Successor of one of the biggest exponents of the survival game since the genre exploded in recent years, Ark 2 first distinguishes itself from its predecessor by highlighting a narrative thread telling the story of Santiago (Vin Diesel) and his daughter Meeka (Auli’i Cravalho). While waiting to see how their story will be integrated into the game, we imagine that most fans are mainly there to tell stories themselves by trying to survive first, then to prosper in the midst of prehistoric species.
On the gameplay side, the first major news is that this episode will be played exclusively in third person to make better use of the new possibilities offered by mobility and combat. And on paper, a lot of things will change. Studio Wildcard says it was inspired by titles like Assassin’s Creed for automatic parkour, Breath of the Wild for free climbing and even Souls for clashes against humans, insisting on target locking, dodging, parries or the alternation of heavy and light attacks.
The relationship between the player and the fauna will also be different, the animals now relying on their senses (sight, sound, smell), which implies for example being able to hide or mask their smell to escape predators. Speaking of the player, his progress will be marked by both gaining experience points but also knowledge points by accomplishing key objectives and overcoming unique challenges. In doing so, one will progress through a skill tree filled with new active abilities and other passive perks.
On a technical level, while waiting to see if the Unreal Engine 5 will be able to work miracles for the sequel to a game well known for its outrageous optimization, let’s add that community mods, often considered essential in this type of game, will all be distributed on PC but also Xbox. While waiting to see the game in action, more details await you on Xbox Wire and on the Steam page.