ark video game review

Well now, let me tell ya ’bout this here game, Ark, they call it. Folks been yappin’ about it, so I figured I’d give it a whirl. Don’t know much ’bout these fancy video games, but this one, it’s got dinosaurs, ya hear? Dinosaurs! Big ones, small ones, some with feathers, some without. Reminds me of them old picture books my grandpappy used to show me.

What’s this Ark thing all about?

So, you start out with nothin’, just your bare hands and a whole lotta wilderness. It’s like bein’ dropped in the middle of nowhere, ‘cept with dinosaurs bigger than any cow I ever seen. You gotta hustle, find some food, build yourself a shelter. First night, I slept under a rock, scared outta my wits, thinkin’ somethin’ was gonna chomp on me. Next day, I learned to punch some trees, get some wood, make a little shack. Nothin’ fancy, just enough to keep the rain off.

Then comes the fun part, the dinosaur part. You can tame ’em, you know? Knock ’em out with a slingshot or somethin’ and feed ’em berries till they like ya. Then you got yourself a dino-pet! I got me a big ol’ triceratops, named him Bessie. She’s a good girl, carries all my stuff and smashes rocks for me. Makes gettin’ around a whole lot easier than walkin’, let me tell ya.

• Buildin’ stuff: You can build all sorts of things, houses, fences, even fancy machines I don’t understand. It’s like bein’ a carpenter and a farmer all rolled into one.
• Tamin’ dinos: This is the best part, if you ask me. Ridin’ around on a giant lizard, what’s not to like? You can even breed ’em, make baby dinos!
• Fightin’ for your life: Them dinos ain’t always friendly, and there’s other critters out there too, giant spiders and such. You gotta be ready to fight, or run real fast.

Now, I ain’t played with other folks, but I hear you can. Seems like a lot of fuss to me, sharin’ your dinos and all. I like doin’ things at my own pace. When I gotta go make supper, I just quit the game and everything stays put. No rush, no worryin’ ’bout someone stealin’ my berries. That’s what they call ‘single player,’ I think. It suits me just fine.

This game, it ain’t easy. You die a lot. A whole lot. Sometimes a raptor gets ya, sometimes you fall off a cliff, sometimes you just starve to death ’cause you can’t find any food. But you just start over, learn from your mistakes. It’s like life, I guess. You gotta keep pickin’ yourself up and tryin’ again.

Is it worth the money?

Well, I ain’t got much money to spare, but this game, it kept me entertained for a good long while. If you like dinosaurs and buildin’ things, and you don’t mind a bit of a challenge, then yeah, I’d say it’s worth it. Just don’t expect it to be easy. And watch out for them raptors, they’re sneaky little buggers.

I played it on this here “Pee See” thing my grandson set up for me. He says it’s on somethin’ called “Xbox” too, whatever that is. Kids these days with their fancy gadgets. But the game’s the same, I reckon, dinosaurs and buildin’ and all that.

Final Thoughts

So, there you have it. My two cents on this Ark game. It’s fun, it’s frustrating, it’s got dinosaurs. What more could you want? Now, if you’ll excuse me, I gotta go feed Bessie. She gets cranky if she don’t get her berries.

One more thing I almost forgot. You can ride them flying dinos. Yeah you heard that right, fly in the air like a bird. Took me a while to figure that one out but once I did, oh boy, it was a game changer. Seein’ the whole world from up high it’s something special. You can spot good places to build a house or find rare dinos. Just be careful not to fly too high or you might fall off. And don’t run out of stamina mid-air else you gonna fall down like a rock.

And another thing, the game is huge. There’s all sorts of different places to explore, jungles and deserts and mountains and even underwater caves. I ain’t seen it all yet, and I’ve been playin’ for weeks. Always somethin’ new to discover, some new dino to tame.

One last piece of advice, don’t be afraid to experiment. Try different things, see what works, see what don’t. That’s half the fun of it, figurin’ things out on your own. And if you get stuck, there’s always the internet, I hear. My grandson showed me how to look up stuff, but I still prefer to do it my own way, even if it takes me a bit longer. That’s the way we always done things ’round here, learn by doin’. And that’s how you learn to survive in Ark too.

Tags: ARK, Survival Game, Dinosaur, Building, Taming, Single Player, PC Game, Xbox, Game Review