ARC Raiders Reviews

I've been playing ARC Raiders a lot over the past couple of months or so and finally wrote a review. Let's head to the surface and check it out!

The extraction shooter genre is analogous to itself. Many extraction shooter games enter the fray, attempt to scoop up as much loot (players) as possible and survive long enough to be successful (extract). It’s certainly not often a new one comes along and even when it does, much like the genre, they arrive and get domed by something that’s existed for a long, long time that is simply better. And yet here comes Embark Studios with ARC Raiders. It’s got Older Brother Video Game energy. It’s got that spicy zing to the gameplay loop that will have you laughing until 2:00 AM in the morning or going to bed with hatred burning in your heart. I’m not getting enough sleep because of ARC Raiders, and I love it.

Robot apocalypses are two a penny in video games, and ARC Raiders follows this fine tradition of having the world dominated by deadly machines who will attack and kill humans on sight. We’re a fairly hardy bunch, though, so we’ve burrowed underground to found the city of Speranza, with a select few coming out to the surface to scavenge from what remains of our civilisation. These fearless individuals, known as Raiders, are risking their lives and their possessions every time they head to the surface, with danger coming from the robotic ARC as well as the other Raiders who are fighting over the scraps.

Get in, get loot, get out, and don't get shot. Those are the core tenets that extraction shooters live and die by. If the gameplay loop is solid and you can bring along friends for the journey, that's a recipe for success. Embark Studios is no stranger to unique takes on familiar competitive genres, with The Finals having been released nearly two years prior. The team is back with a new spin on the extraction shooter genre, one where antagonistic and automated robots have taken over the landscape, and players can only survive above ground for thirty minutes at a time before an unstoppable threat rolls in. This is ARC Raiders.

ARC Raiders is built on a strong, engaging extraction shooter platform, with impactful weapons and teamwork. Though the inventory and loot system can be very overwhelming, the core gameplay loop is a blast.

When it was first announced, I was incredibly excited for Arc Raiders; a brand-new third-person cooperative experience set in a retro-futuristic world where groups of players team up to take down giant robots. Think in the same vein as Helldivers 2, before it was even announced. However, after a long absence, it was re-revealed, not as a cooperative game, but as a PvPvE extraction shooter, similar to Escape from Tarkov or Hunt: Showdown. It was a devastating blow that felt like it was taking ...

ARC Raiders is an extraction shooter that can be played solo or with one or two friends. The draw appears to be a hefty mix of PvE and PvP elements, but does Embark pull it off? Can a million people be wrong?

For now, however, as long as Arc Raiders remains true to its initial vision. It’s one of the best multiplayer games ever released, with some of the greatest emergent gameplay I’ve ever seen. Arc Raiders is definitely my game of the year.

With polished gunplay and an irresistible grind, ARC Raiders sets a new standard for extraction shooters.

Arc Raiders is my favorite extraction shooter to date, surpassing its competition with incredible level design, a deep yet easy-to-navigate crafting system, stunning art direction, and an exciting suite of weaponry and gadgets to discover. Developer Embark Studios’ sophomore release also cultivates a surprisingly helpful community in a subgenre known for obfuscation and treachery. However, player-versus-player firefights still shine thanks to exceptional sound design: shields break like fir...

Rich PvE combat and an unusually friendly community make Arc Raiders a more approachable extraction shooter than most, but Embark Studios' continued use of AI voice generation is a black mark against its reputation.

ARC Raiders is a massive achievement, bringing the extraction shooter to a mainstream audience with immaculate gunplay, sound design, gameplay systems, and world-building. Embark Studios has planted a flag as one of the best, if not the best, multiplayer shooter developers in the industry.

Arc Raiders will continue to grow with new content and updates, but this is a competent and complete experience at launch.

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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.

