ARC Raiders is a third-person shooter well-worth of your time

There you are, topside, loaded down with the loot you need to build your next best weapon. In the distance, there’s gunfire, a lot of it. The sound of explosions and the whine of killer UAVs. Your ammo is low, your grenades are gone. The extraction window closes in three minutes. Alright, time to move.

Will you make it to the elevator in the next three minutes, or will one of the numerous robotic threats take you down? If not a robot, what about another raider who both has a taste for blood and a robbing habit? But maybe, if you’re lucky, that next raider is friendly and will happily tag along to make sure you get to the extract.

Who knows, but make sure your weapon is topped off with whatever ammo is on hand.

You gotta move fast, and you move faster with your weapon put away. But is the extra speed worth the time it takes to draw your weapon when ambushed by robots or raiders? Everything is a trade-off in a little game called ARC Raiders.

Raiders and ARCs

ARC Raiders trailer (IGN via Embark Studios)

Developed by Embark Studios, ARC Raiders is an online, multiplayer, third-person shooter for PS5, Xbox series X/S, and computers. It takes place in the far future of 2180 when humans have been forced underground by ARC: unflinching killing machines of unknown origin that take several different forms.

You play as a Raider, a human dedicated to going “topside” to scavenge loot which is used to craft or upgrade new weapons and armor, and sell for money. There are no rules topside, and you’ll face off against a variety of killer robots and potentially other raiders.

Raiders might be allies, enemies, or both, depending on the mission. Each mission has a 30-minute timer, but you might get put in halfway through the raid. Before the clock runs out, you have to decide when and where you’ll extract from the raid. There are a variety of elevators and trains to take you back underground or to Raider hatches, which require a special key.

Your gear includes grenades, shield recharges, medical supplies, zip lines, door blockers, grapple hooks, and more. As you get scraps from topside, you can build better gear and weapons, and upgrade the facilities needed to craft even better gear and guns.

Underground is where you can interact with traders or accept new quests.

Heading topside

Raiders in ARC Raiders (Embark Studios)

Here’s the kicker: if you die during a raid, you lose everything, but what you’ve kept in your save pocket, and have to start afresh. All the gear you brought to the raid will be gone forever to become pickings for passing raiders, or for whoever took you down.

Losing everything can be brutal, but this makes games thrilling. The highs are high, and the lows are low.

You can carry two weapons, which use a variety of ammo types. Some weapons excel against other raiders, others excel against the ARC threats, and some are good middle-of-the-road options.

Each weapon can be upgraded and fit with various accessories that add ammo, reduce recoil or noise, increase accuracy, and more. The weapon and gear selection allows you to play in a way that you like. You can go stealthy, use distance, hit hard, or just unleash the power of a light machine gun. What’s nice is that even the most basic weapons can be viable.

Related: How video games can make you a better fighter pilot

Going strong

A Raider hiding from an ARC. (Embark Studios)

Movement is a big part of the game. Dodging, rolling, sliding, and sprinting can mean the difference between life and death. It’s all controlled by a stamina bar. Smart movement keeps you alive, so knowing when to sprint and when to roll can make a major difference in your success.

Maps are largely destroyed urban areas: dams, cities, a space port, and more. The areas are massive and open for exploration. To help you navigate, you can use various ziplines, set up your own ziplines, or employ the snaphook, which gives you grapple hooks capability.

Your raider gains levels and skill points, which you can invest to move faster, improve stamina, carry more weight, or even breach containers and search them faster. The web of upgrades is vast and rewards careful planning, and allows you to craft a character that meets your play-style.

Your enemies range from spider-like ticks, to annoying UAVs, to arachnoid ARCs fielding massive machine guns and wearing heavy armor. Some enemies, like the matriarchs, which are multiple-story-tall spiders, require a team of Raiders working together to defeat.

No two raids are the same, and experimenting with weapons and play styles provides good gameplay variety.

The game rewards preparation, for example, when waiting to engage threats until you have a good location to fight from. Or by using mines, having escape methods, and using things like lure grenades and decoys to break ARCs’ attention. It feels fantastic when a plan comes together.

ARC Raiders is an extremely fun and thrilling game. Sometimes, after dying a few times in a row and losing your best gear, you’re forced to start with a free kit and earn it all again, which is surprisingly satisfying.

It’s a blast to play, and you never know what you’ll encounter. It’s always new and always exciting.

Feature Image: Feature Image: ARC Raiders (Embark Studios)

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