While Ark: Survival Evolved is currently benefiting from an exceptional offer making it temporarily free, the studios behind this mythical Survival announced this Sunday, June 12, 2022 the upcoming arrival of its second opus. It will indeed be a game in its own right, and we already know a few things about it!
Ark 2 release date
Although we know almost everything about its final release date, Ark II will however offer itself an Early Access during 2023 without too many details. This early access is planned for PC (via the Steam platform) and should last a while, just like its predecessor, before finally being officially deployed in its full version.
On the console side, the title is already announced as an exclusive Xbox series X | S, Microsoft consoles therefore. It is even planned to be available in the Xbox Game Pass as soon as it is officially released, both on Xbox and PC. Bad news for PlayStation and Switch players but which should delight a good number of fans who hold this catalog of video games!
Ark 2: The Revival of a Genre
The developers of Ark II want to be rather confident about the ambitions of Ark II. Announced as “the revival of the Survival genre”, this new opus will take up the theme of its predecessor by greatly improving many points, in particular the narrative aspect. You will thus dive into a strange primordial where dinosaurs reign supreme and where humans are struggling to find a place for themselves. By allying yourself with legendary heroes, Santiago (played by Vin Diesel) for example, but also by learning to tame the giants who threaten you and by confronting you with the dark forces which try to master these ancient creatures, you will discover the history of your arrived on this curious territory.
Many new features are also planned in terms of gameplay, starting with the possibility of fully modding the game, including on Xbox. A feature that players seem to appreciate and that the developers are keen to encourage by making it available to console players.
It is expected that the game will only support third-person vision, a choice that will undoubtedly disappoint some in search of absolute immersion. To compensate, new movement mechanics will be added: free climbing, parkour or slides in particular! Combat will also evolve in favor of a Souls-inspired style, including enabling target lock, blocking, dodging, combos, and even including special attacks. Highly anticipated features that, if indeed added, could make Ark more amazing than ever.
Naturally, a whole bunch of new creatures as curious as they are dangerous will appear in this new one. Dynamic world events will periodically take place, non-player human antagonists can be encountered and fought, and the item and building creation systems will receive a major overhaul.
One of the most interesting points for us is the disappearance of radar and advanced technologies. In Ark II, creatures track their prey and hunt according to what they perceive with their sight, hearing and smell. It’s already planned that they can even use cunning camouflage to surprise their unfortunate prey, while you, poor little human, will have new features allowing you to camouflage your scent in an attempt to escape them.
Finally, and not least, the game will fully exploit the Unreal Engine 5 deployed very recently by Epic. It is therefore quite naturally a new way of visually apprehending Ark which will be offered to players through a certain graphic evolution.
Full of promise, Ark II could thus be a real revolution of a genre already greatly appreciated by a growing number of players. If the first opus had serious flaws, this new title could well correct them and go even further in what the ideal survival game could offer. Will expectations be met? We can’t wait to find out!
After seven years of good and loyal service, Ark: Survival Evolved is finally available on a very temporary basis in free access and completely free on PC. A mythical offer even as a new DLC, Fjordur, comes into play with Ark 2 on the horizon of 2023…