"Ark: Survival Evolved" release date for the final game version is still months away. Yet, interest in the upcoming title by Studio Wildcard is skyrocketing, even more so with the recent introduction of an "Ark: Survival Evolved" DLC, the Scorched Earth expansion pack.
While the main "Ark: Survival Evolved" release date is yet to come, gamers have been playing the game's early access version. Essentially, players have been playing an incomplete version of the game, but in this case, being an incomplete game does not equate with being unsatisfying. In fact, player interest in the recent "Ark: Survival Evolve" DLC Scorched Earth is so intense that it catapulted the expansion pack into Steam's top sellers, a surprising feat for a mere DLC.
'Ark: Survival Evolved' DLC Gameplay - Scorched Earth Offer New Challenges
The new "Ark: Survival Evolved" DLC effectively doubles the area to be explored in the early access game, reports Polygon. While the core game presents a harsh environment where players have to use their ingenuity to survive, the new expansion pack ups the ante with the added concern of heat and limited water.
To conquer the new challenges posed by the new "Ark: Survival Evolved" DLC, co-creative director/founder Jesse Rapczak offers the suggestion that players need to play the game a little more smartly. He also warns of the weather factor which could significantly affect one's progress in the game such as electrical and sand storms that could impede movement and render equipments inutile.
While the new "Ark: Survival Evolved" DLC release is set in a desert island, it is far from the featureless landscape one might expect. The new expansion pack offers exciting terrains like canyons, oasis, dragon trench, mountains and badlands. In addition, players will have access to 50 new items that they can craft to aid in their survival.
'Ark: Survival Evolved' DLC Gameplay - New Creatures
The new "Ark: Survival Evolved" DLC release also introduces new creatures into the game which players can either fear or tame. Two creatures stand out in the new Scorched Earth expansion pack, the manticore and the dragon like wyverns.
Players will definitely find taming the wyverns a worthy challenge. Other creatures in the main "Ark: Survival Evolved" game can be tamed by knocking them out and feeding them their favorite food to make them friendly. However this technique would not work on the wyverns; they require to be approached at a much earlier age to be effectively tamed.
For players to enlist the services of these powerful wyverns in the new "Ark: Survival Evolved" DLC, they need to hatch the creature themselves. It will require them to steal an egg and feed the baby wyvern when they hatch with milk stolen from a mother wyvern as well. It is not small feat admits Rapczak but it also means that the dragon-like wyvern will become a very special companion.
Another exciting but at the same time fearsome new "Ark: Survival Evolved" creature is the manticore boss, which can direct its minions for both air and ground attacks. But defeating it is worth the effort, special gear await those tough enough to beat the monster.
'Ark: Survival Evolved' Release Date
The final "Ark: Survival Evolve" release date is already slated this coming December 2016 though an exact date is yet to be announced by Studio Wildcard. However, the early access version of the game as well as the "Scorched Earth" DLC is already available on Steam at $17.99 and $19.99 respectively.
