ARC Raiders’ Best Feature Is Its Biggest Gain and Also Its Biggest Loss

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Okay, so everyone’s been talking about ARC Raiders since it came out, and honestly, the thing that really stuck with me was just how immersive it is. I still remember my first match – even though I totally wiped out! – because it just pulls you right into the world. Everything, from what you see and hear to even the stressful moments, makes it a really unforgettable experience. But here’s the weird part: that very thing that made it so great is now kinda dividing players. It’s not that people disagree it’s immersive, it’s just that we all have different ideas about how to best experience it.

I’ve been following ARC Raiders and it’s interesting – some people really like it as it is, with both player-versus-environment and player-versus-player elements. But a lot of us are hoping for a mode where you can just focus on the environment and team up without worrying about other players. It’s been the most requested feature since the game came out, and honestly, I think it’s because the game world is so engaging! If ARC Raiders didn’t pull you in so much, I doubt we’d be asking for a purely cooperative experience as strongly – or even at all.

ARC Raiders’ Best Feature Is Its Immersion

Even before the action starts in ARC Raiders, the game’s world immediately draws you in. When you first enter the Dam Battlegrounds, you’re struck by a nearly complete silence, which creates a strong sense of tension. You’re constantly on edge, unsure when enemies will attack. Soon, distant explosions begin, and you can hear the massive ARCs – towering over human size – moving around on patrol. These elements all combine to create a truly immersive experience in ARC Raiders.

Before its release, ARC Raiders was already praised by playtesters for its immersive qualities. A detailed analysis shared on Reddit by kimblarsen explained why ARC Raiders feels more immersive than many other shooting games. The analysis, based on feedback from 130 players in the second tech test, revealed that players specifically highlighted the game’s sound design, world-building, weather effects, and intelligent AI as key factors making the world feel realistic, threatening, and memorable. However, since the feedback was collected before the game launched, many commenters expressed skepticism that the final product would live up to the hype.

Despite initial expectations, players quickly discovered that the game was surprisingly immersive. Many, like a Reddit user named Evo_8, commented on how realistic the robots in ARC Raiders felt, which significantly contributed to the game’s frightening atmosphere. Embark Studios confirmed this in their docuseries, explaining how they specifically designed the robots to behave like real machines. The game’s immersive quality is also boosted by its environment – the visuals and sound work together to create a world that feels alive, dangerous, and believable.

ARC Raiders’ Immersion Fuels the Demand for a PvE Mode

I’ve been following ARC Raiders pretty closely, and it’s honestly been a bit of a rollercoaster. The thing that initially drew me in – how immersive the game is – is now causing a huge rift in the community. Basically, some of us are really hoping for a purely PvE mode where we can just focus on the story and world without worrying about other players. But others are strongly against that, wanting the developers to stick to their vision and telling us to just get better at the PvP. It’s not unusual for games with player-versus-player combat to have disagreements, but this feels particularly intense in ARC Raiders, and I think it all comes down to how convincingly the game pulls you into its world.

Some players feel that player-versus-player combat (PvP) actually breaks the immersive experience of the game, as unexpected conflicts with others take them out of the game world. One player on Reddit, Primary-Kangaroo, even stated that PvP ruins the immersion, describing ARC Raiders as essentially a single-player game played alongside others. While this comment was likely meant as a humorous exaggeration, other players, like Disastrous_Mud_8040, have seriously requested a player-versus-environment (PvE) mode for the game.

User Disastrous_Mud_8040 argues for a PvE mode in ARC Raiders, drawing on their experience with games like Escape From Tarkov and The Division. They believe ARC Raiders has strong potential for immersive world-building, atmosphere, and storytelling, but these qualities are currently lost in the game’s focus on collecting loot and escaping. Disastrous_Mud_8040 suggests a PvE mode would allow players to truly experience and appreciate the world the developers have created, making it the central focus of the game.

Some players believe that player-versus-player (PvP) combat actually enhances the immersive experience in ARC Raiders. They argue it adds to the tension typical of extraction shooters and helps the game stand out within the genre. One Reddit user, Substantial-Try-6219, recently pointed out the apparent contradiction of enjoying the game’s immersive world but objecting to other players behaving realistically within it. They questioned why players who embrace the “raider” role – which inherently involves taking from others – would then criticize those who actually do take from other players.

Image via Embark Studios

Embark seems to share this view, explaining in a recent discussion about ARC Raiders that the game originally started as a purely player-versus-environment (PvE) experience. However, they switched to a player-versus-environment-versus-player (PvPvE) model because the initial approach wasn’t working. According to Executive Producer Aleksander Grondal, they wanted to create a more dynamic world than just fighting robots, feeling that the game lacked excitement without the added challenge of other players.

A discussion on Substantial-Try-6219’s thread highlighted differing opinions about the story in ARC Raiders. Some players pointed out inconsistencies in the game’s logic – why people would cooperate underground but fight on the surface. Others argued that desperate situations can lead to unpredictable behavior. Ultimately, these disagreements come down to how each player experiences the game’s world, and it’s become a major point of debate among players more than a month after the game launched.

ARC Raiders’ Immersion Is Both Its Greatest Strength and Biggest Fault Line

Image via Embark Studios

The core of the debate surrounding ARC Raiders is how well the game pulls players into its world. It’s immersive enough that people start feeling present in the game, rather than focusing on how it works. This leads to different expectations: some players want constant threats from other Raiders to increase the tension, while others prefer to explore and experience the world peacefully. The fact that people are arguing about this at all proves just how strong the game’s immersion is. It’s ironic that the very thing that makes ARC Raiders special – its ability to draw players in – is also causing division within its community, and this contradiction will likely be a defining characteristic of the game for a long time.

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2025-12-16 06:07