I’ll be honest: I’m not very good at Arc Raiders. It’s a sci-fi extraction shooter that feels like a purified version of The Division’s Dark Zone mode, and relies on solid, slick, instant-gratification gameplay over the usual gimmicks of other games in the genre.
Set in an apocalyptic world where humans have been forced underground by machines, Arc Raiders pits you as one of the titular scavengers, ascending to the surface to pick clean the remnants of civilisation. A match sees you load up with whatever you can afford to lose, before heading up to the dust-blow hellscape above. Whether with friends, a matchmade squad, or alone, you’ll be immediately swamped by the atmosphere.
Arc Raiders’ biomes are unwelcoming and unsettling, with rusting, abandoned outposts, old power plants, depots, and warehouses dotting the landscape like pockmarks. In between, the world feels utterly devoid of life, and only tumbleweeds and rainfall keep you company. Oh, and the drones, of course. Let’s not forget those.
Whipping through the air, shining their searchlights into the gloom, or stabbing through the mud and sand in spider-like legs, the robotic enemies of Arc Raiders are a menace – especially if you find yourself alone in the world, either by design or because the rest of your team is dead. It’s often best to simply run away, and look for another way down to the safety of Speranza.
The idea is to load up on as much loot as you can in each excursion, before finding an elevator and getting off the surface alive. Each elevator sends up a massive siren when you activate it, calling in every drone and AI scavenger in the area – but also alerting all the other players, too, and they’re a lot tougher to deal with. While you can see your teammates thanks to the names floating above their heads, the enemy teams won’t be signposted. You often won’t see the enemy until you’re upon one another, and then it’s a desperate fight for survival. If you die, you lose what you’re carrying, including your own equipment. It’s often a mad scramble of violence and cunning to get into an elevator, especially if you’ve been exploring and surviving for a while, or have raided a particularly lucrative target.
NPCs back in Speranza will often give you tasks to perform in the world, and sometimes they reward you with Raider Keys, special items that allow you access to locked treasure troves. These are massively worth your time, but everything you loot increases the pain you feel if you’re killed. You can be revived when downed, but if you’re not picked up it’s over and you can only skulk back to Speranza with empty pockets.
When you do make it out, though, it’s a great feeling. Especially as success converts into special currencies for purchasing cosmetics, or standard credits that can buy you new weapons, items, and consumables for your next run. Of course, you can also craft items like shields, guns, and bandages to take with you. Scrappy the Chicken is an NPC that lets you break down your haul into usable materials, which makes him the most useful NPC despite being a literal chicken. It makes no sense in context, but Scrappy is adorable, so back off.
To develop your Raider you’ll earn XP and unlock skill points to spend in three disciplines. The first dictates your overall health, increasing the potency of your shields or toughness; the second is focused on mobility, such as movement speed when crouched or reducing the weight penalty of a shield; the third is all about survival. These skills are essential, especially the ones that reduce the noise you make when looting or breaching, both of which will attract a lot of unwanted attention otherwise.
Perhaps Arc Raiders’ biggest surprise is that I really, really like it. I mean I also hate it with a fiery vengeance now and then, when I’m carrying full bags and get slotted by a sniper I never even saw coming, but that’s part of the fun I guess. You’ll rarely get nothing out of a run, even if you are killed, as you’ll still earn XP and can complete tasks and challenges even if you die on the surface.
The atmosphere is exceptional as well. It’s a good looking game anyway, and plays smoothly with few frame drops or server issues, but the sense of place is wonderful. Because it doesn’t flood the screen with icons and nameplates, it’s easy to forget you’re up against other players at all, creating a persistent sense of immersion that rarely lets up. It’s by no means easy, alone or with a team, but it doesn’t feel overly oppressive either, and the relatively short runs mean you’ll waste little time not filling your pockets in the dust of the wasteland.
As a live service game, Arc Raiders will continue to grow with new content and updates, but like Once Human, this is a competent and complete experience at launch. With only minor bugs and a hugely satisfying gameplay loop, it’s a thoroughly enjoyable extraction shooter with a hell of a bright future.