Arc Raiders is a special game. This first week has led to some of the best moments anyone could ask for with emergent gameplay scenarios, incredible social interactions, and one-of-a-kind dynamics that are impossible in any other video game. It's a feeling reminiscent of the early days of titles like EverQuest, Halo, PUBG, DayZ, or H1Z1; they're singular and beautiful experiments that marked generational shifts in genre popularity. Thanks to Arc Raiders, it feels like we're entering a new era...

Every now and again, a shooter comes along that changes the game. Half-Life 2 did it, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare did it, and so did Fortnite. That’s exactly what ARC Raiders does too. It’s that good.

By sanding down some of the roughest edges of the genre, Arc Raiders delivers an extraction experience that manages to be approachable while still being palpably tense, incredibly dramatic, and occasionally kinda heartwarming. If you're new to the genre, this is the place to start.

Arc Raiders is a genuinely enjoyable extraction shooter thanks to interesting weapons, beautiful maps, and unpredictable, action-packed PvPvE encounters.

Arc Raiders combines deep yet accessible mechanics with S-tier sci-fi world-building to deliver the best extraction shooter yet.

We are big fans of co-op games and shooters here at The Outerhaven, but it’s safe to say we’ve never been truly enamored by an extraction shooter. Can ARC Raiders break that trend? Keith and I have been playing it to find out, so let’s talk about our experiences so far in this The Outerhaven review in progress for ARC Raiders.

Developer and publisher Embark Studios is insistent on calling ARC Raiders an extraction adventure, rather than its more commonly used categorization as an extraction shooter. You do plenty of shooting – the latter is not misconstrued by any means – but the former does hew closer to what ARC Raiders actually is. While you're ostensibly doing the same thing repeatedly, the experience is so varied and unpredictable that ARC Raiders immediately proves itself to be an anecdote machine, a game that is at once awe-inspiring, terrifying, meditative, frustrating, and humanity-affirming.

Arc Raiders is an extraction shooter unlike any other, playing out like a totally unpredictable, immersive, thrilling story generator directed by the community.

ARC Raiders' inherent value lies in its execution of the extraction shooter formula, and it's a roaring success. Even beyond that, however, it's a masterfully crafted shooter that must be experienced.

As much as I've already tried, Arc Raiders keeps pulling me back in for reasons I can't always explain. It's fast, punishing, and unpredictable, yet it never forgets to be fun. Its world feels alive in a way that makes every step Topside matter, every run tell its own story, and every narrow escape feel like something worth bragging about. The sound design, traversal, and enemy AI all come together to create a rhythm that's equal parts chaos and control, and it rewards players who learn to move with it instead of against it. After more than thirty hours, I’m still discovering new ways to survive, new risks to take, and new reasons to go back.

Inevitably, that project will become a reality. Whether it's used in Arc Raiders, and whether that changes or hampers the work of developers, remains to be seen, but it could well change how I feel about a game where the mere presence of genAI already makes me feel slightly icky about recommending it. It is worth keeping an eye on, as I'm sure RPS will be.

Arc Raiders is the extraction shooter we all needed. It is approachable, challenging, and puts player choices front and center. This is one of the most successful live-service games of all time.

ARC Raiders is an incredibly challenging extraction shooter that will push you to your limits and frustrate you, but you'll keep coming back for more. With breathtaking visuals, thoughtfully-designed maps, intense PvP, and intelligent, unpredictable AI, ARC Raiders has raised the bar incredibly high for extraction shooters and will likely inspire an entire wave of games that hope to recreate its magic. Its quirky cyberpunk cosmetics give it a personality all its own, and with extensive quests and co-operative gameplay opportunities, ARC Raiders is revolutionizing the genre and pushing it further into the spotlight.

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ARC Raiders nails the fundamentals of extraction shooters with its tight gunplay, exciting loot and map designs rife with ambush locations. Its special blend of player-versus-player-versus-freakishly-intelligent-robot gameplay will enrapture extraction-shooter fans and newcomers alike.

It’s better for newbies, but still very much an extraction shooter

Raiders of the Lost ARC?