Ark: Survival Evolved Reviews

Ark: Survival Evolved is ranked in the 17th percentile of games scored on OpenCritic.
Cubed3
Top Critic
2 / 10
Jan 18, 2019

Is this the worst game on the Switch? It is very close. Ark: Survival Evolved is easily the most poorly converted game on the system, which makes it feel like it could be the worst. If things worked and it didn't look like computer generated vomit, it might have been an average survival game at best. Nothing would distinguish itself. It is unfortunate that the one aspect it has that makes it stand out is just how much of a porting disaster it has proven to be.

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2.5 / 10.0
Dec 15, 2018

Is a Switch game that can realistically only be played in docked mode actually playable? The entire point of this system is to be able to take your games with you, but ARK can't really offer that. It draws into question the sanctity of the Nintendo seal of quality. The fact that it is not only available to the public, but costs money is an insult. Don't buy ARK on Switch.

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3 / 10
Dec 11, 2018

ARK: Survival Evolved could have brought another interesting and fun game to the Nintendo Switch catalogue. Instead it's a severely distorted experience which due to its poor graphical performance, ends up not fulfilling any of its ideas correctly. As a consequence of its terrible lack of fluidity, pop ups and mistakes on the graphics department, ARK: Survival Evolved turns out to be an extremely frustrating effort that leaves no one satisfied.

Review in Portuguese | Read full review

3.8 / 10.0
Dec 6, 2018

Ark: Survival Evolved on the Switch is absolutely the worst version there is, you are better off with another version.

Review in Dutch | Read full review

4 / 10
Dec 6, 2018

Ark: Survival Evolved, in its current state, is not the best port to grace Nintendo Switch. It is, however, a proper MMORPG survival game with a deep and rewarding crafting system and the potential for some brilliant online cooperation with your fellow survivors. There's a palpable thrill to moving from simple stone tools to more advanced weaponry as you begin to master the crafting cycle, an experience no other game on Switch can offer right now. But its myriad technical problems – ranging from texture pop-in to substantial performance slowdown – mean you really are better off playing Ark on a different platform for the time being. Patches could solve some of these problems over time, but we can't help but feel this ambitious title will never run at an acceptable level on Nintendo's hybrid platform.

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40 / 100
Dec 6, 2018

Ark: Survival Evolved is an open-world survival game where you're fighting against the elements and the dinosaurs around you. There are some nice concepts implemented, but framerate and performance issues drag the game down. Unless these are somehow fixed, you might be better off steering clear.

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4 / 10
Dec 18, 2018

Even as an Ark aficionado, it's difficult not to slump in disappointment as you play the Switch rendition of what can be a fantastic title. The touch screen may allow for better control functionality as far as the other consoles go but ugly visuals and general instability don't really make up for it. Ark: Survival Evolved is and will remain one of those titles that shines brightest on PC and only there can it gain the appreciation it truly deserves.

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Cubed3
Top Critic
5 / 10
Aug 29, 2017

To say that personal frustration isn't involved would be a lie. To say that said personal frustration seems to come around because a game wasn't properly balanced between the multiplayer and single-player aspects, with it being tilted a bit too heavily towards the top dogs, would be true. As a single-player title, ARK: Survival Evolved can get quite tedious and annoying having to handle tasks meant for multiple people solo. As a multiplayer game, having to submit to survive and not have everything ruined is annoying, as well. Hopefully, a better balance can be found, but, for now, the game just feels wrong for what it's supposed to be.

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Pure Nintendo
Kira C
Top Critic
5 / 10.0
Dec 8, 2022

Surprisingly, the online play works well, and it is cool to have a portable version of ARK for playing on the go. But would I recommend it on Nintendo Switch? $49.99 is…pricey for the quality. It's worth it if you have no other way to play ARK, but only if it goes on sale. ARK: Ultimate Survivor Edition itself is a very good, if not great, game, but this port is more mediocre than the best it can be. While I like playing it on Switch as an existing fan, I'm not sure I would if I was new to the game.

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Sep 2, 2017

Studio Wildcard has built a game that feels like a rough framework for players creating their own experiences, rather than a whole, cohesive experience in and of itself. There's a lot hear to see and do: gathering, crafting a wide variety of items, taming animals, and building tribes. But it's hidden behind an elder game that teaches players nothing and a mid-game of maintenance and tedium. But there's promise here underneath the cruft and rough edges. That promise just isn't full realized yet.

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5.5 / 10.0
Dec 4, 2018

Scoring ARK: Survival Evolved is tough because while it has a substantial number of strikes against it I’m well aware that the unique experience it has to offer can help some people overlook its issues. There really is no game out there quite like it, and I do applaud the ambition the developers had in this undertaking to both initially create and then stick with trying to step by step get this title closer to being all it set out to be. All that said at the same time there’s no denying that the Switch implementation of this game has some very serious flaws and issues, and based on observing this game’s development over time there’s absolutely no guarantee that all or even any of it may be addressed satisfactorily. If you’re in love with the premise and have pretty abundant patience there’s no doubt it’s the only game of its kind, and I wish you luck with it. For everyone else though it just has too many issues from the fundamentals to the specifics of the Switch implementation to recommend with any enthusiasm.

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5.5 / 10.0
Sep 7, 2017

I want to love this game so bad, but I just can't.

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Sep 11, 2017

In a way, ARK lost itself during its development. What started as an interesting survival with dinosaurs experience turned into a PVP wasteland, uninteresting and grindy mechanics. There are some cool ideas under the hood, but not worth the time invested.

Review in Portuguese | Read full review

6 / 10.0
Sep 25, 2017

ARK: Survival Evolved is an interesting game that spent a great deal of time in Early Access / Beta. The developers used this time to try and polish a title that has long had a lot of potential - but the question I had was this: did they polish it up enough? The answer is kind of a mixed bag.

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6 / 10
Dec 19, 2018

WORTH CONSIDERING - Unless portable ARK is the number one reason for picking it up, I would recommend getting it on something other than the Switch. PC is really the best way to play it, but the Switch does offer portability, which the PC would only give you with an expensive laptop. I did have fun playing on the Switch and taking it with me when I left. But wherever you do go, remember it's an online game so you will need a decent connection to the web should you want to play on the official servers.

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Cubed3
Top Critic
6 / 10
Sep 15, 2017

To enjoy ARK: Survival Evolved you're going to have to earn it, and that's a tough sell in this day and age. For those who are willing to sweat over their controller to make even the smallest amount of headway, this is a title you should definitely give a chance. However, if the idea of suffering for a while to gain any real traction sounds horrible, steer clear. Those who survive this are going to prove they deserve to - and that's the ARK experience.

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6 / 10.0
Sep 6, 2017

ARK: Survival Evolved is a mixed-bag experience that only truly caters to those well aware of, or heavily interested in, the survival genre.

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6 / 10
Sep 8, 2017

Ark Survival Evolved is a good survival game with awesome mechanics, but it's also a technical disaster (lag, freezes, connection issues...). Such a shame!

Review in French | Read full review

GameSpot
Top Critic
6 / 10
Sep 13, 2017

Unforgiving difficulty and atmosphere are the main characteristics of dino-survival sim Ark: Survival Evolved.

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6.5 / 10.0
Sep 17, 2017

There are many resource gathering and survival based games on the market and ARK: Survival Evolved almost feels like it has officially jumped in a little too late after finally leaving Early Access. If you don’t mind spending hour after hour of doing repetitive and tedious tasks, you may find some fun in the later stages of the game. However, if that doesn’t sound worth it, ARK: Survival Evolved likely isn’t going to be for you.

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