With ARK: Survival Ascended (ASA) launching this week on Xbox Series X/S and joining the PC survivors already traversing the island, we thought we’d gather a list of reasons to play this new next-gen remake game! A top-to-bottom remake of the original game, so here are a few of the key differences you may have noticed in the gameplay trailer.
1. Modding: For the first time ever, ARK mods crafted on PC will be able to run on Xbox and PlayStation, extending the reach of modders for players across different platforms. Everything from new weapons, armor, and creatures to new fully-fledged game modes and remade maps will be easily available. Dive into modding at the ARK: Survival Ascended Curse Forge page! And check out the ARKathon mod contest!
2. Cross-Platform: With the launch of ARK: Survival Ascended, you can now go on this dino adventure with your friends no matter what platform you’re on. Form online tribes across Xbox, PlayStation, and PC and work together to survive and thrive on the ARK.
3. Unreal Engine 5: One of the biggest selling points of ARK: Survival Ascended is that the team at Studio Wildcard took what made ARK: Survival Evolved so great and recreated and redesigned its artwork and worlds in Unreal Engine 5. This allowed the team to take full advantage of such high-end graphics features as fully dynamic Lumen Global Illumination to let light realistically bounce off surfaces and provide such realistic reflections that you’ll believe you are looking through a window instead of a monitor. Unreal Engine 5’s advanced mesh streaming Nanite system, on the other hand, can use hundreds of millions of triangles to give extreme detail to everything from your player character to that terrifying Tyrannosaurus Rex that’s chasing you and your friends. ARK has never looked better, and you’ll feel like you’re playing a new game now that it’s built with Unreal Engine 5.
4. Building Revamp: Are you a fan of base building? Say no more. ASA has a newly revamped building systems that allows players to construct the bases of their dreams. With QoL improved and over 15 new structures, from tilesets to decor to gameplay-enhancing TEK Teleporters, players have more choices when constructing their bases.
IGN’s Twenty Questions – Guess the game!
5. UI and UX Overhaul: When you first jump into ASA, you’ll notice an overhaul of the User Interface. It’s been punched up visually and given more functionality to enable you to tailor your experience to match your playstyle. The options are there if you’re looking for a more minimalistic UI to keep the immersion or something that covers all the details.
6. Dino Management: This new Dino-Manager system lets you view the status and location of all your creatures in one unified menu, so you’ll never have to worry about a creature wandering off again.
7. Quality of Life and New Features: It’s the little details, right? Studio Wildcard have implemented different tweaks to help improve the original experience. You now have access to a new general player and dino camera, providing a more dynamic experience as you move around this newly envisioned world, plus the option to customize it per creature. Inventory management has had some tweaks too, with players being directly able to change and craft ammo and access shoulder pet inventories directly from the special R-wheel or the ‘Fast Inventory’ system, which converts your entire inventory into a scrollable hotbar that streamlines the process of building different structures. Other things have gone added, like the dynamic navigation for intelligent creature pathfinding – good luck running away from a Raptor now! Encounter baby dinosaurs out in the wild for an easier time, or strategize the ultimate base-raid with the new Map and Ping System.
8. Photo Mode: Use the built-in capabilities to share screenshots and thumbnails with friends. With a deep dropdown menu of settings, you can get the perfect shots of your favorite dino, put on your director’s hat, and start filming the ARK movies you envisioned!
9. Remaking Original Content: ARK: Survival Ascended includes all of ARK’s worlds but is now remastered in UE5. This includes Scorched Earth, Aberration, Extinction, ARK Genesis Part 1, and ARK Genesis Part 2! As of now, The Island is available with subsequent expansion worlds added on a regular basis.
10. Original Content: There will be new story content for ASA, further gameplay and QoL changes, new DLC, seasonal events, and over time, as well as a new creature released with each map drop for a total of 11 brand new creatures (more than any previous DLC expansions).
Studio Wildcard’s goal with ARK: Survival Ascended is to provide an evergreen adventure that re-energizes the classic-ARK experience. ARK: Survival Ascended is available now in Early Access on Steam and Xbox Series X/S, with PlayStation 5 releasing early December.
