Ark: Survival Evolved's launch trailer meets otter friend
The cutest friend
Sandbox craft-o-survival mega-hit Ark: Survival Evolved [official site] stomps to a full launch next week, after two years in early access. After that long, ah, sure, schedules will get a little jumbled. So here's the launch trailer a few days early, which I'm told reveals some of the mystery of why loads of folks are thrown onto an island filled with dinosaurs, mythical animals, spaceman technology, and dinosaurs augmented with spaceman technology. The answer, apparently, is not "Because it's p. dang cool to have a load of dinosaurs stomping around."
No, it's because... the borgified Rachni out Mass Effect are making edutainment software and we're helping them test some bits with simulations? That's probably not the official interpretation. Developers Studio Wildcard said in today's announcement that the story will unfold across post-launch updates:
"ARK will continue to grow with new content at launch and beyond as we continue to have a behemoth amount of additional gameplay, creatures, and story elements in the works. The adventure has truly only just begun!
"With every Explorer Note you've discovered on the Island a piece of the story has come along with it. Every artifact, every apex drops, every boss battle, it has all been leading up to this moment. Now it's time to understand the bigger picture and begin to discover why every Survivor wakes up on the beach with a diamond shaped implant in their arm.
"Are you ready for what's in store? Will you be strong enough to take on the challenges ahead? Do you, your tribe, and your army have what it takes to reach Ascension? Only time will tell..."
Are you sure it's not because it's p. dang cool to have a load of dinosaurs stomping around?
That trailer also introduces two new animal friends, the otter and phoenix. Having once spent several hours at an otter sanctuary watching the sweethearts juggle pebbles, yes, absolutely I would like to befriend one and have it find pearls.
Ark: Survival Evolved launches on August 29th. Its full price is -- and has been for a while -- £49.99/59,99€/$59.99.