Arc Raiders Preview – The Most Fun I’ve Had In An Extraction Shooter For A While

I’ve played a bunch of different extraction shooters over the years, with most of my hours falling into Hunt: Showdown and Escape From Tarkov. These are not typically accessible games, as the blend between PvE and PvP, and stacks of random loot to sift through, can make new players’ heads spin.

It’s with this awareness that I approach any new extraction shooter: does it have enough to stand out and attract existing fans of the genre, and does it do enough differently to attract some new players? Arc Raiders is the new third-person extraction shooter from Embark Studios, the team behind the popular, if slightly underrated FPS, The Finals.

I’m happy to report that this game is awesome.

Over three days, across three extended playtest sessions, I jumped into the game with some fellow journalists as well as some developers of Arc Raiders. The game took me completely by surprise; everything from its outstanding graphics to its stylish world design felt like it just appeared out of nowhere. I’d heard of the game, sure, but I hadn’t expected it to be quite this polished when I dived in for the first time.

The principle is simple, and one that any fans of extraction shooters will grasp immediately: you drop in, battle both NPCs and players, collect loot, complete objectives, and then attempt to extract without dying and losing everything you’ve just collected. It’s a winning formula, as the adrenaline you get from trying to escape with a backpack full of important loot is unlike anything else in video games.

In Arc Raiders, you’re basically collecting scrap while avoiding Arcs, which are aggressive NPCs robots, and either hassling or running away from other Raiders. The robots are not to be messed with. The very large ones, the Bastions, will shred your health bar in just a few hits. If you do manage to take them down – usually with the help of some juiced-up grenades – they drop excellent loot.

Once you’ve managed to extract your loot, you can upgrade your workshop with new benches, purchase materials from traders, and start new quests. There’s a full-on gun upgrade system, a multitude of different shields available, a hefty skill tree, and much more. Arc Raiders comes out punching with a lot of features that have taken a while to be added to other extraction shooters.

Story Time

On my very first run, I was still getting used to the third person shooting mechanics. The guns have no ADS feature, and the recoil is pretty hefty, but I fell in love with the Anvil pistol early on. It’s essentially a revolver, and I just love revolvers in games. After a pretty uneventful round – this is still an extraction shooter, and sometimes that happens – I headed into a tunnel to reach the metro train that would extract me from the level. In the darkness, I heard something shuffle. A robot? No. A Raider. And I had a bag full of loot.

I used the third-person angle to peek around the corner, and I saw another Raider looming in the shadows, probably doing the exact same thing after hearing me come clanking down the stairs. The time was running out, and this person was between me and the escape with my first big backpack of loot. I swung around the corner and hit them immediately with an Anvil shot to the chest.

The fight that ensued was not pretty. These were two people who’d played about 15 minutes of a game, still trying to figure out what the hell was going on. I’m pretty sure I blew myself up with my own grenades and dealt more damage to myself than the opposing player ever did. That being said, it was fun. I loved the slightly different approach to peeking that the third-person perspective allows, and being able to recharge your shields and use bandages to heal drew the fight out longer than the one-tap engagements of Tarkov.

In the end, I managed to get the killing blow, just about. Once you knock someone down, you can walk over and punch them out. It’s extremely satisfying. All I heard was a whispered, “F*** you,” from the opposing player over the proximity chat, and a little laugh. No hard feelings here. I think we both had fun. I had more fun, though, because I won. That’s just how it goes.

There’s A Lot More Going On Than You First Expect

Within those three days, I got alright at Arc Raiders. Focusing my attention solely on getting good with the Anvil meant that I was able to walk out of most fights with a victory, and this became even more fun during the chaotic squad fights, often between nine and twelve players duking it out in one of the loot hotspots on the map.

Each area has different kinds of loot – and loot pools range from Sparse to Abundant. For example, you might need to head to a technological area to collect batteries to allow you to craft more shield rechargers back at base. This gives every round a direction and a drive to head towards certain locales. You might also discover keys and cards that allow you access to specific areas with lots of loot. These runs were always the most fun.

The Arc robots were something I originally saw as a bit of a hindrance, but when I learned you can find Lure Grenades that pull the robots to them when they explode, I was able to actually throw one into the middle of an opposing squad and cause chaos as several Wasp Arcs (flying, drone-like enemies with a powerful machine gun) descended on them. From car alarms to motion sensors to ziplines and turrets, Arc Raiders is packed with little secrets and strategies.

There’s a test for Arc Raiders this week, starting on April 30th. Even if you’re not a big fan of extraction shooters, I’d give this one a whirl – it’s got a certain something about it that just stands out.