ARK: Survival Evolved
What to Know
Average Score
- November 18, 2018
- Studio Wildcard
- Action, RPG
Critics Consensus
- Users Interact
- November 18, 2018
- Action, RPG
- Users Interact
Critics Consensus
# Reviews: 35
Ark: Survival Evolved is an overly ambitious survival game that is devoid of depth or nuance.
Rate and Review
Critic Reviews for ARK: Survival Evolved
Critic Reviews
Score Distribution
35
Reviews
Ranges
This ambitious survival game emerges from Early Access fully featured but just as in danger of toppling in on itself as ever before.
Unforgiving difficulty and atmosphere are the main characteristics of dino-survival sim Ark: Survival Evolved.
A bloated, grindy mess, but so packed with options that a better game is hidden inside it.
Matt Wales (Eurogamer)
Not Recommended - (Read Review)
This ambitious survival game emerges from Early Access fully featured but just as in danger of toppling in on itself as ever before.
Brett Todd (GameSpot)
6/10 - (Read Review)
Unforgiving difficulty and atmosphere are the main characteristics of dino-survival sim Ark: Survival Evolved.
Ian Bimbaum (PC Gamer)
72/100 - (Read Review)
A bloated, grindy mess, but so packed with options that a better game is hidden inside it.
Outlet | Author | Score | Date | Quote | Read |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Chalgyr’s Game Room | Chalgyr’s Game Room | 6 / 10 | 09-25-2017 | ARK: Survival Evolved is an interesting game that spent a great deal of time in Early Access / Beta. The developers used this time to try and polish a title that has long had a lot of potential | Read review |
Critical Hit | Darryn Bonthuys | 7 / 10 | 09-08-2017 | Ark: Survival Evolved is far from being complete, what with its many bugs and a feature bloat that doesn’t always hit the nail on the head. And yet, it’s still an addictive grind that proves that life can find a way. | Read review |
Cubed3 | Thom Compton | 6 / 10 | 09-15-2017 | To enjoy ARK: Survival Evolved you’re going to have to earn it, and that’s a tough sell in this day and age. For those who are willing to sweat over their controller to make even the smallest amount of headway, this is a title you should definitely give a chance. However, if the idea of suffering for a while to gain any real traction sounds horrible, steer clear. Those who survive this are going to prove they deserve to | Read review |
Destructoid | Joel Peterson | 7 / 10 | 09-15-2017 | But apart from all this, aside from all the little flaws and the feeling of tedium that permeated large portions of my experience with ARK: Survival Evolved, I can’t fault the game for what it is, which is one of the best in its genre — even if after playing it, like Willard after his mission from Apocalypse Now, I’ll never want another. If any of this sounds good to you and the prospect of a straight climb up a wall full of spikes to experience the multiplayer is not intimidating, add a couple of points onto my final score; you will probably find a lot to love here. | Read review |
Digitally Downloaded | Pierre-Yves Lanthier | 3.5 / 5 stars | 10-26-2017 | Like a lot of of titles in this genre, Ark: Survival Evolved has a steep learning curve and requires quite the time | Read review |
Eurogamer | Matt Wales | Not Recommended | 09-01-2017 | This ambitious survival game emerges from Early Access fully featured but just as in danger of toppling in on itself as ever before. | Read review |
Fextralife | PrimeraEspada91 | 7.6 / 10 | 09-13-2017 | Ark Survival Evolved is a unique open world survivor game pitting players to overcome a harsh ecosystem. They may choose to do so solo or with friends; in addition to playing against other gamers in a showmanship of the most advance hunters. Level opposing villages or work with them in an exchange of services. Ark gives you the opportunity to grow a garden, tame mystical and ancient beasts, and much more; the power of this lies in your forearm and your ambitions. | Read review |
FNintendo | Nuno Nêveda | 3 / 10 | 12-11-2018 | ARK: Survival Evolved could have brought another interesting and fun game to the Nintendo Switch catalogue. Instead it’s a severely distorted experience which due to its poor graphical performance, ends up not fulfilling any of its ideas correctly. As a consequence of its terrible lack of fluidity, pop ups and mistakes on the graphics department, ARK: Survival Evolved turns out to be an extremely frustrating effort that leaves no one satisfied. | Read review |
Gameblog | Camille Allard | 6 / 10 | 09-08-2017 | Ark Survival Evolved is a good survival game with awesome mechanics, but it’s also a technical disaster (lag, freezes, connection issues…). Such a shame! | Read review |
Gamefa | Mohammad Hossein Bajalan | 7.5 / 10 | 10-09-2017 | Ark is not one of those game to start playing it and just leave it on your shelf after a short time. If you really want to be good in this game you should have a team of real-life friends that you trust. Your team’s players should have lots of free time too. Ark Survival Evolved can easily be one of the best experiences you’ve had over the years. | Read review |
