ARK: Survival Evolved

 PC
User Score
6.5

Mixed or average reviews- based on 652 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 348 out of 652
  2. Mixed: 124 out of 652
  3. Negative: 180 out of 652

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  1. PinkKitten
    Aug 4, 2023
    0
    I use to love this game, then recently I heard about the cheaters of snail games, most of this is done on the official conquest servers, where you get wiped by the big bad publisher tribe " Tea Tribe" or get banned if you start to win, don't believe me ask 90+ of the Island Boys Tribe that got banned by simply raiding tea tribe fairly. well congratulations snail games and wild card playI use to love this game, then recently I heard about the cheaters of snail games, most of this is done on the official conquest servers, where you get wiped by the big bad publisher tribe " Tea Tribe" or get banned if you start to win, don't believe me ask 90+ of the Island Boys Tribe that got banned by simply raiding tea tribe fairly. well congratulations snail games and wild card play stupid games and win stupid prizes I'm putting this review everywhere I can even make a video of the same topic… Expand
  2. SouperKoopa
    Jun 26, 2023
    4
    In the beginning it's fun, but it's way too grindy. Even with adjusting the settings. Also there are more bugs in ark than on earth and not to mention the optimization (which was totally forgotten). Also the graphics are meh. It's so pixely and just does not look right. Also, story aspect is neglectable.

    pros: - fun in the beginning - dinos - progression system cons: - dinos    In the beginning it's fun, but it's way too grindy. Even with adjusting the settings. Also there are more bugs in ark than on earth and not to mention the optimization (which was totally forgotten). Also the graphics are meh. It's so pixely and just does not look right. Also, story aspect is neglectable.

    pros:
    - fun in the beginning
    - dinos
    - progression system

    cons:
    - dinos always aggressive
    - contless bugs (yes, game breaking ones)
    - very punishing gamplay
    - sooooo grindy
    - horrible performance
    - Dino AI is less intelligent than a minecraft zombie
    - Dinos are most of the time just pain

    Only reason why I have so many hours is just because I was a noob and its grind factor (adjusted the settings, still items too expensive)    … Expand
  3. Azurgan
    Jun 18, 2023
    0
    If you play this game and for some reason your on a server with the Guild TEA, your going to get Ban from the game if you and your guild member manage to overpower them.
    TEA is the Snail Games devs (some of them) Guild, the publisher of Ark and if you google it/youtube it you will find multiple cases of this happening and prove that this guild TEA should be disbanded and the devs helping    If you play this game and for some reason your on a server with the Guild TEA, your going to get Ban from the game if you and your guild member manage to overpower them.
    TEA is the Snail Games devs (some of them) Guild, the publisher of Ark and if you google it/youtube it you will find multiple cases of this happening and prove that this guild TEA should be disbanded and the devs helping them fired.    … Expand
  4. RockHobbit
    Jun 7, 2023
    0
    This is a great game ruined by awful developers/ publisher and a crap ton of bugs with no support. You will lose dinos, you will lose your character, you will get "Arked" and support will NOT help you. There are bugs in this game, and lots of them. The game is janky, but it's fun. But the developers are scandalous. Faking steam reviews, lying to customers, playing on the servers andThis is a great game ruined by awful developers/ publisher and a crap ton of bugs with no support. You will lose dinos, you will lose your character, you will get "Arked" and support will NOT help you. There are bugs in this game, and lots of them. The game is janky, but it's fun. But the developers are scandalous. Faking steam reviews, lying to customers, playing on the servers and banning tribes that attack them (see h.o.d). They're closing the servers in August 2023 and forcing everyone to start over and pay full price (after being advertised as a free upgrade) for their remaster if they want to continue playing and supporting this awful company. I truly loved this game but with all the times this developer has pooped on it's supporters I cannot imagine this game succeeding after servers go down. And be aware of you buy this game, only single player will be available as of August.… Expand
  5. Farthas
    Jun 1, 2023
    0
    I've been playing this game for about 4 years, its only getting worse and worse with their own company tribe that is playing the game called TEA , they are using every kind of cheat there is and not getting banned, while getting the best blueprints ect spawned in by their pocket dev.....
    This was the last season of conquest before ark 1,5 release, and its been the worst one in all the    I've been playing this game for about 4 years, its only getting worse and worse with their own company tribe that is playing the game called TEA , they are using every kind of cheat there is and not getting banned, while getting the best blueprints ect spawned in by their pocket dev.....
    This was the last season of conquest before ark 1,5 release, and its been the worst one in all the time i have been playing this game , this time everyone from 1x came to play on conquest servers and SO MUCH CHEATING is ruining this game so hard, and the admins that is soposed to protect the community and keep it a fair game dont really care at all about all the cheats, because NOTHING has changed in the 4 years ive been playing it only getting worse and worse every year..

