Jade King is Lead Features Editor for TheGamer specializing in everything from the latest reviews to in-depth interviews with people from across the industry. In her time here she has also built up a reputation for covering both animation and queer media in all forms. Previously Games Editor at Trusted Reviews, she has also written for a number of outlets on myriad different topics.
For the past two weeks, I’ve been convinced that Arc Raiders isn’t the game for me. Unless it’s Overwatch, Fortnite, or something I can play on the sofa with my friends, I tend to avoid the vast majority of modern multiplayer games because I don’t have the time or energy.
Embark Studios has been vocal about its use of AI voice acting in Arc Raiders.
Investing in a multiplayer experience nowadays means learning new mechanics, spending a significant amount of currency on a seasonal progression system, and investing valuable time that I could be pouring into more deserving games. Because of this, I never truly got into Helldivers 2 last year, it just didn’t seem worth it when I’d rather play narrative-driven gems by my lonesome.
But after finally biting the bullet and jumping into Arc Raiders, I’m surprisingly smitten. There is something devilishly compelling about its extraction shooter gameplay loop and how it also works wonderfully whether you’re ascending to the surface on your own or part of a squad. The possibilities seem endless, and I’m only just getting started.
Arc Raiders Is Helping The Extraction Shooter Go Mainstream
Embark Studios doesn’t explain much during the opening moments of Arc Raiders. After its brief cinematic, you are thrust into a brief gameplay section in which you learn to loot, use a few essential items, and fire your weapons at enemies. Most of these work in the same way as similar games like Fortnite or PUBG, yet there is something wonderfully oppressive about the world here and how players are expected to navigate it.
The key isn’t to survive an oncoming storm or eliminate every single living being you come across, but to loot valuable resources and make your way back to Speranza alive and well. As someone who refuses to touch Escape From Tarkov with a 10-foot pole and rarely ever engages with the extraction shooter elements of The Division, all of this is new to me.
Despite my praise for Arc Raiders throughout this piece, it’s still important that we recognise and critique its use of AI voice acting and other such practices. These will be viewed as part of its legacy, regardless of how successful the game becomes.
Once I pivoted away from a mindset of hostility and approached my early matches of Arc Raiders as a curious yet hardened negotiator, I began to appreciate exactly what it’s going for. Knowing this, it wasn’t long until I made a friend. After spending a few minutes moving through an abandoned industrial complex, I stumbled across a large, rusting set of stairs. I then heard a voice, a woman begging me not to shoot before asking whether I wanted to team up rather than kill one another. I fiddled with the emote wheel before striking up this new friendship that would take us right to the finish line.
Sadly, after jumping on the spot for a few seconds and becoming apocalyptic besties, an explosion rang out from overhead, followed by a barrage of gunfire. A solo player tried to start a fight, likely not realising he had two enemies to deal with this time around. I hurled smoke grenades onto the stairs, allowing us to rush forward and ambush this fool before he could down either of us. Once at the top, my new best friend laid down covering fire while I sprinted around the rooftop and took him out from behind.
Every Single Arc Raiders Match Has Its Own Story
This poor soul begged us to revive him as I drew closer, likely realising he had made a massive mistake and didn’t want to lose his precious loot. I’m no pushover, however, so I killed him on the spot before embarking on a brief journey through nearby buildings with my companion. I was clearly the least experienced, so I spent the entire match following her lead as we killed a few robots, looted their corpses, and made our way to the nearby elevator. It was only then that I realised how the gameplay loop in Arc Raiders is meant to work. You can be an ass who kills everyone they come across in order to survive, but there is more to be gained from working together with impromptu allies like I had.
In my next match, I spared a fellow raider only to watch them sprint a few dozen meters, only to be annihilated by a rocket launcher, while in the next, I was sniped from afar but managed to crawl into an open elevator and return to base intact. Keeping all of your loot seems to be a primary source of tension, and will likely only become more and more crucial as I progress and earn better equipment. I’ve no idea how the giant robots I’ve seen in the trailers come to play a role, but I have to imagine the quests I’m completing will make that clear in due time.
Every match is a story, and that is easily Arc Raiders’ greatest strength. Other shooters of this ilk have the same potential for anecdotes, but by twisting the objective into trying your best to escape instead of killing everyone in sight, it gives rise to a desire to survive no matter the cost. Combine this with a strong progression system and a great sense of place within the game world, and it’s easy to see why it’s been such a success.
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Time will tell whether I actually stick with Arc Raiders in the months to come, but I’m already glad I decided to put my preconceptions aside and give it a shot. Making friends amidst a big, bad world and waiting for the inevitable betrayal has already been so much fun.
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Smitten is a great way to put it, I’m not usually an extraction fan either but it captured me quickly and hasn’t let go, even friends I wouldn’t normally see on such a game joining me and loving it too.
2025-11-16 17:50:19
“This poor soul begged us to revive him as I drew closer, likely realising he had made a massive mistake and didn’t want to lose his precious loot. I’m no pushover, however, so I killed him on the spot before embarking on a brief journey through nearby buildings with my companion” this part has me in tears reading this lol. one of us, one of us, one of us.
2025-11-17 11:22:59
I’m sorry why are reviewers so hungry up on the AI voices the actors gave permission.The game is fantastic and nobody playing is bothered about the voices! See you topside.
2025-11-19 00:27:57
I wish people would get over the AI voices thing.
AI isn’t going anywhere, and computer generated voices have been used all over the place since the 1960’s.
Now suddenly it’s a crazy offense to use it, because it’s better than it used to be, as if that wasn’t the natural progression.
2025-11-17 06:43:54
It sounds bad and hurts people for very little difference in the bottom line, that’s why almost no other company uses it
2025-11-17 12:44:34
agreed. a bunch of telegraph operators losing their minds over the telephone.
2025-11-17 22:00:36
