ARC Raiders

I jumped into ARC Raiders expecting a stylish looter-shooter with cool robot fights — and got that, plus a messy social experiment. Embark Studios nailed the look, sound and the feel of fighting giant machines on Windows, but the player-driven PvP meta often steals the show in the worst way.

ARC Raiders is a third-person PvPvE extraction shooter where you scavenge topside, craft in Speranza and choose whether to cooperate or stab someone in the back. Core loop: kit up in your workshop, choose loadouts (or free-loadout), go topside to fight ARC machines and other players, then try to extract with loot. The ARC enemies are the highlight — drones, hulking walkers and terrifying bosses that force tactical thinking and often teamwork. Crafting, bench upgrades and a branching skill tree (Survival, Mobility, Conditioning) let you shape playstyles from stealth looter to tanky bruiser. Maps evolve with weather and hazards, keeping runs feeling fresh. Trials and leaderboards add competitive goals while Traders send quests that reveal Speranza’s lore. Sadly, the free-loadout meta and easy spawn/camp tactics let low-effort PvP dominate many matches; players report rampant KoS and extract-camping. Embark has been responsive with patches, but exploits, spawn timing issues and the controversial expedition currency demands (skill-point gated progress) keep showing up in community feedback. Bottom line: brilliant combat and atmosphere, but your mileage depends on whether you enjoy high-risk PvPvE or prefer calmer co-op raids.

ARC Raiders is a brilliant, stylish extraction shooter with superb audio and memorable robot fights — but the current player meta can turn runs into a grind of betrayals and camping. Buy if you crave tense PvPvE and cinematic ARC encounters; wait for a PvE option or balance fixes if you prefer cooperative raids.