    This game is a total waste of time , you spend weeks or months building a base only to loose it to hackers and cheaters within days or even hours depending on the hack they are using......
    100% unfair fight and there is really no hope of even winning the game in any way vs these mega tribes and TEA (Snail games tribe) because of all the cheat they are using.    … Expand
  6. BoneSaw
    May 17, 2023
    1
    Its an exploitative mess.
    The game is barely functional, takes up 400GB+ of space. To top it all off they are requiring long time players to pay an exorbitant amount ($40) of what is essentially a graphics upgrade, whilst also closing down its Official servers. Those who have paid for the legacy iteration, had to pay for this iteration of the game, and now will be required to shill    Its an exploitative mess.
    The game is barely functional, takes up 400GB+ of space. To top it all off they are requiring long time players to pay an exorbitant amount ($40) of what is essentially a graphics upgrade, whilst also closing down its Official servers. Those who have paid for the legacy iteration, had to pay for this iteration of the game, and now will be required to shill another $40 for this coming iteration.

    If you are an addict of the game, just play offline... play on non-dedicated servers... don't be a patsy for the evil company that is Snail Games. Your money will be the only thing they will listen to as its clear they don't give a single care about the players who have been there to support them from the start. Fan boy and girls will be angry, and you should be, but not at me. Be mad at the people in charge who are going out of their way to strangle you for every $ they can.    … Expand
  7. realWhiteMan
    Apr 9, 2023
    4
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. My rating is based on my impressions of the game. This is not an objective review. I play quite a big number of titles per year and decided to review them as a peace of art and not as a product.… Expand
  8. LT_Gruber
    Feb 15, 2023
    4
    Boring, repetitive and pointless in my opinion.

    Ark: Survival Evolved is one of those sandbox games like The Forest, Atlas and Conan Exiles. While the concept of these games are fine and the survival element is surely present, it gets boring and repetitive really fast in my opinion. In Ark: Survival Evolved, you start as an empty character without any skills. You collect stuff, build    Boring, repetitive and pointless in my opinion.

    Ark: Survival Evolved is one of those sandbox games like The Forest, Atlas and Conan Exiles. While the concept of these games are fine and the survival element is surely present, it gets boring and repetitive really fast in my opinion.

    In Ark: Survival Evolved, you start as an empty character without any skills. You collect stuff, build stuff and kill stuff to gather XP, level up, unlock perks and new skills and overall, just to be granted the right to do more advanced things in the game like tame a certain dinosaur or build a specific plank or wooden corner. Just go out into the wild and grind your way up.

    The graphics are fair, although a little rough in my opinion. The lighting effects from the sun are great though. The animations of characters are stiff and lifeless, especially when doing things like sleeping or mounting your dinosaur pet. The music and sounds are blend and nothing special. They work and that is what matters.

    But then, you got the controls and menu’s. My God, the overlay, GUI and skill tree system is so unbelievable confusing, it drove me mad sometimes. I constantly pressed the wrong keys to open or close menu’s, did not know where to find stuff, inventory management became a real chore sometimes, and I had the feeling that I was playing some sort of SQL database many times over. I sincerely did not like anything related to the controls or GUI.

