwell in the original game will be pleased to know that the game seems to take place after the events of ARK 1.

Everybody Do The Dinosaur

Of course, the main mechanics that we expect from an ARK game will all be present in ARK 2, but it's currently unknown how the developers will shake up the established formula.

Players will be able to band together and form tribes on multiplayer servers in an effort to increase their odds of survival. For fans of Dayz, Rust and The Forest, this experience will be incredibly familiar, and the dynamics of a server filled with player-to-player interactions will keep players engaged for hour after hour of gameplay.

But what makes ARK 2 so much more potentially interesting over similar games is its taming system. One of the biggest mechanics in the original is the ability to tame many of the game’s creatures, apart from a select few such as Meganeura and Titanomyrma. Players must band together and incapacitate hostile creatures through tranquilizing them or knocking them out via primitive clubs and weapons.

From there players can command their tamed creatures to help them better survive across the server, maintaining their hunger, stamina, oxygen meters, among others.

PROS:

• Upgrading the ARK gameplay experience from Unreal Engine 4 to Unreal Engine 5
• Bigger budget evident through inclusion of celebrity actor Vin Diesel
• “Hyper-realistic” dinosaur artificial intelligence

CONS:

• Yet to be released
• Previous mods and custom content from ARK 1 will not be compatible
• Exclusive to XBOX consoles