GamePro | Johannes Rohe | 65 / 100 | 09-07-2017 | In its best moments, Ark is the dream of every Dino fan. But bugs and the grindy game principle often spoil the fun. | Read review |
GameSpot | Brett Todd | 6 / 10 | 09-13-2017 | Unforgiving difficulty and atmosphere are the main characteristics of dino-survival sim Ark: Survival Evolved. | Read review |
GamingTrend | Sean Anthony | 70 / 100 | 09-19-2017 | If you have friends, Ark: Survival Evolved is a fun survival game, with options such as PvP or PvE servers to make every player happy. If you primarily play alone, however, this game will require a heavy set of grinding and repetition, turning off any players hoping to just get a taste of some dinosaur action. | Read review |
God is a Geek | Chris White | 7 / 10 | 09-13-2017 | It’s incredibly ambitious, but without spending hours upon hours building a safe haven to protect you from the brutality of PvP, the single player feels a bit redundant without anyone to play with. | Read review |
Hey Poor Player | Bethany Meadows | 3.5 / 5 stars | 09-04-2017 | Its pricey to be sure, but if you’re a fan of the genre Ark is worth picking up. The hours of gameplay it offers pays for itself already. Also: dinosaurs. | Read review |
Hobby Consolas | Rafa Dominguez | 75 / 100 | 08-30-2017 | ARK: Survival Evolved is a videogame with tons of posibilities where we’ll fall in love with its splendorous aesthetics, its content and its particularly atractive thematic. It’s sad, though, that our most important enemy in a world plagued with dinosaurs may be its disastrous optimization. | Read review |
IGN | T.J. Hafer | 7.7 / 10 | 09-01-2017 | When I’m having a good time in ARK, I’m having a really good time. The problem is that those moments are usually one part to every nine parts menial grinding and crafting | Read review |
Impulsegamer | Sean Warhurst | 3.6 / 5 stars | 09-17-2017 | Ark: Survival Evolved has more bugs than the grill of a Mack truck and your first introduction to the game can feel akin to the sensation of being hit by aforementioned truck, but peel away the layers of abstruse game mechanics and you’ll find a strangely compelling game that’ll make you feel like the Pope of Dino-Town at times and want to open a vein in a hot bath at others. | Read review |
M3 | Mikael Lindkvist | 7 / 10 | 10-07-2017 | A clumsy control scheme aside, the console version of Ark: Survival Evolved is a recommendation, especially if you going to play together with your friends. | Read review |
Nexus | M.A. Ligocki | 7 / 10 | 09-25-2017 | Ark is an incredibly fun game to play through and explore. As with the best survival games in the genre, it has that “just one more time” aspect going for it. | Read review |
Niche Gamer | Michael Jordan | 5.5 / 10 | 09-07-2017 | I want to love this game so bad, but I just can’t. | Read review |
Nintendo Life | Dom Reseigh-Lincoln | 4 / 10 | 12-06-2018 | Ark: Survival Evolved, in its current state, is not the best port to grace Nintendo Switch. It is, however, a proper MMORPG survival game with a deep and rewarding crafting system and the potential for some brilliant online cooperation with your fellow survivors. There’s a palpable thrill to moving from simple stone tools to more advanced weaponry as you begin to master the crafting cycle, an experience no other game on Switch can offer right now. But its myriad technical problems – ranging from texture pop-in to substantial performance slowdown – mean you really are better off playing Ark on a different platform for the time being. Patches could solve some of these problems over time, but we can’t help but feel this ambitious title will never run at an acceptable level on Nintendo’s hybrid platform. | Read review |
Nintendo Times | Jay Kittelson | 6 / 10 | 12-19-2018 | WORTH CONSIDERING | Read review |
NintendoWorldReport | John Rairdin | 2.5 / 10 | 12-15-2018 | Is a Switch game that can realistically only be played in docked mode actually playable? The entire point of this system is to be able to take your games with you, but ARK can’t really offer that. It draws into question the sanctity of the Nintendo seal of quality. The fact that it is not only available to the public, but costs money is an insult. Don’t buy ARK on Switch. | Read review |
PC Gamer | Ian Birnbaum | 72 / 100 | 09-07-2017 | A bloated, grindy mess, but so packed with options that a better game is hidden inside it. | Read review |
PCGamesN | Phil Iwaniuk | 8 / 10 | 08-14-2017 | In the end, Ark’s ambition pulls it in the right direction with more force than its clunkiness tugs it the other way. It’s always more enjoyable to spend time with a game that tries something new and exciting, stumbling along the way, than a game that tries to tick focus group-inspired boxes. If that game also happens to simulate an entire prehistoric ecosystem, and produces bewildering emergent scenarios like clockwork, all the better. | Read review |