    The servers and matchmaking system in Ark: Survival Evolved are terrible. Many times, servers did not show up, games with friends were not visible and many times, the game got stuck in loading. I needed to search the deepest pits of the internet for all kinds of tweaks, fixes, startup parameters and more to finally get it working. And even then, one day it works fine, the day after one of my friends experienced the same issues out of the blue. I reinstalled the game three times over the course of a few weeks back then, because that was the only way that I could play with my friends.

    The worlds are massive, which is normal for sandbox games like this. There are many forests, flowers, wildlife and rivers, which makes the game less hollow than Atlas, but it still feels blend and empty. You walk miles and miles through empty plains and forests before something of interest happens. Sure there are many dinosaurs in the vicinity, but most of the times, they one hit kill you so you avoid them like the plague. And although this is not necessarily bad, it was just tedious to walk and walk to a certain spot, knowing that every step could be your last. Sometimes, I got attacked by something that I did not even saw coming. One step was fine, the next I was dead. It was later revealed that this were some sort of very fast, tiny dinosaurs that ram and jump you when you get close. Maybe I am blind, but I still haven’t seen any of those motherf…. anywhere in the world.

    The main reason I don’t like this game is because it is just one of the many games that follows the exact same play style and mechanics that become repetitive and boring so quickly. Make a character, collect plant fibers, build a tiny shack, level up, get more stuff, kill some dinosaurs (if they don’t kill you first), tame them, ride them and done. Although there is some kind of endgame by defeating or taming some almighty dinosaur, the game never really ends.

    You can grind away until you become max level and tame all the dinosaurs in the world, but with this game, the purpose of doing this dies after taming your first dinosaur. Things feel pointless and I had the constant feeling that I can never “complete” this game. The same goes for games like Minecraft and Atlas.

    Ark: Survival evolved can be tweaked in any way you like with mods or “legit” by server admin options, but that makes the game unstable sometimes and more importantly, it defeats even more purpose to play it. Don’t want to walk back to your corpse after dying? Just configure/tweak the game to keep all your stuff. Don’t want to walk? No problem, just activate flying. Your beloved dinosaur just died? No problem, bro; here I revived him for you. There are no clear rules, and everything can be avoided or made easier. Even when you play fair or vanilla, you constantly get the feeling that everything can be fixed or made easier later on when you encounter a difficult or tedious situation. There is no penalty and no consequence.

    It is weird, but for me, only 7 Days to Die gets this survival sandbox genre right and keeps the game interesting for long periods of time. With Ark: Survival Evolved, I got three hours of fun before being bored out of my mind and I could not force myself to play it any longer.

    Of course, this is still my own experience and opinion with the game, but personally I cannot recommend Ark: Survival Evolved.    … Expand
  9. DinduNuffinLV
    Jan 7, 2023
    2
    Tamed pets have dumb, zero intelligence with following you around, them constantly getting stuck behind trees or on spiky rocks etc, and darting around in utter chaos on follow command, is what ruins this game sucking the fun out of more chillaxing playstyle. And forcing you to get endgame flying mounts with triple walls building around your base if you dont want to get your base blown upTamed pets have dumb, zero intelligence with following you around, them constantly getting stuck behind trees or on spiky rocks etc, and darting around in utter chaos on follow command, is what ruins this game sucking the fun out of more chillaxing playstyle. And forcing you to get endgame flying mounts with triple walls building around your base if you dont want to get your base blown up on pvp servers, cuz every big level player just loves to blow up newbie bases for toxic fun. Not worth for 1h a day play on pvp, and too buggy pets to be even enjoyed on pve. Waste of purchase.… Expand
  10. AlexMakesToast
    Jan 1, 2023
    3
    Ark = 3/10
    ................................................................
  11. turanyrtsvr
    Nov 23, 2022
    1
    this game is sucks, waste of time, it would be better if you spend your free time going and masturbating
  12. Dangusse
    Sep 23, 2022
    1
    this is one of those games where it's just insulting to the userbase to release DLC, because the base game simply does not function. im convinced that upwards of 90% of people playing this game are unable to make any progress and are convinced it's due to their own failure, when in fact it's just a terrible and imbalanced title.

