The 250 hours I’ve logged in extraction shooter Arc Raiders let you know I am hooked, however final week I learn a comment on the game’s subreddit that completely encapsulated certainly one of its few flaws.
“If the sport is about getting good loot, however the good loot is definitely dangerous, what are we doing?”
Once you’re looking a container, a uncommon increase – the units on the coronary heart of your loadout — or epic gun reveals itself in a burst of purple, a catchy jingle, and an enormous increase to the worth of your stash, the place the place you hoard and organise your objects. However truly utilizing these weapons and augments is way much less satisfying.
The rarest weapons in Arc Raiders ought to really feel like a wonderful reward for all that point you spent looking blueprints, or for that dangerous struggle you picked with a fellow raider. However the epic weapons are barely higher than widespread ones – and in sure conditions, they’re truly worse.
There’s little or no to decide on, for instance, between the ultra-rare Vulcano shotgun and the Il Toro, which you will discover on a regular basis throughout Arc Raiders’ maps. Sure, the Vulcano kills faster whenever you spam the set off. However the Il Toro offers extra injury per shot, so whenever you’re dancing on the sting of canopy, peeking out and firing earlier than slithering again once more, it shines.
There are loads extra examples. The Bobcat, the epic SMG, shreds up shut. However so does the Stitcher, which you will get as a part of a no-risk free loadout or craft for next-to-nothing in your workshop. The Sticher’s “efficient DPS”, taking into consideration reload time, is definitely increased than the Bobcat’s, and in opposition to sure shields the Stitcher can kill in a single journal the place the Bobcat cannot.
And do not even get me began on the Bettina, a weapon endlessly memed the neighborhood. Sure, I get that it is for killing Arc, however you have to take eight stacks of ammo for it to be price equipping. Give me an Anvil or Trailblazer grenade as an alternative.
In a current interview with GamesRadar+, lead designer Virgil Watkins mentioned that “any given weapon in succesful arms ought to be able to successful a struggle should you’re enjoying well”. That is sensible. Newer or extra informal gamers should not lose simply because they’re carrying a worse gun. However this additionally is not a team-based shooter that requires good steadiness. Once you discover one thing uncommon, it’d higher really feel particular to make use of.
It does not assist that sustaining these weapons is so costly. Regardless of being probably the most polished weapons on this apocalyptic world, their sturdiness burns quickest, and repairing them munches by way of ultra-rare crafting elements. So slightly than leveling the enjoying subject, the present established order truly does the alternative: the one gamers that may afford the danger of utilizing and dropping these weapons are individuals who, like me, have spent far an excessive amount of time topside, have discovered the blueprints of those weapons, and have a mountain stash of uncommon crafting elements able to go.
In the identical interview, Watkins did say “we’re undoubtedly a bit off on a number of the price to learn ratios.” It is promising to see him recognise that, and I truly do not assume it wants a large adjustment to repair. If these epic weapons had been 10% extra deadly, 15% cheaper, and wore out 20% slower, they’d really feel so significantly better.
The rarest augments pose a distinct downside, although. Earlier than Tuesday’s Headwinds replace arrived, solely two out of the six epic augments had been sturdy – the Looting Mk 3 survivor can cease you bleeding out so that you’ve got the possibility of crawling to an extraction level along with your loot, and the Tactical Mk 3 defensive has a built-in protect recharger for PvP runs.
The opposite 4 aren’t definitely worth the crafting parts when you lastly discover their blueprints. I’ve geared up them after I’ve discovered them, however by no means felt compelled to truly make one. The so-called “aggressive” fight increase, for instance, regenerates a mere two well being each 5 seconds. On high of that, it pauses for 30 seconds whenever you take injury, rendering it just about ineffective for its one goal, aggressive fight.
Not like the weapons, augments do not want a rebalance. They want a complete rethink. High-tier augments ought to have a defining attribute that allows new playstyles, and Embark is aware of this: the studio added two new epic augments as a part of the Headwinds replace, together with one that permits you to stick a gun in your secure pocket. That’s a begin, however I feel the ineffective ones must be culled and changed by extra imaginative concepts. I like the truth that the extra widespread tactical increase deploys a smoke when your protect breaks, and that the level-two looting increase makes you resistant to face-hugging ticks. Extra of that, please.
Clearly, I discover Arc Raiders compelling regardless of this downside with uncommon loot (and regardless of its insistence on genAI voice performing). However there isn’t any doubt in my thoughts that late-game steadiness is an issue, one Embark must get a grip on as new gamers proceed to affix and as skilled gamers, like me, search for causes to stay round past its first few months.
Samuel Horti is a journalist with bylines on the BBC, IGN, Insider Enterprise, and Edge.