I absolutely love Embark Studios. Let’s start there. I hype them up constantly because their game The Finals is, in my opinion, an absolute blast—it’s mega fun, incredibly unique with its destructible environments, and high-octane gameplay that actually requires strategy and skill. It looks beautiful and somehow plays even better. And now, ARC Raiders is the other game they’re working on.
I’ve known about ARC Raiders for at least a year, ever since I first learned about Embark itself. But when I read that it was going to be an extraction shooter… well, I wasn’t exactly thrilled. I’ve never played an extraction shooter. Honestly, the only one I’ve really followed is Tarkov, and that game is so sweaty I’ve never even touched it. The last thing I want is to spend three hours grinding for loot, only to get domed by Little Timmy, fresh off a line of G Fuel after eighth-grade homeroom.
But I knew I’d eventually need to warm up to extraction shooters, because one of my other favorite studios—Bungie—is making Marathon, and that’s also an extraction shooter. And as most of you know, I’ve spent nearly 10,000 hours in the world of Destiny, so a new Bungie game always gets me excited. But again: extraction shooter. So I figured if an extraction shooter came along that wasn’t as sweaty as Tarkov and was from a dev I already trusted, I’d at least give it a shot.
Ironically, Marathon had its closed alpha last week—and no, I didn’t get invited. And while I totally understand I’m not entitled to a code from Bungie… let’s be honest, I feel like I’m entitled to a code from Bungie after the sheer amount of time and money I’ve poured into Destiny. But that’s beside the point. The point is: I did get a code from Embark for ARC Raiders. And given everything I just said about extraction shooters, I knew I had to give this one a chance.
First Impressions
My first concern hit right away: the game’s a third-person shooter. A lot of you know I’m really not into third-person perspective for competitive or PvP shooters. It’s actually the main reason I never got into Marvel Rivals (to most of your dismay). And then I found out ARC Raiders would cost $40. That bugged me a little less once I saw Marathon is also planning to be $40. Must be an extraction shooter thing—probably a way to curb cheaters.
Despite those two big caveats, I jumped into my first game yesterday during their second tech test. Below are my first impressions, after about four hours of gameplay (which you can watch on my YouTube channel here).
The Cons
Let’s start with the negatives. The biggest downside for me? No surprise—it’s the third-person perspective. After playing it, I do understand why. A lot of the traversal would be super awkward or even impossible in first person. There’s rubble everywhere, and a ton of jumping, vaulting, scrambling, and mantling. Navigating all that in first person might feel disorienting. But still… I think Apex Legends does a solid job handling mobility in first person, so I wish there were a first-person mode.
I know there won’t be, though. Third person just gives you too much of an advantage—peeking around corners, seeing around your own character, getting a wider view of your surroundings without exposing yourself. Yesterday, I both won and lost gunfights solely because of third-person peeking. I could see someone who couldn’t see me—or vice versa. Being able to pre-aim someone’s head from around a corner? Feels kinda cheap. Sure, it’s “fair” because everyone can do it… but it doesn’t feel fair when you get insta-downed by someone pre-aiming from behind a door frame you couldn’t see through.
The second issue? The weapons. I’ll chalk this up mostly to the tech test being limited, and I also only played for four hours, so maybe there were more weapons I hadn’t unlocked. But the starting loadout felt really sparse and honestly underpowered. One of my big fears with extraction shooters is that someone built different than me will just farm me for my loot. And that spiral—where they get better and better while I keep losing gear—feels brutal.
I get that’s kinda the genre’s core loop, but since ARC Raiders is my first extraction shooter, I’m fully blaming ARC Raiders for it. A few times I died, lost all my gear, and loaded in with a random loadout… and it gave me the same one-bullet break-action rifle every time, which was about as useful as my fists. The guns you could craft or buy from vendors were a bit better, but not by much. And if I ran into someone rocking an upgraded or looted weapon? I had no shot. I get that stronger players should feel rewarded—but it shouldn’t feel like I have zero chance.
The Pros
With those two gripes out of the way… everything else? Loved it.
The first thing you’ll notice is how good this game looks. The environment feels fully realized. I know Marathon’s art style is polarizing—and honestly, if I had to pick a side, I’m leaning toward “not a fan.” I know it’s still alpha, but the Roblox-meets-Apex Legends vibe doesn’t really do it for me. (That said, I do like Marathon’s indoor environments and weapons.)
But ARC Raiders? This game is gorgeous. Every inch of the map looks detailed, lived-in, and battered by whatever apocalypse they’re setting up here. There’s full character customization, full base customization, and the robots? They’re terrifying in the best way. And even with this level of visual fidelity, the performance holds up. Just like The Finals, it looks amazing and runs great—even with ray tracing at 4K.
The sound design is also incredible. Coming from Apex Legends, where half the time you can’t even hear someone sprinting up behind you with a shotgun, this was a breath of fresh air. In ARC Raiders, I could hear everything: every robot, every raider, every elevation or direction they were coming from. The sound was super detailed. I could tell if a robot was rolling across metal above me, or if a raider was rifling through a storage cabinet in the next room. Guns sounded distinct—and they even sounded different depending on the room you fired in or the surface you hit. The robots sounded legitimately terrifying. When one was stomping around outside your building? You knew it—and you were scared. And when a sniper’s bullet cracked past you from across the map? Perfection.
The characters are fantastic too. They’ve got personality, they’re fully voiced, and they give you quests that are easy to track and actually rewarding. You can customize pretty much everything—your character, your workspace—and there’s a full skill tree that lets you progress however you want. Also? There’s a rooster named Scrappy, which instantly makes this my Game of the Year.
Progression is another win. You can actually earn the premium currency you need for battle passes just by playing. And yes, there are multiple battle passes you can level up in any order, at any time, using the currency you earn naturally. I’m sure there’ll be monetization, but if it’s anything like The Finals, it won’t be predatory or FOMO-driven. Which in today’s landscape? Kinda unbelievable.
Final Thoughts
I’m still not fully sold on extraction shooters. It’s possible they’re just not for me. And combining that with the third-person perspective makes me a little worried this game might not click long-term. But here’s the thing: I’ve been thinking about playing it all day. I can’t wait to drop in again, especially with friends (since I’ve only played solo so far). I already know taking down giant robots or dealing with other raiders will be way more fun as a squad. Hopefully I can get some friends together this weekend.
Bottom line? The gameplay loop is mega fun and super addicting. I can’t wait to jump back in. If you’ve got even a passing interest in third-person shooters, PvP games, extraction shooters, or just highly polished multiplayer games, I highly recommend checking this out when you can. I think the tech test is running for a couple more weeks, and you can still request access on console or Steam.
Big thanks to Embark for sending me a code—I’m beyond excited to see how this game evolves in its final version.