    this game would run at 4fps on the world's most powerful    this is one of those games where it's just insulting to the userbase to release DLC, because the base game simply does not function. im convinced that upwards of 90% of people playing this game are unable to make any progress and are convinced it's due to their own failure, when in fact it's just a terrible and imbalanced title.

    this game would run at 4fps on the world's most powerful supercomputer. this is a steaming pile of bantha poodoo where nothing works as intended and there are 10 times as many game breaking bugs as there are unit models. there are a LOT of different plants and animals, which is probably the only good part about this title, but there is simply no reason to invest your time or money in this title, since it will probably crash or kill you unexpectedly and cause you to lose all of your progress. i have received this game for free TWICE and i still won't play it.    … Expand
  13. JanuszekPLY
    Jun 19, 2022
    0
    Unfortunately i couldn't even launch game properly because of game strange internet ans server system. Me and my friend were really hypped up for that game, sadly after hour fight with PCs, we lost.
  14. Robobob
    Jun 18, 2022
    4
    It's a game. It exists. And that's how I feel when I'm playing it. I'm just kind of existing in the world populated by dinosaurs. There's the foundations of something decent here: lots of species of prehistoric animals with different pros and cons, an in-depth survival system. But, did anyone ever playtest this game? Did they think it was fun to poke a dinosaur 20x until it dies? OrIt's a game. It exists. And that's how I feel when I'm playing it. I'm just kind of existing in the world populated by dinosaurs. There's the foundations of something decent here: lots of species of prehistoric animals with different pros and cons, an in-depth survival system. But, did anyone ever playtest this game? Did they think it was fun to poke a dinosaur 20x until it dies? Or shoot 20 arrows at a charging animal while running from it? Even dinosaurs well below your level will take 5-10 hits and there's really no variety to the action.
    The mining system is designed so that you are constantly acquiring stuff you don't need to mine for one thing you DO need. Like "metal." One generic metal in the game that you acquire through RNG through mining other rock. But you seem to have a better chance if you use a pick, so you will get hundreds and hundreds of extra flint while looking for metal that I ended up throwing away. Who thought this was a good idea? Why no designated "metal" veins in the world? When flint it onyl useful for a couple crafting recipes why not make it a much rarer pick up?
    Taming dinosaurs might have been fun but if you tame anything below level 25 it is useless. As a mount it can't even carry you without it's movement speed dropping to a crawl.
    I played only the single player campaign and my character wakes up on the beach... and that's it. No story, no NPCs to tell you what to do.
    After building an expensive small house and training some slow mounts, I think I've done everything of interest in this game. And if there is something more interesting to do., the game wasn't good enough to steer me in the right direction. Glad I got it for free on Steam and didn't pay a cent.    … Expand
  15. Demon2017
    Jun 18, 2022
    1
    Не игра, а просто убожество самое настоящее, просто мегаговно из жопы мочи.
  16. ILikeBeans
    Jun 14, 2022
    1
    Bad.................................................................................................. Just bad
  17. Kp20
    May 16, 2022
    0
    DO NOT BUY Ark Survival Evolved. This game is very broken. Don't take my word for it; look at their website: https://support.survivetheark.com/hc/en-us/articles/227266608-High-Ticket-Volume Their website constant displays the banner "High Ticket Volume." "We are currently experiencing a high volume of tickets. Due to this, you may be experiencing longer than normal wait times." They have aDO NOT BUY Ark Survival Evolved. This game is very broken. Don't take my word for it; look at their website: https://support.survivetheark.com/hc/en-us/articles/227266608-High-Ticket-Volume Their website constant displays the banner "High Ticket Volume." "We are currently experiencing a high volume of tickets. Due to this, you may be experiencing longer than normal wait times." They have a high volume of tickets because Ark Survival Evolved has many problems. The developers are playing god in the game; they break game code, causing bugs. The lag/glitches in the are terrible. The game developers play in the mega tribes on the severs, use cheats, and are above Ark's code of conduct. Wildcard has no oversight over the developers. They create an imbalance of power. The developers allow teaming when it's in their favor. The developers are the code of conduct enforcers, which is a conflict of interest.… Expand
