Good old Extraction Shooters… We all know the deal: you go in, grab some good loot, and try to get out alive. But one wrong move, and poof – there goes all your hard-earned gear. Games like Escape from Tarkov are famous for this hardcore style, but honestly, they can be tough to get into for a lot of people. That’s where Arc Raiders comes in. It’s a new game from Embark Studios – the team behind the super fun and chaotic shooter, The Finals. Arc Raiders isn’t just trying to be another Tarkov; it’s aiming to make that whole high-stakes extraction thrill enjoyable for more players, without making you feel like you need to be a pro gamer just to survive.
Arc Raiders is looking to be a fresh option for anyone who’s been interested in extraction games but put off by how brutal they usually are. If you’re one of those players, this will be the game you’ve been hoping for! Let’s dive into why Arc Raiders is a friendlier, and frankly, more enjoyable way to get your extraction fix.
Less “Gear Fear”, More Progression
One of the biggest issues with traditional extraction shooters is the soul-crushing loss of gear and progress when a run goes south. The high risk, high tension gameplay is exciting for a while but can also become stressful and tiring after some time. Arc Raiders is flipping the script on this in some major ways:
- Your Experience only goes up: This is huge. Evn if you get absolutely wrecked by ARC robots or outplayed by another squad, you retain ALL your earned experience points (XP) and any progression made in your character’s skill tree. Every run, successful or not, actually moves your character forward. No more feeling like you wasted an hour because you mis-timed a dodge roll or got one-shot by a ratty camper off-screen
- Your trusty “Safe Pocket”: We all have that one piece of loot we’d cry over losing. Arc Raiders gets this and gives you a “Safe Pouch” or “safe pocket.” You can stash a limited number of your most valuable items here, and they stay with you even if you die. This directly combats that dreaded “gear fear” and lets you actually use cool stuff without constant anxiety.
- Never Truly Broke: Had a string of bad luck? Instead of being forced to scrounge with nothing but a rusty spoon, Arc Raiders offers free basic loadouts. This means you can always jump back in and try again, keeping the frustration levels way down.
These changes fundamentally lower the “cost” of failure, encouraging you to experiment, take more risks, and ultimately, have more fun.
Fresh Perspective on Shooting and Movement
Unlike the first-person view dominant in many extraction titles, Arc Raiders opts for a third-person perspective, and this changes the game for the better:
- See More, Do More: Third-person naturally gives you better spatial awareness. You can see your character in the environment, making it easier to navigate and spot threats. Yes, it is easier for your enemy to camp around the corner and wait for your push, but that’s where the player skill ceiling will extend (i.e. using smoke grenades to push corners), rather than starting players at a high skill floor, like more “hardcore” games in the genre do.
- Parkour Power: The game features a dynamic and agile movement system with extensive parkour elements. You’ll be sprinting, vaulting, climbing, sliding, and dodge-rolling your way through the world. There’s even a dedicated “Mobility” skill tree to enhance these traversal capabilities. Forget hiding in a corner for twenty minutes; this game wants you to move.
- Expanding the genre beyond just Gunplay: in Arc Raiders there is no way to Aim Down Sights and there is still heavy recoil for most of the guns you need to get used to. Gunplay still comes first of course, but now, your movement is more than just a choice between Tarkovs’ “slow-walk” or “sprint” and your stealth is more even more dynamic than Hunt: Showdown, allowing you to walk around cameras and turrets if you want to stay hidden.
Stealth is More than Just Sound in Arc Raiders
Stealth is often critical in extraction shooters, sometimes demanding you hear a tree branch snapping across the map. Arc Raiders offers a more creative and versatile approach to stealth:
- Look Around, Raider: Sound management is still important, especially with ARC units equipped with sound detectors. However, the game also provides more transparent visual and interactive stealth mechanics. You’ll be looking for environmental cues like scattering flocks of birds that indicate nearby players, and you can even disable alarms on cars and doors to maintain a low profile. Smoke grenades and quiet melee takedowns for certain ARC enemies add to your sneaky toolkit.
- Skills for Sneaking: The “Survival” skill tree includes abilities like “Just Another Plant” (reducing noticeability to ARC when crouched) and “Silent Scavenger” (reducing looting noise), allowing you to specialize.
- “Did you hear that?”: While you might not need military-grade headphones just to survive, the game’s overall sound design, which has received glowing reviews from testers, will still play a crucial role in immersing you and providing those critical audio cues for both ARC and other players—just without the hyper-punishing demands of some other titles.
All this is to say that you have multiple ways to play the game – rather than just relying on your aim, you can learn the game maps, ARC behavior and environment ques and succeed by playing more stealthy. This means the game also caters better to solo play, which has been very popular recently even in many multiplayer titles.
Cut-throat Extractions are in the Past?
Extraction shooters traditionally taught us that someone’s loss is your win condition, meaning that the other players are just walking loot bags and so are you – hence on extraction you need to kill or be killed.
- Extraction Your Way: Getting out alive is the goal, and Arc Raiders gives you more agency here. Besides main elevators that unlock gradually, a standout feature is the “Raider Hatch” – a consumable item allowing for a quick, alternative escape. This is a fantastic counter to the dreaded “extract camping.” You can even reportedly activate extraction mechanisms while downed and extract alongside players not in your squad, opening doors for tense, temporary alliances.
- Extract Together: In Arc Raiders if you and your enemy are happy with their haul and have full inventories, it is possible you will choose to extract together (should you meet them near extraction) rather than risking the fight for potentially just a few more bullets or a few pieces of ARC Alloy. All this is being enabled by a very natural and dynamic implementation of in-game voice and ping system – the game encourages you to communicate and rewards you with carefully crafted voice lines and appropriate voice processing for your character (think echo and grit in your voice!), should you decide to talk to your enemies / potential allies.
What in it for You, Future Arc Raiders
So, why should you be excited? Arc Raiders is shaping up to be an extraction shooter that respects your time and effort. The developers are addressing many of the genre’s biggest pain points – the brutal punishment, the “gear fear,” the often-frustrating stakes of extraction. By retaining XP and skills on death, providing a safe pocket for treasured loot, offering free loadouts, and designing more dynamic and flexible stealth and extraction systems, Arc Raiders aims to deliver the core thrill of looting and extracting without the overwhelming frustration.
You’re always making progress. Add to this the promise of non-mandatory wipes and a potential prestige system, and you have a recipe for long-term engagement that doesn’t force everyone down the same hardcore path.
We’re keeping a close eye on Arc Raiders and are busy developing helpful Tools to assist you with planning and execution of your raids on the Topisde!
If you are like us and can’t wait to dive in, check our Arc Raiders Ultimate Beginners Guide to find many useful tips and tricks helping you survive the harsh but gorgeous environments of Arc Raiders or check the main MMO-Wiki page for other game-related news. Good luck and many safe returns to Speranza!
