ARC Raiders Impressions: 3 Hours in Embark’s PvPvE Extraction Shooter Changed My Mind

I Thought I’d Bounce Off ARC Raiders – Three Hours Proved Me Wrong

ARC Raiders was on my “probably not for me” list. Another third-person extraction shooter in 2025? Hard pass – or so I assumed. Then Embark Studios ran its Server Slam beta on October 17-19, pulling a peak of 189,668 players on Steam according to SteamDB, and I put in three hours across Spaceport, Buried City, and Blue Gate with a squad of three. I came out with adrenaline shakes, a backpack full of stories, and a much less cynical take.

The pitch is simple but punchy: drop as a three‑person team into a post‑apocalyptic surface crawling with ARC machines while other human squads prowl the same space. Scavenge, complete mini‑objectives, avoid detection or take the fight, and extract before the zone chews you up. Die, and everything you carried in and looted is gone. You still earn XP for a three‑branch talent tree (Survival, Mobility, Endurance), and yes, your bizarre little companion chicken sends you back to the hideout with just enough scraps to craft basics for the next run. It’s PvPvE extraction with just enough weirdness to feel distinct.

Key Takeaways

• The PvPvE tension is legit: ARC patrols plus opportunistic squads create constant risk-reward decisions.
• Embark’s gunfeel and vertical map design impress, but repetition crept in across sessions.
• Premium pricing (base €40, deluxe €60) raises the bar for content cadence and onboarding.
• Steep early curve: detection by ARC units can snowball, and PvP punishes hesitation.

Breaking Down the Loop: PvPvE That Actually Bites

ARC Raiders works because it embraces chaos without forgetting clarity. Patrol patterns, audible cues, and sightlines communicate danger well enough that when you wipe, it usually feels earned. The ARC units aren’t bullet-sponge jokes; once they flag you, the pressure escalates fast. We had raids where we moved like ghosts, threading alleys and culverts, and others where one noisy firefight spiraled into a desperate dash for an extraction rope while another team shadowed us like vultures.

The social texture sells it. In one run, a neighboring squad helped us clear a heavy ARC, then ambushed us while we divvied up parts two minutes later. Is it toxic? Not really – it’s the extraction deal you accept when you load into a PvPvE map. Those little betrayals and triumphs are why the genre sticks. ARC Raiders nails that rollercoaster, then adds flavor with traversal and verticality: ducking into subways, stairwells, and broken high-rises; vaulting busted bridges; using elevation to break line of sight. It’s not The Finals-level spectacle, but you can feel Embark’s chops in movement and netcode that holds up when the screen goes loud.

Progression helps soften failure. Even after eating dirt, XP lets you nudge a build toward more stamina, faster movement, or better sustain. It’s not a deep RPG system (yet), but it rewards the “one more run” itch. The oddball loot chicken delivering enough parts to craft a pistol or med supplies after a loss is a smart quality-of-life touch that stops full reset despair without killing the sting.

Why This Matters Now

Extraction is crowded but unsettled. Escape from Tarkov defined the hardcore end, The Cycle: Frontier tried a friendlier free-to-play spin and folded, Call of Duty flirted with DMZ then shifted focus, and Bungie’s Marathon remains a question mark. There’s room for a polished, readable, squad-first take that sits between brutal sim and casual looter. Embark already proved with The Finals that it can ship slick shooting and a live-service cadence; ARC Raiders is its shot at making PvPvE feel approachable without losing edge.

The catch: ARC Raiders isn’t free-to-play. At €40 for the base edition (and €60 for deluxe), it needs to deliver meaningful variety, regular updates, and a steady flow of goals beyond “extract, craft, repeat.” That price tag instantly shifts expectations from “neat beta surprise” to “is this worth replacing my current weekly squad game?”

What Needs Work Before I Throw Down €40

Map repetition cropped up quickly. Even with three locations, my squad gravitated to the same neighborhoods and routes, which dulled discovery. That’s solvable with spawn logic tweaks, more points of interest, and broader objective variety. Onboarding also needs love: the penalty for detection by ARC units is steep, and early PvP losses feel snowbally. Clearer intel tools, better audio mixing for threat priority, and a stronger starter kit could keep newcomers from tapping out after a bad first hour.

Balance-wise, the time-to-kill in PvP swings brutal fast depending on loadout and angle. That risk belongs in extraction, but if the meta calcifies around a tiny set of optimal builds, the emergent chaos dies. Embark will need vigilant tuning, anti-cheat that’s proactive, and a roadmap that injects fresh kit and ARC behaviors without power creep. And while trios are the sweet spot, the game should communicate whether duos/solos have tailored pacing or matchmaking considerations — getting steamrolled as a short-handed team is not a great first impression.

The Gamer’s Perspective

ARC Raiders won me over because the highs are memorable and the lows feel like lessons. It’s tense, readable, and occasionally gorgeous — those skyline vistas hit harder when you’re skulking through ruins with one stim left and a bag of rare parts. If you’ve got two friends and the patience to learn the rhythm, this absolutely slaps. If you want solo-friendly, low-stress looting, the extraction tax here may feel steep.

TL;DR

ARC Raiders’ Server Slam showed a confident PvPvE loop with sharp gunfeel, nasty AI escalation, and great squad stories. The premium price raises expectations for variety and support, but if Embark sustains content and smooths the early curve, this could be the extraction game that sticks.