Review – ARC Raiders – Gamerview

Judgment day took place in but instead of Skynet, ARC machines devastated and dominated the Earth. The beautiful cities of the Rust Belt (inspired by a futuristic Italy) now lie in ruins; the urban sound gave way to the metallic noises of unstoppable and hostile robots. Humanity lives in the depths, in underground shelters like Speranza. Keeping this place running requires constant missions to hostile soil, and it is the Raiders who set out on this challenging – and, at the same time, very exciting – journey.

When the surface calls, it is not out of hope, it is out of necessity. This extraction game from Embark Studios revives that classic sci-fi feeling where the gray sky and the sound of machines echo louder than any human scream. It’s hard not to think of The Terminator – a post-apocalyptic world where robots have inherited the planet and we, the resistance, insist on returning to the surface.

Joining the resistance

ARC Raiders is a shooter that can be cooperative, but its main objective is not to beat the machines to the point of dominating the surface. The focus is on finding materials that guarantee survival underground and, at the same time, helping yourself by becoming stronger and better equipped. From the beginning, the question arises as to what the players’ reaction will be in this environment. The main enemies are machines, but the greatest danger can come from humans themselves: PvP is intense and turns the world into something even more unpredictable and hostile.

You can play alone or in groups of up to three people, assembling a team to explore, fight, collect and, if you have time, extract the loot before the world consumes you. Playing alone doesn’t mean the game is offline: in fact, you join a shared online session, where other players can join you or try to eliminate you. That said, the game requires an online subscription on consoles (PS Plus or Game Pass) to access the full content. You can barely enter the home menu without first validating this access – there could well be a single player mode, I have the impression that it would be just as good.

Each visit to the surface is a race against the inevitable: the map is vast, the enemies are relentless, and each action requires close attention. When looting cars, containers or breaking down doors, the sound can give away your position. Machines or other players can eliminate you – and dying means losing everything. This completely changes the player’s attitude: it’s not just about shooting, but about being cautious, observing the environment and choosing the right battles. The result is genuine tension in each match.

Despite the constant threat of robots, ARC Raiders is not a horror game. Quite the opposite – it brings together hilarious moments, the kind that make you lose your seriousness in seconds. This is due to proximity chat and the players’ free will. Encountering other Raiders doesn’t always mean conflict: sometimes it’s just another nomad trying to survive, and unlikely partnerships can be born from these encounters.

During my sessions, what brought the most laughter were the conversations brought together by the Brazilian community. The negotiations, the requests not to shoot, the local accents and slang – all of this makes the matches lighter, more human, and masks some of the weight that the game naturally carries. It’s a detail that brings players closer together and gives charisma to the desolate world, drawing you in more and more.

On the other hand, there are the ruthless looters, willing to eliminate anyone without mercy, including beginners. It’s part of the online experience, of course, but it can generate frustration – especially for those who are new to the genre. It’s a shame, because the proposal is too fun to get lost in it.

In any case, ARC Raiders offers crossplay between PS5, Xbox Series and PC, and also cross-save, allowing progress to be carried between platforms. This expands the possibilities for gathering friends, setting up fixed groups and exploring collaboratively.

Life underground in ARC Raiders

To do well in ARC Raiders, you need to be prepared. The underground base functions as an activity hub, with a sense of community: characters exchange parts, build improvised weapons and offer upgrades to costumes and equipment. In the accommodation, you can customize your character, manage inventory, improve weapons and even enjoy the strange presence of a rooster companion who adds a touch of humor and lightness to a world that has forgotten what is alive.

The rooster is not just a pet: it can be trained to help with small gatherings and accelerate resource gain. In addition, the game has a skill tree: as you level up, you unlock improvements that increase resistance, agility, stealth and general efficiency in missions.

The Speranza community offers numerous tasks: collecting items, searching for samples, recycling and much more. Each mission enables a checklist of activities, and it is not always possible to complete them in a single session – especially because failure or death can make you return to the shelter empty-handed.

ARC Raiders offers the option of free and random equipment in each match, it is useful for beginners who don’t already have many items and ensures that you don’t level up without minimum equipment. This makes the game more accessible – just don’t expect the best weapons.

Your stay on the surface lasts a maximum of 30 minutes. During this time, it is necessary to collect resources, face enemies, form alliances or betray those who trust too much. The elevators that lead back underground have different closing times, and missing one of them could cost you the entire exploration. This constant clock brings a sense of urgency that is the soul of the game.

Like any good shooter, ARC Raiders offers a varied arsenal: rifles, shotguns, electromagnetic cannons, energy weapons, grenades, traps and even zip lines. The controls work very responsively and agilely, making combat extremely fluid. The backpack, however, is limited so you can’t carry as many weapons.

Customizations are also highlighted. Raider Decks function as rewards that offer rare items and cosmetics; some free, others paid for with Raider Tokens, the game’s premium currency. To open the contents of a Deck, you must spend Cred, points obtained by completing challenges. This mechanic keeps the risk and reward cycle alive, although it also brings in microtransactions. It remains to be seen whether we will have a balance between paid and free items.

A beautiful devastated world

Some decisions by Embark make the world of ARC Raiders even more authentic, such as removing enemies’ health bars – damage is felt, not measured. Sound, spark and visual impact replace any numerical indicator. The studio also uses machine learning to animate the behavior of damaged robots, making them react naturally to injuries and imbalances. It is technology at the service of immersion, reinforcing the identity of a world that wants to appear alive, not programmed. Honestly, it’s absurd how unpredictable and unique this makes robots.

And the soundtrack isn’t far behind. She doesn’t try to command the action, instead, she talks to the silence, the wind and the sound of metal. In many moments, it is impossible not to get goosebumps: there are inspirations coming from the composer Vangelis (in Blade Runner) resulting in nostalgia and tension. , is available on streaming platforms and, outside of the game, remains an immersive experience in its own right.

Visually, ARC Raiders mixes realism with retro-futuristic industrial design. The ruins are reminiscent, and the Raiders’ costumes reinforce this elegant and decadent aesthetic at the same time. On the PS5 Slim, the game looks beautiful, with light and particle effects that make it difficult not to stop and admire the scenery – even when there is a colossal robot filling the entire horizon.

It’s worth mentioning that ARC Raiders is in no rush to deliver everything at once. The available maps are released little by little, according to your progress, and Embark is already planning new events and areas in the future. This gives the game the feeling of a living, constantly changing world that grows alongside the community.

In the end, ARC Raiders is, yes, an extraction game – but it would be unfair to reduce it to that. It is similar to titles like Escape from Tarkov and The Division, but its rhythm is different. Combat is not just a spectacle of explosions, but a mix between silence and survival. Each step can betray your position and each shot is a moral decision.

The game’s devastated atmosphere raises that science fiction question: What is left of humanity when the world no longer belongs to us? This permeates each of the game’s features and details.

On the surface dominated by machines, the player is just a vestige of civilization. Up there, everything is hostile, everything vibrates with the weight of iron, but it is still irresistible to return. Maybe for survival. Maybe out of nostalgia. In the end, all of this is the result of beautiful design and a balanced rhythm that makes me highly recommend enlisting in Speranza.