ARC Raiders Review – Polished, Addictive and Accessible Fun

ARC Raiders Review

Extraction shooters have a simple gameplay loop that can be summarized in six words: get in, get stuff, get out. The “get stuff” part can be swapped with “do stuff” objectives, too. For developers, each of the three phases is a potential failure point, where fun can give way to frustration. What kept me playing ARC Raiders was the finely-tuned elegance — a weird word to apply, but that’s how it feels — to every moment of game play. There isn’t a moment of disrespected time. There’s no complexity for its own sake.

Pristine Premise

Like its basic loop, ARC Raiders has an immediately coherent fiction. In the near future, Earth has been decimated by a force of mechanized killers in the form of drones and mobile turrets. They patrol the skies and the landscape. They lurk in the ruined husks of buildings. As a Raider, your task is to brave the surface, searching for useable loot, before descending into your underground base, Speranza.

Topside, as the Raiders call it, is a detailed post-apocalyptic Earth devastated by ARC. It’s haunted, beautiful and terrifying in equal measure. There’s a wealth of environmental storytelling hidden in the ruins. Although the levels aren’t immense, they feel expansive. They’re big enough to allow for freedom of exploration and challenge, but small enough to be manageable. Day and night missions transform the dangers and rewards of each area.

Graphically, ARC Raiders effectively uses lighting and weather effects to make the world seem palpably real. In contrast to so many recent titles, ARC Raiders is extremely polished and runs impeccably.

Taken By Surprise

Obviously, ARC Raiders’ world needs to be amazing to explore, and it is. Where the game really takes hold is in its shooter systems and PvPvE mechanics. The developers tweaked the formulas in smart and effective ways.

ARC Raiders is playable solo or in teams of 3. The two experiences are quite dissimilar. In solo mode, players explore and complete objectives but may form ad hoc partnerships. For those not on mic, there’s a fairly useful emote system that communicates the basics. Of course, it’s entirely possible that another solo player is hostile, creating persistent, unique tension around every encounter. The game tries to put solo players into the same world so generally solo-ers are not likely to be attacked by a squad.

If the solo mode is PvE, the team modes fully lean into PvP combat and can be quite difficult to survive without competent coordination. To its credit, ARC Raiders offers an equally rewarding experience for either preference. Leveling is not slower for solo players, and they gain access to more loot.

Loot Loops

Generally, each visit Topside tasks the player with completing an NPC’s objective and returning to Speranza in one piece. Most maps feature several exfil points that are on timers, so that missing one close by exit means a long, dangerous trek to another. Mission objectives are fairly standard, like collecting a certain type of material or finding specific crates. Several risk/reward systems allow players to shape each mission. For example, you can choose a randomized loadout which preserves your already collected items but might not be ideal. Contents of a player’s backpack are lost upon death during a mission.

Back at Speranza, players run through the usual routines of visiting NPCs for gear and missions, upgrading equipment and crafting. It’s all highly streamlined and relatively intuitive, though it will take players some time to grasp all the systems at play. Almost everything is accessible with minimal clicking through multiple tabs and menus. ARC Raiders does an excellent job of moving everything along.

There are no glaring issues with ARC Raiders, but one initial minor disappointment is that the number and types of weapons and interesting upgrades is a little underwhelming. This promises to improve, as the developers have laid out an encouraging roadmap for future expansion and new content.

Superior Shooting

Overall, ARC Raiders’ third person movement and combat feel great. Weapons are effectively punchy and fun to use against different enemies. The ARC machines range from somewhat trivial to nearly impossible without a team.

Sound design in ARC Raiders is a huge element in combat, as the ARC machines and fellow Raiders all have audio tells that help pinpoint location. Opening crates and activating elevators create a sound signature that attracts enemies, adding to the tension. The environmental audio, synth-heavy music and combat effects create an always interesting soundscape.

Missing From Action

ARC Raiders hides its minor deficiencies better than most, but nothing is perfect. Though playing endless matches is the point — and fun — progression’s slower than in many of its brethren shooters. The process of recycling gear into parts or upgrading equipment becomes intuitive, but there’s a lot of repetition for predictable results. Loot management in the field can bog down matches a little. Finally, an obsessive player will burn through the maps, upgrades and levels pretty quickly. ARC Raiders is going to need a steady stream of new modes, maps and content. But what’s there is excellent.

ARC Raiders is simply one of the most polished and accessible third person extraction shooters in recent memory. It has something for everyone, from solo players to teams ready to wreak havoc in the world. With a confident and coherent mashup of systems and a simple, addictive loop, ARC Raiders helps wrap up a notable gaming year in fine fashion.

***PC code provided by the publisher for review***