Player.One | Christopher Groux | 6 / 10 | 09-06-2017 | ARK: Survival Evolved is a mixed-bag experience that only truly caters to those well aware of, or heavily interested in, the survival genre. | Read review |
PlayStation LifeStyle | Paulmichael Contreras | 7.5 / 10 | 09-04-2017 | Ark: Survival Evolved has a bunch of interesting ideas. But by attempting to be a jack-of-all-trades, it doesn’t really feel like it has mastered any particular element. This doesn’t mean there isn’t fun to be had in the ARK; if you enjoy the brutal survival mechanics on offer here, then you will likely spend many dozens, if not hundreds, of hours in the quite lengthy grind as you conquer the primitive world. For many people, however, the time required to really enjoy what’s shown on the cover art may prove too insurmountable. | Read review |
PS4Blog.net | the_nmac | 7.5 / 10 | 09-13-2017 | ARK: Survival Evolved is still a good game, but it’s not a one friendly with newcomers. Getting to the enjoyable part of the game will take hours, so gamers need to be willing to put the time into it. The game looks even better now than it did before, making you fear for your life when you see the hulking beasts out to get you, not to mention the gorgeous environments you’ll explore. | Read review |
Rock, Paper, Shotgun | Samuel Horti | Not Recommended | 09-13-2017 | While ARK can be a lot of fun – grabbing another player off of a raptor with an Argentavis feels bloody brilliant – it’s rarely worth the hours of tedium. If you can spare the 100 or so hours it takes to get your teeth into it then I’d recommend you spend them elsewhere. | Read review |
SwitchWatch | Jordan Humphries | 7 / 10 | 11-27-2018 | Video Review | Read review |
TheSixthAxis | Nicole Hall | 4 / 10 | 12-18-2018 | Even as an Ark aficionado, it’s difficult not to slump in disappointment as you play the Switch rendition of what can be a fantastic title. The touch screen may allow for better control functionality as far as the other consoles go but ugly visuals and general instability don’t really make up for it. Ark: Survival Evolved is and will remain one of those titles that shines brightest on PC and only there can it gain the appreciation it truly deserves. | Read review |
TrueAchievements | Kelly Packard | 3.5 / 5 stars | 09-07-2017 | Amazing things are possible in the ARK — the gun-wielding soldier set high atop the most badass predator of all time comes to mind — but the experience is clouded by the best ones being locked behind excessive grinding, boring farming and the need for a large group. | Read review |
Twinfinite | Zhiqing Wan | 3.5 / 5 stars | 09-04-2017 | When you finally get over the initially steep learning curve and find fellow like-minded players that you can group up with, ARK: Survival Evolved becomes a truly enjoyable sandbox game where anything goes. But not even the impressive dinosaurs and cool tech can cover up just how repetitive the game really is, and how you’re forced to sink in hours and hours of grinding before you can finally start to get to the ‘good’ stuff. | Read review |
USgamer | Mike Williams | 2.5 / 5 stars | 09-02-2017 | Studio Wildcard has built a game that feels like a rough framework for players creating their own experiences, rather than a whole, cohesive experience in and of itself. There’s a lot hear to see and do: gathering, crafting a wide variety of items, taming animals, and building tribes. But it’s hidden behind an elder game that teaches players nothing and a mid-game of maintenance and tedium. But there’s promise here underneath the cruft and rough edges. That promise just isn’t full realized yet. | Read review |
About ARK: Survival Evolved
ARK: Survival Evolved takes on the survival genre with a unique blend of emergent multiplayer cooperation and competition. Players awake naked and starving on the beach of a mysterious island among a herd of other confused humans. On ARK, they must then hunt, harvest, craft, research technology, and build shelters to protect against scorching days, freezing nights, volatile weather systems, dangerous wildlife, and potential enemies.
RELEASE DATES:
DEVELOPER(S):
- Studio Wildcard
PUBLISHER(S):
- Spike ChunSoft
GENRES:
- Action, RPG
SERIES/FRANCHISE:
- ARK
GAME MODES:
- Co-operative, Multiplayer, Single player
GAME ENGINE:
- Unreal Engine 4
DLC:
- ARK: Genesis (Aug 8, 2019)
- ARK: Extinction (Nov 6, 2018)
- ARK: Abberation (Dec 12, 2017)
BUNDLED IN:
- -
DIRECTOR(S):
- Jesse Rapczak, Jeremy Stieglitz
PRODUCER(S):
- Navin Supphapholsiri, Dave Loyd
DESIGNER(S):
- Craig Brown, Kayd Hendricks
PROGRAMMER(S):
- -
ARTIST(S):
- -
WRITER(S):
- -
COMPOSER(S):
- Gareth Coker
GAME MODES:
- Co-operative, Multiplayer, Single player
GAME ENGINE:
- Unreal Engine 4
DLC:
- ARK: Genesis (Aug 8, 2019)
- ARK: Extinction (Nov 6, 2018)
- ARK: Abberation (Dec 12, 2017)
BUNDLED IN:
- n/a
DIRECTOR(S):
- Jesse Rapczak, Jeremy Stieglitz
PRODUCER(S):
- Navin Supphapholsiri, Dave Loyd
DESIGNER(S):
- Craig Brown, Kayd Hendricks
PROGRAMMER(S):
- n/a
ARTIST(S):
- n/a
WRITER(S):
- n/a
COMPOSER(S):
- Gareth Coker