ARK: Survival Ascended for Windows

Remake of the classic sci-fi survival

ARK: Survival Ascended is a premium adventure experience from Studio Wildcard, serving as the remake of the classic 2015 survival classic, ARK: Survival Evolved. Rebuilt from the ground up with Unreal Engine 5, this game pits players in a world filled with dinosaurs, fictional monsters brought to life, and other hostile players.

Enjoy clearer visuals, crisper soundtracks, and updated game mechanics with ARK: Survival Ascended. It enjoys massive revamps to the gameplay experience, not to mention it includes all content from the original game. Imagine Rust or The Forest, but set in the world of Horizon Zero Dawn.

Return to the lost world of ARK

ARK: Survival Ascended lets you return to the floating island in space called the ARK. It is filled with a wide range of biomes inhabited by prehistoric and mythical animals. You get to design your own survivor and farm and craft materials. From a multiplayer standpoint, you can form a tribe. Beyond hunting and outrunning the creatures, this game even allows you to tame and breed them.

As a remake of the 2015 sci-fi hit, it features high-end tech features such as dynamic Global Illumination for more immersive reflections and lighting. It also leverages advanced mesh streaming techs for a more lifelike animation, together with the rest of the overhauled physics systems. Lastly, this all-in-one package includes all ARK worlds, such as Scorched Earth, Extinction, Aberration, the two-part Genesis entries, and more.

Of course, the improved graphics and animation come at a cost. Compared to the original, it now requires 32GB RAM and 70GB of SSD storage –definitely pushing lower and mid-ranged systems to the edge. Also, despite its massive QoL updates, ARK is generally a challenging survival game. There are a lot of things to learn, from the weather system to the behavior patterns of the dinosaurs.

Challenging survival in high-resolution

Heavy system requirements aside, the original ARK was such a revolutionary survival experience, and ARK: Survival Ascended takes it to the next level. Not only does it update the visuals, soundtracks, and physics, but also introduces quality-of-life improvements to meet players’ changing needs, both in single and multiplayer. For new players, though, be warned of its steep learning curve and increased difficulty levels.