ARC Raiders

Written by Jason Dailey on 11/10/2025 for PS5  

Like a lot of gamers, I’ve tried to get into the extremely popular extraction shooter genre on numerous occasions. Playing on console has limited my access to some of the more popular titles, like Escape from Tarkov, but in its console absence, I’ve taken a stab at Hunt: Showdown and Vigor over the years. While I understood the premise, I never really understood the appeal. That changed with ARC Raiders. Finally, I understand the allure of extraction shooters, and I don’t think I’m the only one. Based on its concurrent player counts since launching in October (well above 300,000 on Steam alone) ARC Raiders may be the game to take the entire genre mainstream.

I’d like to say that I’m surprised by ARC Raiders’ success, but I’m not. Made by Embark Studios, itself comprised of a bunch of former EA DICE developers, this is a studio that made a big splash with its debut title, THE FINALS, which I believe is the best competitive first-person shooter on the market. So, when they first announced ARC Raiders, I thought, “Ew, gross, an extraction shooter. But, it’s Embark, so we’ll see.” My trust in them was not misplaced – they’ve delivered another class-leading multiplayer game.

In ARC Raiders, the ARC are AI-powered robots that have taken over Earth’s surface, forcing humanity underground. Raiders are the humans brave enough to venture “topside” to gather loot and resources to support the residents of Speranza – an underground city within Toledo and the Rust Belt that serves as a base of operations for you and other Raiders. I think Speranza is a major part of ARC Raiders success. Despite only viewing the city by scrolling through menu screens, you can still see that Speranza is a bustling hub for humanity. You’re not merely a lone survivor with a shack somewhere in the wild, you’re part of a larger community with a common enemy: ARC.

PvEvP is a stroke of genius for ARC Raiders, establishing ARC as the real danger, while leaving room for the cutthroat nature of humanity (i.e. gamers) in this digital world. In a post-apocalyptic environment, it’s safe to assume that not everyone will be friendly when the feces hit the fan. It’s also probably safe to assume that humans are inherently good, despite flaws in our programming. We’re not hardwired to take another human’s life, and ARC Raiders plays into that, depending on whether you run solo, duos, or trios.

You can go on raids topside by yourself, or with up to two other players, be it friends or through squad fill. I would say 90 percent of the time when flying solo, other players were friendly, sometimes willing to team up, but at the very least, willing to keep their finger off the trigger and both go our separate ways. With that said, tension is always high while topside. Even though the solo community has embraced teamwork as a core tenet, you can’t forget about the flaws in our programming. You never know for sure what another Raider’s intention is, whether they’re friendly or foe. And sometimes they’ll agree to not shoot and then backstab you at extraction. I can’t help but think this is what a real-life post-apocalypse would be like. Trust is necessary for survival yet unreliable. Trust is calculated moment-to-moment, and is ARC Raiders’ most valuable loot, in a way.

I always spam the “don’t shoot!” emote when I encounter another Raider in hopes of striking a passive peace deal. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn’t. There is also proximity chat if you want to really plead your case (or lie through your teeth). But that’s one of the big gambles in ARC Raiders – do you shoot first and ask questions never, or do you ask the question first in hopes of never shooting?

The dynamic changes when playing duos or trios, as players grow exponentially more aggressive as the human variables increase. Perhaps you can trust one other human, but what about two or three? The result is that as the player count rises, so does the aggression. In my experience, there is far more PvP combat taking place in duos and trios than on solo raids, which is an interesting experiment of human nature, and is probably not far off from what a real post-apocalypse would be like.

So why even give other players a chance at all? Because of ARC, that’s why. Gunfire and explosions draw the attention of nearby robots, not to mention other (potentially unfriendly) Raiders. Yes, humans are dangerous, but there’s at least a chance they won’t shoot. ARC is the far more deadly of two enemies here. Even the smaller robots and drones can deal massive damage, and encountering more than one often leads to death unless you’re properly kitted out. There are also large robots, like the Leaper, which you honestly don’t stand a chance against as an army of one. I’ve witnessed random players group up to take down robots, or players come to another’s rescue. But I’ve also seen them come by after the fact to take loot off knocked-out players, like vultures picking at a carcass.

The only reason to venture topside is for the loot, and there’s all kinds of it. Like other looter shooters it has multiple rarities, from common to epic, which ranges from junk like screws to grenades that launch homing explosives at multiple ARC enemies. ARC Raiders does a nice job of everything feeling valuable, though. Even if I was only able to scrounge up a bunch of common or uncommon loot on a raid, there was still something I could use it for, even if it was scrapping it to make components to craft something else.

With that said, it is a little overwhelming with the amount of stuff you accumulate and never feeling totally comfortable with getting rid of something. Even some items marked as good for nothing more than scrap are sometimes needed as a component for something else. And with a limited stash of 64 items to start out, loot management is key. Thankfully, multiples of the same item can stack on each other (with a limit) and your stash can be expanded by buying upgrades with currency. One big issue I have with loot management, however, is the inability to deposit items towards quest requirements until you have the full amount needed.

So, for instance, if a quest from a trader requires me to provide seven batteries, if I have five batteries, I cannot turn those in yet. Instead, they sit in my stash, taking up valuable space until I can locate the other items that I need to complete the quest. And not just batteries either. If a quest requires two or three other items, I must wait until I have those on-hand as well. Quest items could use a quality-of-life update in that regard.

