If you’ve ever wanted to play a non-pixellated Minecraft that features giant dinosaurs and zero block punching, look no further than ARK: Survival Evolved. Truth be told, I’ve been dying to try the game out myself, but I know I’ll get addicted and lost in it forever, which is why I’ve been holding out on grabbing my own copy.
My resolve is slowly crumbling though, more so now after seeing the latest content patch. As if the default green forest areas weren’t enough of a playground to explore, the developers have now gone and added mushy swamps and freezing snow biomes to the mix in the new update, patch 216.
Here’s a quick overview of both the new environments (via Destructoid):
Survivors will encounter the “Swamp”, a fetid, hazy, waterlogged expanse filled with prehistoric snakes, gators, bugs, piranhas, and the all-new “Beelzebufo” gigantic frog, which players can ride to vault over obstacles with huge leaps. Poisonous plants abound in the Swamp, but trudging through the muck is worthwhile due to the unique plant life that can be harvested for advance recipes!
Courageous Survivors can then head to the “Snow” region, where they will need to quickly don bulky fur armor to insulate themselves from the dangerous subzero temperatures. But the cold weather is not the only thing that Survivors will need to watch out for in this snowy-landscape, vicious “Dire Wolves” roam over these lands, looking for their next prey!
Although when tamed a Dire Wolf can serve as a powerful, incredibly fast friend, useful for hunting down the elegant Megaloceros “Stags” that also call this biome home. High quality resources are plentiful among the harsh natural beauty of the frozen wastes.
So yeah, not only are there new environments to explore, there are a bunch of new creatures living in each to fear, and tame too. Dammit… how have I been saying no to this game for so long? I really should just buy it.
Are you a fan? Can you vouch for the joys of riding dinosaurs around?
Last Updated: October 1, 2015
Kromas untamed
October 1, 2015 at 21:29
Lag got worse fps dropped a bit. Once they make it slightly better it will be awesome again.
HairyEwok
October 2, 2015 at 07:50
I would have thought the FPS will drop a bit, it is new textures after all so some optimizing should happen, if lucky it will be way quicker this time though. Perhaps 2 weeks?
Commander JJ of the Normandy
October 2, 2015 at 08:15
I agree. They should just tone a bit down on the adding of additional content all the time and actually improve the performance of it. It’s such a great game, but it really need some optimisation.
R4ziel
October 2, 2015 at 07:50
The new Biomes are absolutely epic!! It makes the game a survival game again, it was starting to get a bit easyish. The snow biome will kill you if you are unprepared or not high enough level to have spent some in fortitude. These Biomes really show what the devs are capable of and it bodes well for all the future patches! Iike Krimas said though, FPS took a bit of a hit, but with a few patches im sure they will have that ironed out again.
SargonTheRebornBatpanda
October 2, 2015 at 12:18
Gotta get that…
Gotta get that…
T-T-T-T-rex
T-T-T-T-rex