Following the delay of Ark 2 to 2023, Studio Wildcard has unveiled tons of new details for the prehistoric survival game. The story focuses on Santiago (played by Vin Diesel) and his daughter Meeka (Auli’i Cravalho) with the developer teasing “betrayal and broken promises, and the strength of the family bond.” The game is developed on Unreal Engine 5 with cross-platform server integration.
Playable only in third-person, the controls and movement have been “completely redesigned,” with the parkour of Assassin’s Creed and the climbing of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild serving as inspiration. Characters will naturally clamber over objects and move more realistic. Combat is also heavily Souls-like with dodging, blocking, light and heavy attacks, and much more.
Creature combat is now more visceral with attacks actually impacting enemies and tearing flesh. Among the new features is the World Event system which provides dynamic, procedurally-created scenarios for players to engage in. You’ll defend endangered creatures (and earn their trust), track prey, discover herds and survive stampedes, find dens of creature families, and more. They’re completely optional and provide “unique rewards and challenges.”
World Map systems, new Creature Management, and the “Aratai” force with their own tamed creatures can also be expected. A new “advanced component-based item crafting that enables players to choose exactly what their gear looks and functions like from millions of potential combinations” will function alongside the build system “innumerable more building options.” You can even save and share build templates.
If all of this wasn’t enough, user-created mods will be supported on Xbox and are fully stackable (even on unofficial servers). Users creating mods on PC can upload them to the cloud and console players can then download them. If someone wants to make a first-person mode as a mod, then have at it.
New game types, maps, weapons, items, creatures and so on have also been promised. Ark 2 will be coming to Xbox Series X/S as a console launch exclusive and PC along with releasing on day one for Xbox Game Pass.