ARC Raiders got me to use my microphone in a multiplayer game for the first time in years. And that’s just one of the positives I can mention about the newest extraction shooter to take gamers by the throat.
Embark Studios’ years-long passion project is finally out, and not only is it worth every cent of its $40 price tag, but it’s the first game in the genre that has me wanting to play more after the initial hours.
A better world above
The entire basis of ARC Raiders, as is the case with any PvPvE game, is your interactions with the other players you meet. Although there is an emote wheel to communicate with others, this is is the first time I’ve felt like in-game VOIP is a necessity to maximize the experience.
Wandering around as a solo player or playing with up to two others and meeting friends-or-foes in the wild is a joy. The vast majority of my experience while playing ARC Raiders has been met with jolly cooperation as opposed to PvP grinders who shoot on sight. This may change over time (and likely will as the game advances) but the amount of gamers I’ve met who are willing to give peace a chance has inspired me.
Just about every time I go topside in ARC Raiders, I come across another solo player questing like I am. Some have teamed up with others they’ve found in the area, and I’ve done the same to take down AI enemies and help everyone involved get home to their loved ones underground. It makes me warm and tingly inside every time it happens.
This is part of what makes ARC Raiders so accessible to someone like me who isn’t all that interested in PvP and is deathly afraid of losing my gear, as you are wont to do in a game in this genre. There’s always the risk of the Raider you ran into emptying their clip into your back while you least expect it, but there’s a lot to gain in working together, too, and I find that inspiring.
The worldbuilding in ARC Raiders is awesome, and the fight-or-befriend theme of the game shines through in it. The story beats available on day one drip-feed a plot that will likely evolve over time and unveil more of what happened to this universe where deadly robots called ARC have taken over the surface while humanity hides underground. These ARCs range in size from small spider bots to giant town-sized behemoths that can be battled in endgame, and they all make for a pretty uneasy vibe.
I especially love its retrofuture aesthetic dripping with mystery and intrigue. How did all of this happen? How did the world come to this state? Play your quests and progress to find out, but every time you try, you could easily be taken down by the powerful ARCs or opportunistic Raiders who may or may not be looking to steal everything you have.
Unfortunately, those who are looking for glorious exposition will find ARC Raiders lacking, as the majority of the storyline is told through mission dialogue, quest descriptions, and items you find in the world. I love the concept of it, and I hope to see more interesting execution as I continue my journey.
Progression is just as slow if you play cautiously like I do, with the rewards for the most daring equating to better gear, and thus the ability to explore further, fight more menacing ARCs, and reap the rewards on your quest for glory. I’m taking my sweet time with the quests available, but you can blow through them fairly quickly if you have a good squad and the desire to grind.
ARC Raiders is not only the first extraction shooter, but one of very few games over the past few years, that I have gotten out of bed at night to play just a few more rounds because I was itching for it. I can’t say enough about this: ARC Raiders is so fun to play, even if dying while geared up and losing everything still feels like a dropkick to the nuts every single time without fail.
A technological feat
A huge part of what makes ARC Raiders so easy to enjoy is how unbelievably optimized it is. On my years-old PC that has shown its age in 2025, the Unreal Engine 5 title runs flawlessly for me on the highest graphics settings where I’ve locked a sweet spot of 90 fps for buttery smooth gameplay.
I’m not sure how Embark Studios was able to pull this off when so many other AAA studios seem to be struggling with getting their games to perform well, but it must be commended. Being able to focus on the game itself and the dangerous world Raiders have to explore is a treat, as opposed to worrying about framerate hiccups or lag.
This helps to make ARC Raiders’ third-person gameplay feel special, too. You start out with weak and ugly weapons, cobbled together from parts found in the world. As you build out your base, these weapons get better and stronger with upgrades, but how do you decide when to take it with you? It makes sense to take your best gear on a harder mission, but those harder missions also mean a higher chance to fail and lose it all. It’s terrifyingly fun.
As ARC Raiders grows and evolves over time, Embark Studios will drop new weapons, missions, and more to grow the world and story, and I’m hoping to see some big risks taken in how it’s all presented.
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