These days, it’s a rare sight to see a game release without endless overhyped trailers that take the gaming community by storm. Much like Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, ARC Raiders launched without much hype, yet since its release, it has become a new phenomenon. Not only among extraction shooters, but in video games in general.
ARC Raiders is the latest product from Embark Studios, a Swedish game studio that, prior to this, had only released The Finals: a competitive, free-to-play first-person shooter with its own following. Embark has only released two games because it’s still a relatively new company, founded in 2018 by some former DICE developers.
In a nutshell, ARC Raiders is a simple game on the surface: a third-person extraction shooter. But the deeper you go, the more you realize it’s thoughtful, addictive, and genuinely good. The game has only five maps (one of which was added after launch) and a practice range, but the combination of gunplay, the looting system, enemies (both AI and real people), quests, and loot locations makes it a joy to play.
The first time you launch the game, you create your character. As you play and gain XP, you earn skill points that you can spend on a skill tree to upgrade your character. At first, you don’t have access to much. Just generic guns and basic equipment. As you progress and gather loot, you can build different stations to craft what you need: guns, utilities, explosives, healing items, crafting materials, and more. You can also upgrade your stations to allow them to craft more items.
One of the best aspects of the game is the blueprint system. Even if your crafting stations are upgraded to the maximum level (level three), you still need blueprints in order to craft stronger guns, grenades, and utilities. These blueprints are randomly scattered across the maps, and you can only craft various items after finding them.
Whenever you want to start a run, you first choose your loadout. This consists of selecting an augment, shield, guns, ammo, and explosives. Augments are one of the most important parts of the game. There are three categories: Combat, Tactical, and Looting. These augments are basically your backpack, and depending on what you want to do and which quest you’re pursuing, you can choose the most suitable one. Combat augments offer advantages like more space for grenades, while looting augments are designed specifically for gathering loot and have more space.
Once you choose your loadout based on what you have and what you want to do, you pick a map and begin the expedition. Alongside the normal map, there are different conditions that can occur, including Night Raid, Cold Snap, which was a timed event that has now ended, Electromagnetic Storm, Harvester, and Matriarch. In Night Raid, you spawn at night. In Cold Snap, the weather is extremely cold; if you stay outside too long, you get frostbite and your health starts to degenerate. In Electromagnetic Storm, harsh thunder strikes can damage you if you get hit. In the Harvester condition, you have a chance to fight the Queen (more on that later) and in the Matriarch event you can choose to defeat a Matriarch.
Under each of these severe conditions, the loot is more valuable and the enemies are more deadly. These conditions are not available all the time. They appear at random. Each match is at most 30 minutes, and there is a chance you will spawn in the middle of the match. Your main objective is to go out, loot, and return safely to Speranza; The only place where people can live without the risk of ARCs, using various extraction points on the map. But what are ARCs, Speranza, and the story behind it all?
Although the story isn’t that important, the premise is this: it is the year 2180. Human society was wiped out due to a global environmental collapse, leaving only a few patches of habitable land. Then robots began falling from the sky. After a decade of intense fighting, humans defeated the first wave of these robots, called ARCs. But as things began returning to normal, ARCs came back with a vengeance, this time more powerful than before. The remaining humans were forced underground and formed a new community called Speranza. This story is revealed through cutscenes. It isn’t especially deep or creative, but it works in the context of the game.
There are various types of ARCs. Some are flying, like WASPs and Hornets, and the deadliest flying enemy is the Rocketeer. There are also bigger enemies like Bastions, Leapers, and Bombardiers. These are the main threats you’ll face, and every once in a while, in Harvester and Matriarch maps, players have the chance to fight Queens and Matriarchs; The most powerful ARCs in the game. While it’s sometimes possible to kill big enemies alone, you need cooperation with other players to take down a Queen or a Matriarch.
But ARCs aren’t the only danger. The real threat is other players. Each map has about 21 players, and since the game markets itself as PvPvE (Player vs. Player vs. Environment), you need to be careful. The game doesn’t force you to kill other players, and it’s easy to trust people, but it’s tricky. In my personal experience, many times my teammates and I teamed up with other players, only to get stabbed in the back and killed. After other players kill you, they can steal all your loot and it hurts. I mean it really hurts! All your loot is gone in the blink of an eye, and you have to return to Speranza and start from scratch.
Another great aspect of the game is the maps themselves. Even though there are only five, each is large, with lots of locations to discover. Each map has its own character and requires you to change your approach drastically. On paper, five maps sound like too few, but in practice it’s more than enough for a game like ARC Raiders.
The gunplay is excellent as well. Every gun has its own pros and cons: some are more suitable for human combat, and others are better for fighting ARCs. You can add mods and even upgrade weapons, which change how they perform. Each gun has its own personality, and each mod changes how it shoots. This attention to detail makes the game consistently enjoyable, and even when you have nothing and are forced to use basic guns, you can still succeed. Better guns can improve your chances of survival, but you can also do well with basic guns only if you are a skillful player.
The enemy AI is another highlight. Enemies are surprisingly intelligent, and there are several ways they can detect you: they can see and hear you, or be alerted by a special type of ARC called a Snitcher. Once they detect you, you have to react quickly because they aren’t static and they’re aggressive. They come for you by any means necessary, and you’re only safe if you’re well inside a building or you manage to defeat them.
On the topic of AI, it’s worth noting that Embark Studios used generative AI to create voiceovers for the in-game NPCs. This sparked heated debate in the gaming community, but personally I don’t have a problem with it. Sure, it’s not good to take jobs from real people, but using AI helped Embark cut costs and release the game for 40 euros, especially since it isn’t a narrative-heavy game and the story mainly serves as filler for this kind of experience. On the other hand, the 80s-inspired synth music is composed by real musicians, and it’s one of the most ambient and fitting soundtracks I’ve heard in a video game in a long time.
The other excellent aspect of the game is Embark’s approach to in-app purchases. There is a store where you can spend in-game currency on cosmetic items, and that currency is easy to obtain by playing. A few skins are only available with real money, but there are only a handful and, to be honest, not especially appealing. In a world where a franchise like Call of Duty sells a game with a 70-euro price tag and then asks you to pay more for skins, this approach feels refreshing.
To enjoy a game, gameplay is the most important aspect, but visually Embark did a stunning job too. The maps look beautiful, and each one has its own atmosphere. On top of that, the game runs smoothly. There are some visual and gameplay-related bugs here and there, but they aren’t game-breaking and they don’t have a major negative impact on the experience.
ARC Raiders isn’t just a great extraction shooter. It’s a great video game. It respects the player and rewards the player accordingly. It’s clearly made by people who understand what works, and the support shown since launch by releasing new modes and maps makes it feel like it’s here to stay rather than being a short-lived, streamer-friendly game. That also shows in the increasing number of players. If you’re a fan of third-person shooters and even video games in general, you should definitely give ARC Raiders a try.
All the screenshots are taken by myself except the feature image which is used from official press kit of the game.
Other Information:
Publisher: Embark Studios
Developers: Embark Studios
Platforms: Playstation 5, Windows, Xbox Series X/S
Release Date: October 30, 2025
Genres: Dystopian Extraction shooter
PEGI: 16
