ARC Raidershas a lot of potential thanks to its compelling set-up and decent-looking extraction gameplay loop. It comes from Embark Studios, who blew everyone away with its impressive competitive shooter,The Finals. So, understandably, fans have quite high expectations for it. However, for it to truly succeed and become the game everyone wants it to be,ARC Raidersneeds to learn some important lessons.
Currently,ARC Raidersis one of themost anticipated sci-fi games, but if it wants to be as big of a success when it launches, then it needs to heed important advice from a former robot-focused game. When it launched in 2019, it did so to harsh criticism, a lot of which could end up applying toARC Raidersif it falls into the same pitfalls. Fortunately, they’re easy lessons to learn, andARC Raidershas a good chance to avoid the many failings of its predecessors.
ARC Raiders Needs To Learn From Generation Zero
It Has To Launch With Plenty Of Content
ARC Raidershas the potential to be the next best extraction shooter if it plays its cards right, especially as there are few games with the same kind of aesthetic and overall tone as it. That is, of course, other thanGeneration Zero, the 2019 open-world first-person shooter in which players fend off against terrifying robots. It shares a lot of similarities withARC Raiders, especially in that both games prioritize stealth and survival mechanics, and position its robot hordes as genuine threats rather than a group of easily dispensable enemies.
The initialtrailers forGeneration Zerowere incredibly exciting, promising an eerie world set in 80s Sweden with robots that would retain the damage players inflicted upon them and return for vengeance when they least expect it. This concept of enemies remembering the player and actively hunting them down was pretty impressive, and the Simon Stålenhag-inspired robot designs are pretty impressive. Just likeARC Raiderswhich has a fairly novel sci-fi aesthetic,Generation Zerowas slated to be a success.
Unfortunately, theextremely negative reviews forGeneration Zerotore the game apart, largely for its lack of fun gameplay and extremely buggy state. It had an empty open-world full of copy-and-pasted houses, little-to-no engaging worldbuilding, and a combat model that didn’t play into the strengths of the horrifying robots. While updates have since rectified a lot of the game’s early problems,Generation Zero’sinitial launch was challenging for the developer and caused the player count to struggle to recover.
IfARC Raidersmanages to avoid the pitfalls thatGeneration Zerofell into, it could come out as one of the best sci-fi games of the current generation.
While it remains to be seen howARC Raiderswill turn out,it’s clear that it needs to learn a lot of lessons fromGeneration Zero. While they are two different games in terms of genres, the shared genre, themes, inspirations, and even gameplay model could lead toARC Raidersmaking the same mistakes. However, if it manages to avoid the pitfalls thatGeneration Zerofell into, it could come out as one of thebest sci-fi gamesof the current generation.
ARC Raiders Should Include Compelling Worldbuilding
It Needs To Be More Than Just Audio Logs
Worldbuilding is a huge part of any game, including extraction shooters. As they typically don’t have very involved narratives, they rely heavily on their worlds to compel players to play repeatedly. This works excellently in something likeHunt: Showdown, which has a richly detailed fantasy Western world that’s oozing with atmosphere. It’s a place players consistently want to revisit and one that helps intensify the otherwise familiar gameplay loop.
ARC Raidershas an important opportunity toinnovate over other extraction shooters, namely through its unique setting and enemy types. However, if it doesn’t offer much beyond the flavor text on its Steam store page or official website, thenit could end up feeling hollow likeGeneration Zero. That game had a world brimming with possibilities, but that was ultimately let down. It relied too heavily on audio logs and written notes to drive forward its worldbuilding instead of interesting visuals and compelling characters.
ARC Raiders Revealed With Explosive Gameplay Trailer
ARC Raiders, a third-person shooter created by former Battlefield developer Patrick Söderlund, has been revealed during The Game Awards 2021.
Generation Zerowas positioned to tell a more compelling narrative as it is a co-op PvE shooter, much like whatARC Raiderswas intended to be before its switched genres. So, consideringARC Raidersis an extraction shooter - a genre not well known for its narratives - it’s understandable if it doesn’t employ the same level of worldbuilding expected fromGeneration Zero. However,it still needs to do more than simply feed players walls of text about its ruined world. Instead, it should deliver compelling worldbuilding in the same wayDark Soulsdoes, namely through context clues in the environment.
The Robots In ARC Raiders Need To Be More Than Set Dressing
They Should Feel Like A Real Threat
One of the few aspects thatGeneration Zerogot right was its robots. While its combat was a little messy, the robots felt genuinely terrifying, as even a small pack of the weaker enemy types could wipe out the player.ARC Raidersneeds to instill a similar level of horror whenever a player encounters its titular ARCs, much like howHunt: Showdown’sbosses cause immense anxiety in players whenever they stumble across them. They should feel like something players should avoid and attempt to sneak by, as a fight with one could end in disaster and a loss of resources.
ARC Raiders’gameplay trailer showcased a handful of robot types, but not that many and not what they were really capable of. For the most part, it felt like the people playing could easily take down the drone-type robots, which seemed to be the most common. This could end up being disappointing, asARC Raiders’robots should feel as life-threatening asGeneration Zero’s. Of course, it remains to be seen how Embark Studios handles its bigger robots, but hopefully, they are as deadly as the ones players face inGeneration Zero.
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Ultimately,ARC Raidersneeds to ensure it has compelling worldbuilding and deadly robots in order to avoid the many failings ofGeneration Zero. While exploring a beautifully detailed world is always fun, without that all-important context, it can feel like a shallow and repetitive experience. Similarly, fighting hordes of robots is enjoyable, but having them feel like an unstoppable deadly force adds much higher stakes to the extraction shooter gameplay loop.ARC Raiderswill likely please a lot of players, but if it is going to be a smash hit, it needs to learn these important lessons fromGeneration Zero.
