ARK 2: New Trailer, Features and Release Information Revealed

Ark 2 will change pretty much everything! New details on features, launch and Co. Source: Studio Wildcard

Finally some Ark 2 news! After the first announcement of Studio Wildcard’s dinosaur survival game at the Game Awards 2020, the project has been very quiet for a long time. There was an update this Sunday night. At Xbox & Bethesda Games Showcase 2022, Ark 2 was on the playlist.

In the new trailer, in which the impressive images were presented once again, Vin Diesel was also part of the party. In Ark 2, he takes on the role of the character Santiago and plays alongside his daughter Meeka, played by actress Auli’i Cravalho. But also some extremely realistic-looking dinosaurs attracted the attention of viewers. If the graphics from the trailer are similarly adopted into the game, we can expect a real treat here.

From family drama to giant dinosaurs

“You wake up in a primitive world full of dinosaurs and humans fighting for supremacy, and you must team up with legendary heroes to take on the dark forces. Saddle up and experience the ultimate next-gen survival experience with Ark 2!” – Studio Wildcard

With these words, Studio Wildcard describes the open world survival sequel Ark 2, which is scheduled for release in 2023. This timeline for the release of ARK 2 is not surprising, but at least it is a period of time that you, as a fanatic waiting, now you can adapt. Of course we would have liked a little more precision here, but we still have to wait patiently for the final date.

The Story of Ark 2 tells the story of Santiago and his daughter Meeka, exploring betrayals, broken promises, and the strength of family ties, as described by Jeremy Stieglitz and Jesse Rapczak, co-creators of Ark and co-founders of Studio Wildcard. Of course, the fantastic and huge dinosaurs are not neglected either.

That changes in ARK 2 – New Features

In addition to the plot about the mentioned characters, you write your own story in the persistent game world, as befits an open world survival adventure. Speaking of the game world: As Stieglitz and Rapczak explain, Ark 2 not only wants to improve the structure and narrative of the world, but also all the other elements that make up a real ARK game.

According to the current blog post, this also includes the basic mechanics of the game. Ark 2 is played exclusively from the third person perspective, controls and movement have been completely redesigned for both creatures and player characters. In terms of locomotion, the focus was on Assassin’s Creed and Breath of the Wild, and in Ark 2 you should be able to scale obstacles more realistically and freely in the future.

soul fights

The fight is also significantly different. There is also a comparison here. With a focus on dodging, blocking, light and heavy attacks, combos, and player reflexes in confrontations, it was inspired by various Souls-like titles. This skin is a rarity in the PvP survival game genre.

Dino Fight Reimagined: Of course, you can also ride your dinosaurs in Ark 2 and fight with them. Unlike part 1, attacks from primal creatures should no longer “go through” the target, but instead cause a collision. The rendering of the effects of hits will be correspondingly more drastic. “The victim’s flesh is torn and the target physically reacts to the blow at this point,” officials describe.

world events

Although discovering the big maps was already a real experience in Ark: Survival Evolved, Ark 2 really should be better here. There are also various world events that you will face again and again. These dynamic, recurring occurrences and events include gathering dinosaurs at watering holes, finding injured specimens, raiding herds, finding dens where parent animals care for their young, and much more.

These events are called “dynamic procedural settings” in Ark 2, and they further enliven the game world. Those who defend endangered creatures against attackers, for example, should even earn their trust. Those who can interpret the signs can also track advanced loot through another type of this feature.

Aratai, elaboration, construction.

The revised mechanics don’t stop there. The game features the new enemy faction of the Aratai, who even tame the dinosaurs themselves. But the management of your creatures will also be designed differently than in Part 1. Another topic that has been intensively devoted to is crafting. The way you craft items in Ark 2 will vary drastically, allowing you to choose from millions of different combinations to tailor exactly how your gear will ultimately look and function. These are great promises that we hope to keep.

If you didn’t use any mods in Ark 1, you’ve surely run into one or another trap and ugliness in the build menu at one point or another. The developers are also aware that building on Ark 1 was anything but optimal. Accordingly, this area will also be overhauled and should not only offer new build options, but also allow saving and sharing of build templates.

Ark 2 Mod Compatibility

Last but not least, mod support is of course also an extremely important part of Ark 2. After all, a large part of the active Ark community is based on modders and users of these mods. Some of the modder-created maps were later officially included in the Ark map portfolio.

As it should be, mods will also be a big topic in Ark 2. As its makers announce, even a kind of revolution is supposed to take place here. User-created mods are also said to be available in Ark 2 on unofficial servers, as well as for the Xbox version of the game. Official mod support is also available on mod.io.

If you wish, you can create mods for Ark 2 on PC and then upload them to the cloud so that they are available to all players from there on either PC or Xbox. Just like in Ark 1, you can use the mods in Ark 2 to change almost everything in the game. From creatures, game modes and maps to weapons, items and game mechanics. Even first person mode can be brought back via mod. It is not explained in detail why the house does not offer this option.

Powered by the Unreal Engine 5 on which Ark 2 is based, the only limit is the creativity of the modders themselves.

arc 2 trailer

Ark 2 on Steam: wishlist and more

Ark 2 now has its own landing page on Steam. There you can already read some details about the game, see images and add it to your wish list.

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