ARC Raiders has seriously exciting gameplay that has firmly hooked me in

ARC Raiders is the new hotness in town and thanks to Embark Studios enabling Proton support for Easy Anti-Cheat, I've been putting hour after hour into it.

Since it's an extraction shooter, something that until now I haven't been too familiar with (I've played a little bit elsewhere), adjusting to the gameplay has been thoroughly interesting. Being a Linux gamer, our options for such games are incredibly limited. Actually, this might be the only game of its class that's properly playable on Linux. Not only that, but ARC Raiders is strangely welcoming even with the often brutal challenge to it.

If I had any hair left on my head, it would have at times make me pull it out from the stress of it. ARC Raiders makes me question my sanity as much as it excites me. The minute-to-minute gameplay is some of the most interesting I've seen in forever in an online action game. Helldivers 2 comes pretty close to it though.

You just don't know what's going to happen from one minute to the next. Will you find a friendly player? Will someone gun you down and take all your loot? Will you decide to backstab someone that didn't want a fight? There is simply no wrong way to play it - it's all about those split-second decisions that will decide if you live or die. It is a PvPvE game, so you make the choice on how you play it and what you're going to do during each run.

Those are some big robots in the distance…

Also helped by the fact that it's a gorgeous looking game. It's certainly not the best-ever looking, but we've hit a point where most AA/AAA games are just good enough that I don't think we need to keep chasing realism and ARC Raiders makes that clear. It also performs pretty darn well overall too. I'm constantly taking screenshots thinking - "wow, that looks so cool!".

I'm only really scratching the surface in my surprising amount of hours in it, but even so, I've experienced so many different events that constantly leave me just wanting more. The combat is simply wonderful in it, especially with the ARC robot design and the excellent physics that go along with them. Like the simple ARC hover drones for example, one of the most basic PvE enemies you'll face. As you shoot out their individual propellers and they lose control, they often go speeding off into a wall or the floor and explode. It's actually a little funny when it happens.

It's nice that the gameplay isn't just a constant firefight. You do need to be quite sneaky. ARC, and other players, will be attracted by noise. Make too much noise, ARC will come over to investigate and potentially fill you with holes. Or, another player may come sneaking up behind you to say hello. Some types of ARC will also call in backup if you don't take them out quick enough, which can end up a big problem for you.

So many things going on during a game too, each map is pretty dynamic. Not just through time of day and weather systems, but all the mini-events and the ARC NPCs too. Like the ARC Probes that fly down, which have some nice loot in them. It's a rush to get to them, and they're incredibly noisy and attract attention. But sometimes you might find one landing right next to you.

There was a time our party of three came across another player screaming at us not to shoot, turns out once they calmed down they were rather softly spoken. To thank us for not shooting, they took us on a little trip where they found some good loot. What happened next was rough though. A big rocket drone none of us spotted came to say hello, and promptly ended their run with a big boom. Oh dear.

My enjoyment of it is helped by the PvE and PvP being so clearly distinct. People are always players, the robots are always the ARC NPCs AI. There's no confusion there at all. You know what you're potentially getting into as soon as you see. Not that it really helps you, since anything can still happen.

A run we had last night was pretty epic too. There was an event going on where some top loot was at the top of a very tall tower. So everyone was fighting for it against all other groups, and against all the ARC NPCs flying around it. After a while, and some sneaking, we managed as a duo to get near the top, but came up against fire from a trio. By sheer luck, we defeated all three of them and managed to loot their bodies as well as score some really great weapons. Unfortunately for us, a couple of drones were circling outside due to all the noise and promptly ended our run by firing into the building. It was incredibly tense, and even though we didn't come out with anything it was so fun that didn't matter.

Also, screw this thing in particular:

Finishing a round by extracting is also a heart-pumping rush every single time without fail. Because you just know something is likely to happen. I've saved people as much as I've decided to be completely evil. Like the time I went to extract and saw an ARC drone hovering over a bus, shooting constantly at it. I realised someone was inside, so I took out the drone. A player came running out thanking the heck out of me over voice comms. It genuinely made me feel really good. Or the time someone else was about to extract, and I liked the look of their gun and so…well, I put a hole in the back of their head. Don't judge me, it's a tough world out there.

