Ark: Survival Ascended Early Access Review - The Final Verdict
0Studio Wildcard is no stranger to controversy, especially with Ark: Survival Ascended. Meant as a free upgrade to Survival Evolved, it would eventually launch as a separate title in Steam Early Access with only The Island available for fans to experience.
As a remake of Survival Evolved, it offers gorgeous new visuals courtesy of Unreal Engine 5.2, new physics and animations, and various quality-of-life features from a new map system to improved building. It doesn't completely overhaul the base game, with some issues - like odd dinosaur pathfinding AI and average combat - still present. That's before discussing the remake's technical state on PC.
Nevertheless, Ark: Survival Ascended builds upon the original in several ways while presenting a fun, somewhat grindy, but altogether massive experience.