ARK Park
Release Date: March 22, 2018
Adventure, FPP, dinosaurs, Meta Quest / Oculus, PlayStation VR, exploration games, SteamVR, VR, singleplayer
OpenCritic
Steam
An exploration game designed exclusively for Virtual Reality headgear – ARK Park takes the players to a futuristic Jurassic Park clone. The action of the game includes references to the popular online survival game called ARK: Survival Evolved. In the game, one can observe the natural habitat of dinosaurs, and even ride the gigantic reptiles.
ARK Park is an exploration game designed exclusively for Virtual Reality headgear. The action of the game includes references to the popular online survival game called ARK: Survival Evolved. Developed by Peacock Studio in cooperation with Studio Wildcard, ARK Park, among other platforms, is available on PC and PS4.
Mechanics
ARK Park takes players to a near future, in which humans are capable of building a futuristic Jurassic park. Gameplay revolves around exploring the dinosaurs’ natural habitat – one can observe them while walking or riding a gigantic reptile. The locations one gets to explore are much diversified – there is a tropical jungle, snow-capped mountain peaks, and even vast steppes. During his journey, a player can use a camera to take pictures of spectacular landscapes and (sometimes) the enormous creatures, solve relatively simple puzzles, and learn about over 100 dinosaur species – their genes serve as collectibles including additional information on the given species available in the park’s main hall.
Moreover, ARK Park introduces a zoo, in which one can play with the animals the genes of which he has acquired – this means stroking, feeding, and even painting them. Similarly to the action-focused original game, a player observes the action from the first-person perspective. Nonetheless, unlike ARK: Survival Evolved, the game described herein does not feature a combat system.
Technical aspects
ARK Park for PC and PS4 requires a Virtual Reality headgear in order to work. The game is based on Unreal Engine 4, thus the visuals featured in the game are of high quality – a player is bound to appreciate both the detailed vegetation and the polished dinosaur models. Moreover, players who own ARK: Survival Evolved can use the option to import the reptiles they have acquired in the game.
Last updated on September 9, 2017
Videos and Screens
[2:41] ARK Park trailer
GameOctane: by Ryan Welch
For younger gamers, Ark Park is a nice explorative VR game. There are many dinosaurs to see and breed for your park. For older gamers, the game is lacking in things to do and is not as immersive as I would like.
Gaming Nexus: 6.5 / 10 by Dave Gamble
The pieces were all in place for ARK Park to be something brand new and highly compelling in the VR market, but fails to maximize on the opportunity. While it can be spectacular to look at, the gaming elements just feel tacked on as if there was a checklist of features to build in, whether they made sense or not.
Cubed3: 3 / 10 by Drew Hurley
So many VR games are still just tech demos, sadly, but at least when they are just tech demos they have redeeming features. The prospect of ARK Park gave a chance for a VR experience that would show some stunning interactive experiences. It failed… and it fails in almost every area. It tries to adapt each key element of ARK: Survival Evolved and instead gives a horrible pale imitation of each, isolating each into a little slice, which doesn't live up to - or even represent - the original. The gathering is grindy, the crafting unrewarding, and the combat boring and repetitive. Not to mention as a VR game it suffers, too, as the controls are awkward, plus the price of the game is too high and the visuals lacklustre. The developer was so preoccupied with whether it could, that it didn't stop to think if it should.
6
GAMES
in ARK Game Series
Game Series
ARK Series
A series of open-world survival games developed by independent American team Studio Wildcard. The first installment of the series, i.e. ARK: Survival Evolved, debuted in 2017 on PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. In time, the title also hit the Nintendo Switch console, and also lived to see a conversion for mobile devices.
6 video games
ARK Park Summary
Platforms:
PC Windows
PlayStation 4
Developer: Peacock Studio
Publisher: Studio Wildcard
ARK Park System Requirements
PC / Windows
Minimum: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0 GHz, 16 GB RAM, graphic card 4 GB GeForce GTX 970 or better, 30 GB HDD Windows 7/8/10
Recommended: Intel Core i7-5960X 3.0 GHz, 16 GB RAM, graphic card 8 GB GeForce GTX 1080 or better, 25 GB HDD, Windows 7/8/10