Dinosaur survival game Ark: Survival Evolved has been on a long and eventful six-year journey, growing from a rough-around-the-edges Early Access game to one of the most successful survival games ever.
And judging by the launch trailer for Ark: Genesis - Part 2—which is out today and marks the final installment before Ark 2 releases sometime next year—that journey is coming to an extremely busy and dramatic end.
There's so much crammed into the launch trailer I don't quite know where to start, but it includes:
- Interstellar space travel
- RTS gameplay (!)
- A survivor doing a flip on a flying windsurfing board
- A giant air-gliding platypus
- Plants that swallow you whole
- A critter that can latch onto your head and control your mind
- The voice talents of Dr. Who's David Tennant
- A giant stomach to explore
- Vin Diesel clad only in underpants emerging from a pod
- Canoes
I guess I've lost the thread of Ark's story a bit—back when I played it, Ark was about riding giant frogs, building ugly forts, pooping, and brutally pummeling dinosaurs unconscious and then stuffing food into them until they loved you. But there's clearly a lot more going on these days.
Genesis - Part 2 features Ark's largest ever map, features new missions and creatures, brings the wildly rambling sci-fi story to a conclusion, and leads into the beginning of Ark 2, which features Vin Diesel—not just as an actor but as a member of Studio Wildcard's development team. (His title, wonderfully, is President of Creative Convergence.)
"As you brave the many dangers of this new world, you’ll gain access to powerful new tools to aid you," says Studio Wildcard about Genesis - Part 2. "You’ll learn how to place remote cameras, pull off tricks with a floating skateboard-like Hoversail, take care of your eggs with the high-tech Incubator, shoot arrows made of pure energy with the Tek Bow, even engage in a Real Time Strategy command mode within the new Exo-Mek—and far, far more!"
With all that going on in Genesis Part 2, I'm starting to wonder what's left for Ark 2.
Genesis - Part 2 is now out on Steam and the Epic Games Store as part of the Genesis Season Pass, which costs $30. It's also included in Ark's Ultimate Survivor Edition, which includes the base game and every last scrap of DLC, for $60.