Speaking of quests, they are provided by several vendors in Speranza, offering valuable loot in exchange for bringing in certain items or completing activities. Quests also provide lore drops regarding what happened to Earth, what ARC’s intentions are, and more. It’s a cool and rewarding way to handle world-building that plays into the core gameplay mechanics and establishes why Raiders go topside in the first place. Even as quests provide little nuggets, the best world-building happens on the surface.

Questions abound across the various maps: Why does ARC keep launching probes at the surface? What was this building used for? What is that strange symbol on the wall? Embark has created a world worth exploring, and a lore worth pondering. To that end, I often found hidden secrets and the best loot by exploring locations on the outskirts of the maps, rather than the defined loot zones.

It helps that the world of ARC Raiders is gorgeous, in a post-apocalyptic sort of way. The art direction and general aesthetic is a vibe, channeling what I would describe as retro minimalist industrial science fiction that adds to the level of intrigue. Buildings and objects look like they’re from several decades ago, like time froze during the late 1970s and early 1980s, right down to the portable cassette players you can equip on some player outfits. I love the weapon design, too, with guns looking like rusted out (it is the Rust Belt, after all) MacGyver-style inventions made by humans living in an era of scavenging.

Sound design and music are both immaculate in ARC Raiders, which is par for the course coming from Embark Studios. Their other title, THE FINALS, boasts some of the best music and sound in the business. ARC Raiders picks up that ball and keeps on running with it. Like the visuals, it too has what I would describe as an industrial sci-fi vibe. It reminds me of Stranger Things in a way, blending sci-fi with a mechanical apprehension. Both sound and music do an excellent job of helping build tension. As the timer before all extraction points are cut off ticks down, you begin to hear more ARC robots chittering, buzzing, or stomping in the distance. Every gunshot sounds just as menacing, especially indoors, where guns are insanely loud. In fact, it sounds to me like they recorded audio for each effect both indoors and outdoors, which is to say that the amount of care shown to sound effects and design is impressive.

Guns don’t just sound cool as hell to shoot, they feel cool as hell to shoot as well. Again, not a surprise given the pedigree here, but when you do have to shoot, it feels great doing so. Each gun has a distinct feel, from the rapid-fire Stitcher SMG to the heavy-hitting Ferro that kicks like a mule. As I mentioned, these aren’t your heavily engineered and tested conventional military weapons we see today. On the contrary, these are guns that the finest metal scraps, canisters, and rusted screws will get you. They get the job done, but they fall apart after prolonged use.

Between raids, you can peruse a system of menus back in Speranza. You’ll spend a significant amount of time organizing your stash, scrapping items for materials, and crafting new items for your next raid. If you got knocked out on your previous run, everything you had on you is in the wind, except for whatever item you had stored in your Safe Pocket, a nice quality of life feature that lets you bring one non-weapon item back home. I like to think that I’ve got a hidden zipper pocket inside my jacket.

On the contrary, if you successfully extract, everything you made it out with carries over to future runs, and your stash is persistent too. I won’t lie to you – losing an inventory full of good loot by getting knocked out sucks big time, but that’s the core gameplay loop. And damn is it satisfying.

Back in Speranza, you’ll dump skill points into an extensive skill tree, so that you’re always making some sort of progress by spending XP earned for your in-raid actions. You’ll also begin to install various stations at your personal workshop that allow you to craft and upgrade items without having to buy them from traders. For instance, you can craft and upgrade weapons and the weapons station using the resources you have in your stash. Each station can also be upgraded to unlock access to better creations.

Of course, none of this is possible if you aren’t going topside to gather the necessary loot. A nice quality-of-life feature is the inclusion of types of loot found at various points of interest on the maps, so you at least have a starting point of where to look for items. One POI may have medical and electrical supplies, while another has industrial equipment, for example. If you’re trying to complete a quest or craft a particular item, you can narrow your search while raiding.

One more important thing to note about ARC Raiders is that, unlike other extraction shooters, there will be no mandatory account wipes. This is a persistent game that aims to be more accessible than some of its competitors and really caters to people who don’t get to game every day, which I for one, appreciate deeply. It’s a big part of ARC Raiders’ appeal.

With that said, for the more hardcore players, you can still voluntarily wipe your account via Expeditions, which allow you to dump a bunch of in-game resources into a fresh start. An Expedition will take your Raider off to new pastures (hard to say if they’ll be greener) by creating a project that you’re given 60 days to complete once started. You must build a caravan and stock it with supplies for your journey. Completing the project and heading off on the Expedition grants you account-level rewards that carry over to the creation of a new Raider. Expeditions and their bonuses can be stacked over time if you have that level of commitment (and time).

Ultimately, ARC Raiders is a revelation. It has brought the extraction shooter genre to a more mainstream audience with aplomb. This is not a game that asks for your life but still manages to snatch it from you anyway thanks to excellent gameplay design, punchy gunplay, meticulous world-building, and immaculate sound design. It is a watercooler game that you can either play with friends or play solo and then swap war stories with friends later. There is nothing quite like it, which is no surprise coming from the studio behind THE FINALS. Embark Studios has cemented itself as one of the best in the world at developing multiplayer shooters.