Xbox One X Coverage: ARK: Survival Evolved Looks Fantastic

I’ve been a long-time fan of ARK: Survival Evolved, and when Xbox released users statistics for 2017, it was no surprise to me that ARK was my most played game this year. The big draw to me for ARK is the gameplay, being able to jump into a game with friends, building crazy structures, taming a legion of dinosaurs, and exploring a huge open world is more important to me than graphical superiority. For the longest time – especially when the game was still in early access – it didn’t look great, and at times, it handled even worse. Over this weekend I loaded up the new expansion for ARK, Aberration, and was blown away by how good the game looks enhanced on Xbox One X.

This title was reviewed in 4K on the Samsung Series 7 55inch Q7 UHD QLED TV! Our Review Here.

The immediate, noticeable difference to me are the games textures. Sure, the colours seemed to pop a bit more, but I wasn’t sure if that was because the expansion, Aberration, had a more varied colour pallet than the base game, or whether or not that aspects has also been improved. Until I load up one of my older single player experiences, there is no way of verifying that right now. The textures throughout, however, are vastly improved, and make the game much more enjoyable to look at then ever before.

Previously, the textures in ARK were pretty muted, with each items having a ‘blurry’ feel to it. When the game moved out of early access, the first update to the textures was done, and that did improve things a bit. If you only have the chance to play ARK on Xbox One or PlayStation 4 – as opposed to on the Xbox One X or the PS4 Pro – definitely do! The gameplay is fantastic, and even though it doesn’t quite pop as much on the standard consoles compared to the 4K releases, it still looks great.

The improvements are definitely noticeable though, and if you are looking for the best game play experience, playing on Xbox One X is definitely the way to go! Not only are textures and graphics improved, I’ve also noticed a decent improvement in load times, but initially from the main menu, and reloading after a death. Both seem to be significantly better, although I won’t be able to verify that until I attempt to load a game with more structures, dinos, etc.

You can get ARK right now, along with the season pass, by visiting the Xbox One Marketplace!