The video game Ark: Survivor Evolved is a game where players fight for survival against dinosaurs and other mythical creatures. The game is available for many console users as well as PC gamers. I have spent many hours exploring a few of the many maps that the game has to offer yet I have barely scratched the surface of what it all has to offer. Currently there are eleven maps for those who dare to approach this carnal experience. Survival games are all the rage in recent years. A survivor game called Valheim broke steam records when released. Although Ark: Survivor Evolved has been out since 2015, there are many people who enjoy playing the game. Studio Wildcard, the creators of the game, have continued to release new maps for players as well as a season pass that offer exclusive access to certain maps and creatures.
The first time I got a glimpse at the gameplay was on one of my friend’s Instagram stories. Her character was riding on the back of some sort of flying dinosaur—possibly a Pteranodon—and all I could think was “How freaking cool! I want to ride on a dinosaur!” As it turns out, there is a lot of progress that a player must make before being able to attain any creature. When I finally downloaded the game, I had a tough time. As you can imagine, the area you first spawn in is scattered with many dinosaurs that want to eat you. Prior to picking up the game I had no experience with survival games. Thankfully, I played the game on a live twitch stream because I was able to get a morsel of help. I spent the first three hours trying to build a shelter and craft weapons and clothing to protect myself from predators. I cannot even think about the number of times I died before someone watching my stream loaded in to help me. I eventually gained another helper, and we started a tribe. With help we were able to build a solid base and tame some dinosaurs. That day I streamed and played for almost 13 hours. I burned myself out on the game or just had more interest in other games at the time because I did not play it again for a year or so.
A few months ago, I decided to pick the game up again. I started to stream my gameplay and started to learn how to play the game better overall. This has made the game so much more enjoyable to play. I created characters for different servers and maps. There are two kinds of servers: Player Versus Player (PVP) or Player Versus Everyone (PVE). In my experience the game is exponentially more difficult on a PVP server, especially when you are playing alone or with a small tribe. There are many players that play the game a lot and level up quickly. I learned this the hard way. I spent 10 hours on a server with two of my friends. We made decent progress. The next time I hopped on to play, two enemy players found our base and destroyed everything in a matter of minutes. I felt like walking away from the game forever, but I persevered. I decided not to play on PVP servers anymore.
There are different modes for servers but there are also official and unofficial servers that can modify many aspects of the game. For PC players, anyone can run a server. There are all types of modifications, such as radioactive dinosaurs and exploding dodo birds. Recently a friend invited me to play on a modified server and I enjoy it more than playing on official. You can level up faster, create custom skins for clothing and creatures and more. Additionally, the official servers can cause players to lag. Despite the issues the official servers may have, the game is worth checking out if you are into survival games and dinosaurs and many other mythical creatures such as unicorns and wyverns.
Studio Wildcard has released a new DLC map for the game this year! I watched some YouTube videos to get a sneak peek before playing and I could not be more excited to put in some hours. The map is called “Fjordur” and has a Viking theme. Unlike some of the DLC maps, it is free. The official release was June 11th. In addition to releasing a new map for the game, Wildcard has announced they will be releasing Ark II by some time next year, and an animated series based on the Ark game. Vin Diesel will be executive producer on the series and is also in the trailer for the second game. This is an extremely exciting year for Studio Wildcard and for the many fans who enjoy playing with virtual dinosaurs.
