If you haven’t heard, ARC Raiders, Embark Studios’ extraction shooter, is pretty awesome. Ironically, a new title in one of the most famously unforgiving genres probably shouldn’t feel this welcoming and accessible, and yet, it manages all this without once feeling easy.
Free Loadouts solve the issue of trying to scrounge up weapons, shields, and items for a new expedition, especially when you don’t want to risk any hard-earned loot. But the twist is that you have no idea what you’ll be getting, whether it’s a seemingly innocuous Door Blocker or a zipline, never mind the weapons. Perhaps the best part is that if you extract successfully, all those items are yours, no extra charge, to do with as you please.
This feeds into resource acquisition, which is extremely streamlined, whether you’re recycling items or simply visiting Scrappy for assistance. However, you need to take risks to complete the quests and make progress. Fighting ARC is possible with those starting weapons, but it becomes a whole lot more manageable when you’re actually upgrading guns and bringing them into a run.
Death is inevitable, and yet, you still feel rewarded for your efforts with all the XP contributing to unlocking new skills. Those can provide an edge in numerous different ways, or at least extend your survivability, like crafting on the go or improving your stamina.
However, the most surprising thing about ARC Raiders isn’t how good it feels to play, or how wonderfully detailed its maps are (to the extent that they feel like actual environments rich in history). It isn’t even the incredible performance, which feels perfectly optimised, or the end-game and some of the cooler Augments that can be unlocked. Instead, it’s the solo experience.
When you stop and think about it, playing alone in an extraction shooter feels like the worst way to go about things. If you’re downed, then there’s almost zero chance of being revived, which is a bad thing, since all that hard-earned loot is gone (unless you have a Safety Pocket for some choice item). And naturally, because no one is available to watch your back, the sheer number of things that could kill you is extensive. Couple that with the fact that some ARC units can be very tough to kill on your lonesome, whether due to lack of bullets or having an ally to take aggro, and solo should feel like a miserable experience.
However, that’s not exactly the case. Yes, all these terrible things can happen to you – welcome to the Rust Belt, don’t let the Rocketeer blow you up on the way out and whatnot. But it also feels strangely freeing, and not just because you don’t have to keep track of your teammates.
Playing solo means stealth becomes much more viable, especially when dealing with the ARC. Fewer teammates means fewer chances of someone getting spotted and effectively putting the whole team at risk. Also, because of the sheer number of risks that playing solo has to offer, the dangers of PvP are far less than when playing with a group. Some people will attack with impunity; others may stab you in the back when you least expect it, but those who simply want to be on their way after a helpful round of emoting, “Don’t shoot!” are surprisingly high.
Then there are the encounters that go a step further, like accompanying each other through high-risk environments. One player recounts fighting a Leaper, one of the nastier ARCs to handle solo and being joined by three others who went their separate ways afterwards. Given some of the larger enemies in the game, especially The Queen, cooperation seems inevitable at some points.
That said, each encounter still feels like a risk and a half. Even running into someone’s line of sight while they’re extracting, simply because an ARC is chasing you, feels like it could go sideways. However, the excitement is impossible to deny. Will they help you out, maybe revive you if you fall? Will they allow you to extract without any trouble? Or will they use the opportunity to shoot you, if for no other reason than because they can?
Which is funny because this scenario applies both ways. Hearing gunfire and approaching someone who’s scavenging the remains of an ARC feels surreal at times. They clearly don’t know you’re there. Their back is completely exposed. You could just shoot them, and no one would possibly know. Why? The voices thankfully didn’t get to the justification phase, but the fact that I had such a choice felt as empowering as it did frightening. One “Don’t shoot!” and exchange of greetings later, and the situation had been diffused (for now).
Before launch, Embark Studios discussed matching solos with each other rather than against other groups. It makes sense in terms of balance, but in practice, this seems more to segregate those who would PvP versus those who wouldn’t. Based on player accounts thus far, duos and squads are far more likely to attack each other than cooperate.
Could future content introduce an incentive to force them to work together, even for a temporary cause? Possibly, but for now, playing in a team feels like another way to experience ARC Raiders, rather than the only way. There’s definitely some endgame potential in it, especially if you have one teammate handling essential items like healing or maybe specialising in long-range damage while another packs close-range weaponry.
And that’s one more reason why I enjoy the solo experience so much. Even if everyone was out for blood, the isolation and added caution add a whole new dimension to how I would play. Without friendly pings, I’m constantly keeping an eye on the skies, keeping my ears to the ground and moving carefully. I have to consider inventory space, what to carry back and what to leave behind. Compounding this are features like Night Raids, which offer far more valuable loot but an increased ARC presence.
Things can get even more predictable in such circumstances. I still remember happening upon two players desperately fighting off a Bastion, and without even thinking twice, doing everything I could to help (which ultimately didn’t amount to much). The screeching sound it emitted before unleashing with its minigun still haunts me.
When recommending any multiplayer game, it’s usually with the understanding that you’ll have to deal with other people. See every hero shooter of the past decade where your life is essentially forfeit if your teammates can’t heal, tank damage or secure any kills. What makes ARC Raiders so endearing is that it takes that concept and twists it in unexpected ways. Hell is other people, but the reverse is also true. In such circumstances, it’s often easier to band together than deal with each other. Then again, it’s also just as easy to kill them without repercussions.
I wouldn’t be surprised if this facet played a role in future content. Maybe the real ARC Raiders experience is the friends/enemies/player killers that we meet along the way, without ever knowing which is which. Either way, the thrill of setting out and relying on myself, meeting other people and never knowing whether they’ll put me in the ground or become my best friend for the next ten minutes is as intoxicating as it is comforting.
Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.