  18. eatbanana
    Apr 10, 2022
    0
    It is a buggy trashy mess. I really enjoy the game but you have to pay for everything. Not to mention that you can't play without tether on console. I didn't buy this to not be able to walk normally. I gut pushed into a ducking Vulcan bc the host was too far.
  19. TiredAlfred
    Dec 29, 2021
    3
    tranded on the shores of a mysterious island, you must learn to survive. Use your cunning to kill or tame the primeval creatures roaming the land, and encounter other players to survive, dominate... and escape.
  20. Glack
    Dec 5, 2021
    3
    Игра имеет больше минусов чем плюсов.
    Первое-это оптимизация. Про нормальный фпс в этой игре вы можете забыть. Что бы играть на максималках нужно иметь как минимум 2080. Если играть в соло на своем сервере.э, то впринципе еще кое-как играбильно. Но если вы хотите поиграть на серверах я вам соболезную.
    Пинг на серверах ужасный. Попадания(если попасть вообще возможно) регестрируются секунд    Игра имеет больше минусов чем плюсов.
    Первое-это оптимизация. Про нормальный фпс в этой игре вы можете забыть. Что бы играть на максималках нужно иметь как минимум 2080. Если играть в соло на своем сервере.э, то впринципе еще кое-как играбильно. Но если вы хотите поиграть на серверах я вам соболезную.
    Пинг на серверах ужасный. Попадания(если попасть вообще возможно) регестрируются секунд через 5 после выстрела. Осявещение часто багается. Довольно часто можно зайти в текстуры.
    Что же у нас с рейдами? А с ними все плохо. Даже если вы построите форт с защитой как у пентагона, то все равно прилетит какой-нибудь китаец на моногарме и снесет за 10 секунж и всю вашу базу, и всех ваших динозавров. Будь у вас хоть 200 слоев стен в доме и по всему периметру будут стоять турели, это вас не спасет. Даже в RUST или Unturned рейды будут и то лучше, чем в арке.
    Так что прежде чем купить игру, или хотя бы заходить на сервера, почитайте не накрученые отзывы.    … Expand
  21. Recepsamet
    Nov 22, 2021
    3
    oyunda çok fazla bug var çok fazla sayıda bağlantı sorunları oluyor bide bunla beraber optimize sıkıntılar var bide oyun çok büyük bir alan kaplıyor cidden!! 170 gb nedir cidden evt oyunu arkadaşlarınız ile oynarsanız çok iyi sarar ama cidden oyuna mod kurmadan zar zor keyif alabiliyorsunuz demem o şekilde bende keyif alabildim taki bilmediğim bir şekilde 1 yıllık save im silindiği zamanoyunda çok fazla bug var çok fazla sayıda bağlantı sorunları oluyor bide bunla beraber optimize sıkıntılar var bide oyun çok büyük bir alan kaplıyor cidden!! 170 gb nedir cidden evt oyunu arkadaşlarınız ile oynarsanız çok iyi sarar ama cidden oyuna mod kurmadan zar zor keyif alabiliyorsunuz demem o şekilde bende keyif alabildim taki bilmediğim bir şekilde 1 yıllık save im silindiği zaman evet bu oyunda nedense bazen save ler silinebiliyor bu yüzden bu oyun düşük puan vericem ve verdimde… Expand
  22. S3XU4LH34L1NG
    Nov 20, 2021
    4
    This game gave me janky "trashy" feel from the first time in the main menu to the first time spawning in. I gave it a reasonably fair shot (5hrs or so) but it didnt work for me despite me liking the survival genre. I know whats to come in late game (i watched some youtubers) but i guess there are other games that fare better with the technological progression thing. Optimazation is a messThis game gave me janky "trashy" feel from the first time in the main menu to the first time spawning in. I gave it a reasonably fair shot (5hrs or so) but it didnt work for me despite me liking the survival genre. I know whats to come in late game (i watched some youtubers) but i guess there are other games that fare better with the technological progression thing. Optimazation is a mess for such an old game and these kinda meh graphics.… Expand
  23. Dr4590
    Oct 22, 2021
    0
    decided to play on the weekend, blocked the account
    10 ban out of 10! burn in hell
  24. abacup
    Sep 20, 2021
    0
    Totally poorly optimized game rubbish and cockroaches kill you without giving you a chance to move around the map
  25. girin87
    Sep 13, 2021
    0
    on official servers they block for no reason
    wrote REQUEST # 2039266 in support, closed without an answer, why do they take money?
  26. Vahl
    Aug 23, 2021
    4
    How do you program a game so poorly that the goddamn console commands don't work?

