Hey, Gamers! What Is Up?
Today I am doing a brief review of ARK: Survival Evolved. Be advised this review is based on my IMHO personal playtime in the game and the hopes of recruiting more people to get the game.
If you’re familiar with how RUST works, then you will feel at home in ARK. Yes, they are both different, but they are similar with the crafting mechanics and, in my opinion, ARK seems to do it much better. Let me stop you here before you think I am saying ARK is better than RUST! Rust is a great game too and I enjoy it as well. These two games are similar in some ways and very far apart in others. They both offer something that the other does not.
Let’s start with the Dinosaurs!
People think of dinos and think of Jurassic Park or they think of little kids at the museum and such. Not in this game! The dinos are very real and mean big business for your survival in ARK’s hostile world. They can make the difference between a good day and a bad day. I will never forget the first time that I saw and ran from a T-Rex. My real life adrenaline was flowing and fortunately, the T-Rex was young.
“One feeling I have had since playing ARK is that you never forget your first tamed dino and you never forget the awful feeling of your first tamed dino’s death.”
The good news about most of our dino friends is that they can be tamed! Once you tame your new dino then you have a loyal pet who will travel with you, farm resources and protect you even if it means its own death. This is the part of ARK that can mess with your emotions. You can and possibly will get attached to some of your dinos. One feeling I have had since playing ARK is that you never forget your first tamed dino and you never forget the awful feeling of your first tamed dino’s death.
On the official servers, you can expect to tame for a very long time. In fact, several hours of real-time! Some private servers like ours, for example, have changed the timers so that it is bearable to tame your dino and not wait several hours.
Speaking of Official servers? I want to give a shout out to a great tribe who is known as,“Fade to Black!” While on official server #7, this powerful tribe was very kind to me and gave me starting items when I first began ARK.
You will also discover that each of the dinos come with their own specialties as well:
- The castoroide or,”Giant Beaver” chops wood, and builds dams that house wood, cementing paste, flowers and more.
- The Mammoth also chops wood and is good at protecting your player from predators.
- The T-Rex who can assault other players and bases, and farm meat from fallen dinos.
- The Dodo bird whom can lay tasty eggs for your consumption or various recipes for your cooking.
- The very useful Quetz can transport goods, dinos, and players and protect itself against other formidable dinos.
- The Dilo can be tamed in packs and then left in your base to protect the contents from unwelcome visitors. (They really are a nasty surprise to unwelcome guests)
These are just a few of the jobs and skills these featured few dinos possess and offer.
The great thing about having your very own tamed dino is they can level too! Yes, you can level your dinos just like your character.
Many of the selections for leveling a dino are:
- Health (Hitpoints)
- Stamina (How far they can fly, attack or run without stopping)
- Oxygen (How long they can stay underwater)
- Food (How much food they need before they start to starve)
- Speed (How fast they can fly or run)
- Weight (How much they can carry before slowing down)
- Damage (How much damage they can do in a fight as well as resources they can farm)
- Torpor <— Cannot be leveled – (Resistance to narcotics before they are knocked out)
Your player levels are similar, but the dinosaur results seem more dramatically pronounced. Other things you can do with your dino is giving them a name, or issue them commands.
The best advice or tip I can give about your first tamed dino? If you took the time to tame the dino then you need to allow some time to build a structure to pen the dino. ARK is a persistent world meaning that when you log out then your character stays in the game but sleeps. This is similar to sleepers in RUST. A lot of bad things can happen while you’re logged out such as being burglarized, dinos killed, and even you being killed!
One thing to consider while playing ARK is,”You’re not on top of the food chain.”
Last but not least? Your dinos can mate too. That is right! If you tame a male and a female of the same species then they can mate. The mating process is usually one laying a fertilized egg and then it is up to you to care for this egg. I recommend putting the mating process off until your character level is more advanced and you have access to better resources. Some of the requirements for keeping the eggs alive are going to require for example,”Air conditioning.” Lower-level players who are not hooked up with an advanced tribe will have issues getting items like this early in the game.
Mating can be worth your while, however. The dinos will take some of the characteristics of their parents and eventually can grow up to become greater than both of them. Yes, the circle of life exists in this game. 🙂
One thing to consider while playing ARK is,”You’re not on top of the food chain.” You cannot play this game without the help of dinosaurs. The two biggest reasons are protection and farming resources. Those who solo ARK without the aid of dinos will change their mind quickly after they meet their first Giga, or, even worse an Alpha T-Rex. Yes, the world in ARK is brutal but with time, patience, and determination you will eventually stand on your own.
Crafting in the game is fun but even more detailed than the crafting system in RUST. You will see that crafting is not limited to just items but also plays into recipes of all types and cooking too.
This is where I think I will begin to end the review. Many folks have written far better reviews than this one, but I am not really a journalist. lol Seriously, If you like exploration, hunting, being hunted, crafting, PVP, and more. Then get this game!
Ark is a game that I’ve seen consistent updates, adventure, exploration and new friendships. What more could you ask for from a game? Even the company behind ARK has a sense of humor and I love it!
Game on! -Six
