ARK: Survival Evolved

***ARK: Survival Evolved*** is an PvPvE survival game developed by Studio Wildcard. It entered Early Access on Steam in June 2015 and was officially released on all platforms on August 29, 2017. Two expansions, The Center and *ARK: Scorched Earth*, were released prior to launch, a third - Ragnarok - was released for early access on PC prior to launch but was not 'officially' released until launch day, and a fourth - *ARK: Aberration* - is set to be released in October 2017. The game was built using Unreal Engine 4 giving the game a more 'realistic' look and feel.

## Overview

As a man or woman stranded naked, freezing and starving on the shores of a mysterious island called ARK, you must hunt, harvest resources, craft items, grow crops, research technologies, and build shelters to withstand the elements. Use your cunning and resources to kill or tame the leviathan dinosaurs and other primeval creatures roaming the land, and team up with or prey on hundreds of other players to survive, dominate... and escape!

## Features

Planned Core Features include, among many other things:

* Mac and Linux versions
* Procedurally Generated ARK's
* 40+ more creatures to reach over 70, with essentially every major category of extinct animal represented in some way
* More saddle types including saddle armor tiers and saddles with powerful weapons mounted on them
* Gas-powered Vehicles
* Human/Dino Body-Paints
* Enhanced building mechanics to evolve ARK into one of the best straight-up builder games out there
* More underwater biome/ecosystem complexity, including support for vacuum-sealed underwater bases
* Lots more items, weapons, armors and further advanced tech tiers
* More item skins, limited run event skins
* More bosses and the end-game cycle including the Ultimate Life Form & Ascension
* More biome types, including deserts, snow regions, swamps, and more.
* Steam Economy Support for Statistical Items (Need some Steam API functionality for this from Valve!)
* Way more plants and more detailed plant biology systems/farming systems
* More statistical modelling of status illnesses/diseases (both player and creature)
* Better SFX, more Music, Better UI's, Better Gamepad support (i.e. UI button shortcut callouts), Better VR support (i.e. HMD gun-aim option)

## Events

* ARK: Fear Evolved
* ARK: Turkey Trial
* ARK: Winter Wonderland
* ARK: Eggcellent Adventure
* ARK: Awesome Anniversary
* ARK-eology event

## Expansion Packs

* ARK: Scorched Earth
* ARK: Aberration
* The Center
* Ragnarok
* ARK: Extinction
* ARK: Valguero
* ARK: Genesis Part 1

## Reception

*ARK: Survival Evolved* received "mixed or average" reviews on Metacritic getting a metascore of 70/100 on PC and 69/100 on both PS4 & Xbox One. However, its Nintendo Switch version received "generally unfavorable" reviews holding a metascore of 29/100.

## Media

### Videos

ARK Survival Evolved - Ragnarok Official Trailer!ARK Soundtrack Behind the ScenesARK Survival Evolved Official Launch Trailer!ARK- Extinction Announcement Trailer!ARK Extinction - Launch Trailer

## Links

* Official Developer Website: http://www.playark.com
* Official Community Website: https://survivetheark.com/
* Ark Server Provider List: https://gameserver.io/game-server-providers/ark-survival-evolved/
* German Forum: http://arkforum.de
* German Wiki: http://arkwiki.de
* German Server List: http://deutsche-arkserver.de
* German Xbox Server List: http://private-arkserver.de
* International Xbox Server List: http://arkservers.online
* English Community: http://www.steamcommunity.com/app/346110/discussions/
* System Requirements: http://pcgamesxyz.blogspot.com/2016/03/ark-survival-evolved-system-requirements.html

## References

1. ↑ Metascore for ARK: Survival Evolved on PC*Metacritic*, Retrieved April 29, 2020
2. ↑ Metascore for ARK: Survival Evolved on PS4*Metacritic*, Retrieved April 29, 2020
3. ↑ Metascore for ARK: Survival Evolved on Xbox One*Metacritic*, Retrieved April 29, 2020
4. ↑ Metascore for ARK: Survival Evolved on Nintendo Switch*Metacritic*, Retrieved April 29, 2020