ARC Raiders: The Review. Embark's shooter that made it.

When the arrival of Battlefield REDSEC, Activision's free battle royale set in the world of its most famous saga, was announced somewhat by surprise, many of us feared for the fate of ARC Raiders. Although Embark's title differs in many respects, the arrival of a free competitor of this magnitude in the online shooter sector at such a delicate time as its launch was certainly not good news. Our anxiety, however, was unjustified: the qualities of ARC Raiders, already perceived during our preview, emerged immediately, and the difficulties faced by the game's servers, which were swarmed by players, are the most direct proof of this. Let's see why ARC Raiders will most likely be talked about in Game of the Year discussions. (On a personal note, I'll anticipate that ARC Raiders has managed to get me hooked on a multiplayer game again, despite being over 40 years old according to my ID: as far as I'm concerned, it already deserves an award just for that).

ARC Raiders Mechanics

Let's start with the basics, and thus the mechanics (already described in the preview, in a somewhat fictionalized form. Ed. Clod). ARC Raiders is a PvEvP extraction shooter: translated into everyday language, it's a third-person shooter whose objective is to reach one of the map's exit points within the time limit, while simultaneously dealing with both environmental enemies controlled by the CPU and other human explorers. In the game's narrative context, we are called to play the role of a Raider, one of those rare figures who ventures to the surface in an attempt to collect good loot and survive the ARC machines, then bring what was pilfered to the underbelly, where humanity has holed up following an apocalyptic event that significantly moved the extinction clock towards midnight. 

Underground, all activities useful for improving survival chances on the surface can be found. Shops, of course, where you can buy necessities. But also a Workshop where you can transform the enormous quantity of junk found outside into something useful. It's undoubtedly a good idea, moreover, to take some time for yourself, putting the experience gained in the field to good use to improve some of the basic skills: running a little faster, for example, while crouched, can really make a difference, to stay on the basics. But in that underground world, there are also a lot of people who need something from the world above, and there's nothing that motivates a Raider more than a mission to fulfill in exchange for a reward. Before resurfacing, however, it's necessary to take a few minutes to reflect: death up there means losing everything you carry with you, with the exception of the small Safe Space available, and deadly human and robotic threats abound in the sunlight. So, should you bring powerful weapons for this mission? Or is it better to save them for when you can count on a more cohesive team? Is it better to bring bandages and other support tools or leave space in your backpack, relying on findings on the map?

From Calabretta South with Fury

To answer these questions, however, it is necessary to know what awaits us up there and, above all, in which area we plan to search for our loot. ARC Raider is set in a future South Italy, amidst characteristic towns semi-buried by sandstorms, imposing dams, and a futuristic spaceport now abandoned to the desolation of Acerra (really!). The explorable areas are vast and often composed of very different zones. Open spaces where it is good to move with extreme circumspection alternate with urban agglomerations, with many explorable buildings far and wide that make up alternative paths through the environment. 

Large structures (like the aforementioned dam, or the hospital in the city) represent a kind of treasure trove for Raiders, sure to always find something useful, for the current mission or in general. And of course, these places also prove to be the most treacherous, mainly due to the very probable human presence: it's always good to keep your ears open, and if you hear footsteps, well, it's time to decide what to do pretty quickly. But we'll talk about that shortly. The most probable obstacle in your path are indeed the ARC machines, lethal controllers of the territory, small or large, armored and unarmored, capable of alerting nearby robotic colleagues in a very short time. Alone at first, it's unthinkable to survive a clash, but even when equipment and abilities improve, it's often better to avoid facing the ARCs alone. Fortunately, you can count on two other teammates in each match, friends or randomly chosen by matchmaking; but against the best-armed and armored specimens, even three often struggle. It's better to reduce clashes to the bare minimum… or in some cases, rely on humanity's common survival instinct. 

The Weight of the Community

Often, in fact, the consideration that more hands and a few more rifles would be needed to increase the chances of collecting interesting loot and bringing it home is also shared by other scattered Raider platoons on the map, spontaneously generating collaborative dynamics between groups of strangers. Obviously, it would be a serious mistake to take this eventuality for granted: stronger groups might not need any support and therefore represent a threat both to our loot and to our lives. Every encounter thus proves to be a tense challenge that often leads to emergent, spontaneous, and genuinely fun gameplay situations. 

All of this, of course, doesn't happen by chance, but is the result of the meticulous work of refinement and balancing carried out by the developers of ARC Raiders, which extends to every feature, mechanic, or element of the game. Looting, for example, takes time during which we are exposed to enemies, which can be reduced by increasing one's experience. Particular areas of the map are protected by keys, which can also be found on other maps and must be carefully preserved until the right moment to use them arrives. Over time, then, special missions appear, perhaps at night or under other peculiar conditions, with exotic loot and more complicated requests than usual. Every outing must finally be planned, evaluating risks and opportunities, aware that you could lose everything just a few steps from resurfacing: is it worth risking what we carry in our backpack for one last fleeting exploration along the way home? There's no shortage of things to do, and Speranza, the underground town and hub that welcomes us, is populated by merchants and strange types who always need something on the surface. Ultimately, we are happy to accommodate their requests because every foray into the sunlight is an unpredictable adventure, where human and artificial dynamics mix with results that are never the same. Take this last part with a grain of salt, because it's extremely subjective, but ARC Raiders, with the charm of its settings, the profound simplicity of its mechanics, and the unpredictability of interactions, has made me want to play online again, a desire that had been dormant for too long.