Or how about you go to extract, look around and think you're safe so you run in and tap on the computer to leave only to turn around and suddenly there's two other players just staring at you.

Where the hell did those two ninjas come from?

Being a PvPvE game, it's not just other players lurking around the extraction zones you need to worry about. It's also all the different ARC NPC enemies that can quite easily ruin your run. The various types of drones flying around, some with weapons that can stun you, others that will explode you and make a misery of your day. And then there's this thing that roams around…

The leaper pictured above is an absolute menace. Quite difficult to take down due to the armour plating, but also an incredibly fun fight.

While it can be overly frustrating to lose everything at times, the loop is what keeps me coming back for more. Okay, so I lost everything, but if I always go in with a plan on each run - it doesn't seem so bad. Like gathering one specific resource, taking in some cheap gear and then coming back to deal with all the crafting and upgrades, to potentially do another run with some better gear.

The crafting system can be a bit confusing though, you don't always know what you're going to need, and their item descriptions on some items intentionally don't tell you that you might actually need them. It's all about figuring it out for yourself, or spoiling it all with a guide (not me though, I like figuring it out). At least loot is colour-coded though, so you know if something is good at least with grey being common, green being uncommon, blue being rare, purple is epic and yellow is legendary.

While it's true it's an accessible game in terms of extraction shooters, there's so many parts that are just plain difficult and frustrating. So I've decided to note down a few tips for you beginner raiders to hopefully help you along the way just a little bit.

1) Play entirely solo until you properly understand the game. ARC Raiders matches solo players to solo players (at least usually), and groups of 2-3 with groups. Solo play is far far easier, and usually just a much better time when you're starting off.

2) Use the free loadout option, constantly. Especially early-on in the game, it's just stupid not to. When you're readying up for a game, you can pick it at the top instead of your normal loadout. This will give you a randomised set of starter equipment, which is great when you're having a breezy run through to grab a few items. Allowing you a bit more chance of survival rather than going in naked, without the stress of losing your good gear. And, as a bonus, when you've extracted, you can swap the beginner pack for something better at a trader completely free.

3) Don't forget your safe pocket! Did you just find something cool or valuable? Stick it straight in, and you'll keep it even if you die. However, the free loadout doesn't have a safe pocket. Just don't ask where the safe pocket is, I don't want to know either.

4) Adrenaline Shots are your friends. They can mean the difference between you outrunning ARC or a player and dying with all your goodies on you.

5) Put all of your starter level up points into Stamina. Like with 4, they can be the difference between life and a frustrating end.

6) Holster your weapon so you run faster.

7) Even if you're downed, you can still pull the extraction lever and exit the level.

8) Don't run into an extraction zone as soon as it's available after calling it. Players may be watching and shoot you as you run in. Extraction zones have a 2 minute timer before they close automatically. You have time to scout for a bit.

9) Arc Powercells can be used to power up your shield if you don't have a Shield Recharger.

10) You can get free items via the Raider Deck, and by doing Quests. Quests especially can be worth actually going through properly.

Hopefully some of those little tips will help you survive a bit longer.

What's next for it? A lot. It's live-service so it's going to be sprinkling in content constantly and their roadmap for it has me quite excited with new events, new maps, new map conditions and lots more to come.

There are some things I really don't like about it though. Like the cost of the in-game purchases for a paid game, the pricing is a bit overly ridiculous in some cases. They need to bring the prices down. I'm also still feeling a bit off about their use of AI for the text-to-speech voices (used in voice barks, like pointing out items). While it's certainly a lot more ethical than a lot of generative AI use, since they actually hired actors and have their full permission, it still feels a bit weird. It leaves me conflicted because I enjoy it so much.

For the gameplay though, it's just amazing. So dynamic you never know what's going to happen, it truly has its hooks into me and I cannot stop playing. I don't know how things will go once I've put many tens more hours into it and perhaps even hundreds, but right now I cannot think of anything that will make me stop playing it apart from any anti-cheat woes for Linux. All will rest on how the game evolves with the updates planned and if the community sticks around to keep it alive where many other games have failed.