If you’ve ever wanted a game that combines both intense firefights and deep tactical solo moments, ARC Raiders might just be your new addiction. Developed by Embark Studios—known for The Finals—ARC Raiders is a third-person PvPvE extraction shooter that encourages both teamwork and lone wolf strategies on a dynamic, open map. Here’s everything you need to know based on early hands-on impressions.
🎯 What Is ARC Raiders?
At its core, ARC Raiders is an extraction shooter. You drop into a massive active map, scavenge gear, dodge PvE threats and other players, then try to extract alive. If you die? You lose it all. Think Escape from Tarkov, but with futuristic aesthetics, giant robots, and a lot more verticality.
🔫 Gunplay & Time to Kill (TTK)
Combat comes in two flavors:
- Outdoor battles reward flanking, high-ground positioning, and solid aim.
- Indoor firefights are chaotic and tight, relying more on equipment and shields.
The time-to-kill is balanced: not too fast, not too spongy. Shields add a tactical layer, and enemies fire a red flare when downed, alerting others. Indoors, these flares are often contained by the ceiling, offering a slight stealth advantage.
🕹️ Movement & Parkour
Movement is responsive and weighty:
- Crouching, sliding, dodging, and climbing all feel intuitive.
- Sliding is a big feature—you’ll find yourself using slopes like a playground.
- There’s no prone, but the omnidirectional dodge lets you escape or engage creatively.
- Light parkour lets you scale much of the environment, encouraging exploration and ambush tactics.
🤖 PvE Threats: The ARC
You’re not just fighting players:
- The ARC faction brings constant pressure with spider ticks, drones, and Giga Crawlers that need entire squads to defeat.
- Enemies like the Bastion have vulnerable weak points that can be targeted.
- Smart players use wolf pack grenades—auto-seeking explosives ideal for clearing out ARC bots.
🗺️ Map Design
The maps are sprawling and highly vertical:
- Climb ARC corpses, rooftops, or giant barriers for tactical views.
- Players can build ziplines, shield walls, and block doors for strategy.
- Hazards like alarms, birds, turrets, and cameras keep things tense.
- Weather and time of day drastically change visibility and tactics—especially the full night mode.
đź’ˇ Starter Tips
Here’s what you should prioritize:
- Build the equipment workbench early to unlock augments (aka backpacks for more loot space).
- Recycle or sell unused gear to expand your stash and make room.
- Unarmed running (press 5) lets you move faster—use it to reposition or escape.
- Upgrade basic weapons like the Rattler for better ammo capacity and effectiveness.
- Yellow zones = moderate loot, red zones = high loot, high risk.
- ARC power cells can refill shields in a pinch.
- Look out for valuables—these sell for lots of coins.
🔊 Audio Design
Audio is stunning. You’ll hear:
- Enemies above, behind, or in foliage.
- The terrain beneath your feet (sand, rocks, grass).
- Environmental cues like bird flocks or alarmed vehicles that hint at enemy movement.
With good headphones, ARC Raiders becomes a 3D audio experience that gives you a serious edge.
🧬 Character Progression & Crafting
Back at base, you can:
- Customize your Raider’s appearance.
- Unlock persistent skills through account leveling.
- Use a workshop to build crafting stations.
- Accept quests from traders to earn gear and currency.
- Rely on your mascot Scrappy (a mechanical rooster!) to gather materials while you’re offline.
🧠Final Thoughts
ARC Raiders is shaping up to be a compelling blend of Tarkov, The Division, and Destiny. With strong PvE enemies, clever map design, and surprisingly deep progression, it’s already offering some thrilling, tactical gameplay. The devs at Embark seem to truly care about community feedback—so now’s the time to get in, play the tech test, and shape the game’s future.
