ARC Raiders doesn’t arrive quietly. From the moment you hit “deploy,” you can tell it’s gunning to be more than a standard extraction shooter. It’s messy, sprawling, intelligent in parts, flawed in others, and for everything that works, there’s a moment that reminds you of just how unforgiving this type of game can get.

First Impressions & Core Feel



The core loop of ARC Raiders hits differently: you drop in with a squad (or solo, if you’re brave), scavenge, fight robots (the “ARC” threat), maybe run into other players, and (if you make it out) try to scrape together something from the haul. What stands out early is how accessible they’ve made that loop. You don’t need the perfect loot to participate. The free loadouts / "vanilla kit" system means you can enter a raid without shelling out for high-tier gear. That takes away a huge psychological barrier: you’re not gambling your entire identity or progress each run. That’s a big plus for me as someone wary of extraction-loot loss mechanics. Translation - I HATE losing my loud-out to chaos-goblin players who just want to watch the world burn.

You don’t need the perfect loot to participate. The free loadouts / "vanilla kit" system means you can enter a raid without shelling out for high-tier gear.

Combat and movement also lean into instinct more than simulation. On PC (mouse and keyboard) shooting feels clean, precise, and reactive. Aiming, positioning, reacting to threats (robot and human), all feel tight enough that even an intense firefight has a sense of rhythm. On controller, it’s usable but clearly less optimal; fights feel more sluggish and less responsive. If I were to recommend how to play this game, mouse/keyboard is ultimately the way to go.



Visually and atmospherically, ARC Raiders nails it: gritty post-apocalyptic sci-fi with a retro-futuristic polish. The world design, environment variety, enemy robot models/A.I., and sound design all combine for a game that rarely feels generic. NPC robotic enemies are threatening enough to make you check corners and make you think twice about firing off a shot to give your position away. The map design and loot placement make extraction runs feel tense in a good way.

Progression & Mechanics

ARC Raiders offers more than “shoot and run.” There’s a progression/skill-tree or bench-upgrade system, crafting/blueprints, and a sense of gradual growth. Unlocking blueprints, improving gear reliability, crafting better loadouts - there is a feeling of development over time.

That said, it’s not a hyper-deep RPG tree. It feels purposeful, but sandbox-lite compared to a full-blown loot-RPG. For many players (myself included), that’s fine. It’s enough to give structure and reward returns, without turning the game into a grind.



Finding the specific objects that you need can be tricky, but some of them are known to spawn in certain locations. The only issue with that is that other players know that too and you could end up being ambushed because Scrappy needs prickly pears or mushrooms.

That said, it’s not a hyper-deep RPG tree. It feels purposeful, but sandbox-lite compared to a full-blown loot-RPG.

Speaking of Scrappy, you should try to level your precious pet up as soon as you can. Scrappy provides you with regular drops of items that you can use for crafting, sometimes sparing you a long trip top-side for some random metal parts.

Player vs Player vs PvE: The Human Variable

A big selling point of ARC Raiders is how it mixes PvE (robot enemies), PvPvE (players + robots + environment), and extraction-level tension. That mix delivers some of the most unpredictable matches I’ve had in any shooter - genuinely anything can happen, and nothing goes according to plan.

But with unpredictability comes frustration. Trusting other players often feels like a gamble. You might cooperate, push forward together, help clear rooms; or you might get shot in the back the second you open a loot crate. Running into squads that treat every raid like a firefight is common. There’s a rush when you survive and escape with the loot, but equal frustration if you’re gunned down by human greed. The chaos is part of the design, but that volatility can also burn enjoyment fast.



That volatility means solo-players or smaller squads often get swallowed by better-coordinated or more ruthless groups. The balance isn’t perfect, but the tension is real. For some, that’s the thrill; for others, it’s a deal-breaker. I’m somewhere in the middle.

My Verdict

ARC Raiders is not a perfectly polished, smooth-as-glass AAA shooter. It’s rough around the edges. It’s sometimes unfair. It’s occasionally brutal. But it’s also alive, raw, and capable of delivering moments you don’t get elsewhere.

If you’re open to chaos, don’t mind the occasional stab in the back, and want a shooter that takes risks and embraces unpredictability, then ARC Raiders is worth jumping into. If you want fairness, balance, deep solo progression, or controller-friendly comfort… maybe wait until the dust settles, updates roll in, and the community balances out.



But for what it is, ARC Raiders hits hard enough to warrant a spot in the “worth playing” category. I sometimes think of ARC Raiders as personified by “Scrappy,” your pet rooster. It’s not sleek & refined, but the kind of rough-around-the-edges brawler that, when it works, feels raw, alive, and unpredictable. It’s got rough spots, but also heart. That energy is part of the charm: it’s unrefined, but honest… and sometimes that honesty means a run ends in chaos - a firefight with robots, then two squads of raiders fighting over the same loot crate before you even make it to extraction.

Reviewed by Sheree Steenkamp