    Welcome to Ark! The game that dare ask, what if Bethesda made a Pokemon game? The game that proves that you really need to hire more than one programmer to make your game actually function properly. The game that taught it's player base, don't expect that bug to get fixed. Cause nothing will ever be    How do you program a game so poorly that the goddamn console commands don't work?

    Welcome to Ark! The game that dare ask, what if Bethesda made a Pokemon game? The game that proves that you really need to hire more than one programmer to make your game actually function properly. The game that taught it's player base, don't expect that bug to get fixed. Cause nothing will ever be fixed... ever.

    In summary f*ck Wildcard Studios. I'm gonna buy Ark II because I have stockholm syndrome, pls help!    … Expand
  27. tuy235
    Aug 5, 2021
    0
    players on official servers use GM accounts and ban players for no reason, wrote to support, did not even answer
    Report # 1787278 # 1790372
  28. Zecvi
    Jul 10, 2021
    0
    This game is unbalanced and broken. It is time consuming to a fault. It's bad for your health and the devloppers expect that you forfeit your real life to play this game. It could have been the best but it has too many issues. DON'T PLAY IT. PvE is boring and PvP was handled so badly by the devs that it ruined the whole game. So once again, Don't play this, it's bad and need fix. It alsoThis game is unbalanced and broken. It is time consuming to a fault. It's bad for your health and the devloppers expect that you forfeit your real life to play this game. It could have been the best but it has too many issues. DON'T PLAY IT. PvE is boring and PvP was handled so badly by the devs that it ruined the whole game. So once again, Don't play this, it's bad and need fix. It also have the worst community in the world and devs let 13year old with too much time on they re hand to rule this game and ruin everybody s fun. This game will make you want to murder people, don't play it. It's like a EA game where you cannot trust the devs… Expand
  29. Dan224
    Jun 26, 2021
    0
    disgusting game, on official servers players use GM accounts and block players, wrote in support, just closed the report without a response
  30. ArkisABadGame
    Feb 22, 2021
    0
    This is literally the worst game you could ever purchase.
    Developed by a greedy ass company whos developer got no idea about what they are doing.
    This game was solely made to make the most profit with the least effort.
    Like seriously a sabertooth spawns behind me kills my argentavis while taming for no reason.
    Appeared out of nowhere, this game deservs to be ranked the worst game ever.
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Awards & Rankings

22
#22 Most Discussed PC Game of 2017
72
#72 Most Shared PC Game of 2017

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
70

Mixed or average reviews - based on 18 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 7 out of 18
  2. Mixed: 11 out of 18
  3. Negative: 0 out of 18
  1. PC PowerPlay
    Nov 12, 2017
    70
    Specialises in trick shots before mastering the fundamentals. Deeply flawed, but hard to ignore. [Issue#267, p.58]
    Read full review
  2. DarkStation
    Oct 9, 2017
    70
    Like so many survival/crafting games, from Minecraft to Subnautica, ARK presupposes a player with a lot of time to dedicate to the experience, a high tolerance for repetition, and a fondness for chaos and the unexpected. With its sci-fi inflected single player campaign, ARK at least offers a solo player the chance to get the gist of the game without the threat of anti-social humans ruining whatever progress has been made. For the past two years, ARK has been helping to shape the genre and now that it's finished, it feels like the genre is due for the next stage of evolution.
    Read full review
  3. Games Master UK
    Oct 6, 2017
    85
    It'll delight you, it'll make you despair, but ultimately Ark will leave you with a real sense of satisfaction. [Nov 2017, p.76]
See all critic reviews »