ARK: Survival Ascended launched on Steam with problems. But is the game playable and fun a month later? MeinMMO editor Dariusz Müller tells you.
I played ARK: Survival Evolved (ASE) for several thousand hours and liked the idea of experiencing the game again in Unreal Engine 5 right from the start. Finally, I’m a fan of the title.
However, my mood quickly darkened when the UE5 upgrade suddenly cost the price of a full game, there was no trailer for a long time and the exclusive partnership with Nitrado was announced. In addition, only a fraction of the ASE content is included in the game at release.
Nevertheless, I bought ARK: Survival Ascended (ASA) right when it was released and have now spent a month forming an opinion as to whether the purchase was worth it. You will find out what my conclusion is in the following lines.
ARK: Survival Ascended is shown for the first time in the trailer
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The good, the bad and the ugly
Like its predecessor, ARK Survival Ascended has some strengths that come up against a lot of problems. In my opinion, the game’s greatest strength is the new graphics. ARK has never looked remotely so beautiful. Sure, there are still much nicer games, but the quality of the water and the dinosaurs is really good.
However, this is also where the game’s biggest problem lies, because the beauty comes at a high price: the performance. The game now runs slightly better than when it was released, but improvement is definitely still possible.
You can increase the FPS with the right settings, but if I have to turn the graphics down so much that the game loses its nice appearance and looks ugly again, I can just continue playing ASE. It currently has more content and mods anyway.
The performance is far from the level you would hope for, even on mid- to high-end PCs. My PC gets around 60-70 FPS on medium settings. I can’t imagine I would enjoy the game on an older system. As a test, I also played ASA on the standard settings and got a headache after just 2-3 minutes with almost 20 FPS.
Aside from the performance, it’s a good game with useful improvements
I think most people have now noticed the annoying topic of performance. That’s why I want to talk about how good ASA is beyond the technical side.
The survival game has gotten some nice quality-of-life improvements compared to ASE. Sometimes these are just small things, like the fact that the Dung Beetle can now pick up droppings on its own and is no longer dependent on you placing it in its inventory.
But exactly these little things These inconspicuous changes to old creatures, devices or actions make the game so much better. In addition, ASA is finally allowing console players to play with mods. I’ve already raved about this in an older article and I’m still of the opinion that every console gamer should test mods.
Conclusion: Is ARK: Survival Ascended recommended?
Yes and no. I really enjoy the game and can recommend it to ARK fans – if you can live with some compromises. Nitrado’s server exclusivity is probably the deciding factor, but also the fact that some content such as cards and creatures or mods are not yet available.
It’s also definitely a financial decision for some, as many of you have probably already spent money on ARK: Survival Evolved and its DLC. I can understand why people doubt the point of buying ASA – especially since I’m the biggest cheapskate myself.
Unfortunately, I can’t tell you how well or poorly the console version runs. If you can share your own experiences, please leave a comment. You should definitely only buy ASA on your PC if you have the necessary hardware.
As much fun as I have and as much as I would like to recommend it without reservation, the fun of the game depends too much on whether you have a maximum of 20 or up to 60 FPS. If you are unsure whether your PC is powerful enough, you have at least 2 hours to test ASA on Steam and return it if necessary.
If after reading this text you decide to actually give ARK: Survival Ascended a chance, here is a list of creatures for you that make a lot of sense:
ARK: Survival Ascended: 10 creatures you should definitely tame