ARK: Survival Evolved PC

[ibex333]

Its on sale at CDKeys for $5 right now. Should I bother?

I heard its being hacked to death, and there absolutely no way to be competitive as a solo player. The clans will absolutely destroy your fun.

If it IS a nice game, should I get the DLC as well?

Thanks

 

[Stg-Flame]

It all depends on if you like survival games with a side of training dinosaurs. The game can be fun if you play with other people (as in, together, not apart) because some things are a pain and it helps having other people to pick up some of the slack. I played it two patches before they said it was a final release (despite it being a beta build that they just called final) and it was pretty bare-bones. It has had some significant updates since then but it's still pretty much 7 Days to Die but replace the zombies with dinosaurs.

Taking all of that into account, the game is currently $5. That's less than most people spend for lunch and if you're on the fence about the game, it's not a huge loss if you buy it and don't like it. Though I would definitely say to play the base game to see if you enjoy it before buying any DLC but that's just how I base all my game purchases.

 

[OCNewbie]

I play single-player, locally, and have over 1000 hours into the game. I have played on very small multi-player servers with, at most, 3 or 4 other people. That probably accounts for maybe 10 of those 1000+ hours though.

For $5 it's easily worth it. There are at least 3 free DLC maps too (The Center, Ragnarok, and Valguero) and all three of them are quite nice. Aberration is my favorite though, and that's part of the paid DLC.

I wouldn't touch the official servers with a ten-foot pole, so I can't comment on them (too much griefing, and too many established players on the PvE servers I think, so it would feel rather crowded, etc. I like having my own world to myself, and the me vs the environment feel too - no safety nets).

 

[pandemonium]

I have a few hours in this game. Around 400 official, and 300 on personal & private servers that I modded and hosted. I've played on 3 official servers and 5 personally hosted ones (not solo).

It's a fun game with a lot to offer. Official is next to impossible to play on without extreme amounts of patience and time. At this point in time I would say it's fun to experience once for a little bit, but unless you start on a fresh server with no way for Chinese trolls to roll over you, it's not worth it.

To enjoy the game, I'd recommend running it privately or finding a passworded private server with a small community of people, either emulating official server setups, or with mods.

If you have a lot of time and patience, you may not be deterred by the slow progress of official server settings.

If you don't, I'd recommend finding a server or running a server with the following mods and settings:

• Ultra stacks mod (greatly removes the tedium of item management)
• S+ mod (greatly increases building capabilities and removes flaws that are still in the official settings)
• And/or to S+ CKS mod
• Removed obstruction building collision (helps a lot with building issues)
• Increased resource harvesting via dinosaurs, taming speed, experience gained, dinosaur density

I would wait to get the DLCs until you've tried out the base game. Aberration is a fun change with no flyers and the atmosphere. I would recommend checking out the original map, The Island, then Ragnarok, then Aberration if you're still interested.

It's a beautiful game, but it has its quirks and many challenges. It will consistently crap on you until you establish a strong foothold, so be prepared for that and take a breather if you need to. After you get situated and have a beautiful landscape setting with a functional and artistic base built and many dinos of different species and colors, it is extremely rewarding.

 

[Craig234]

I think cdkeys is a grey seller and shouldn't be patronized. Ark has been $10 on sale.

 

[WhiteNoise]

Good game and worth the price of entry. When i was playing it was with my daughter and friend on our own server. It's fun alone and more fun with one, two or a few more friends.