Studio Wildcard is no stranger to controversy, especially with Ark: Survival Ascended. Meant as a free upgrade to Survival Evolved, it would eventually launch as a separate title in Steam Early Access with only The Island available for fans to experience.

As a remake of Survival Evolved, it offers gorgeous new visuals courtesy of Unreal Engine 5.2, new physics and animations, and various qualityoflife features from a new map system to improved building. It doesn't completely overhaul the base game, with some issues like odd dinosaur pathfinding AI and average combat still present. That's before discussing the remake's technical state on PC.

Nevertheless, Ark: Survival Ascended builds upon the original in several ways while presenting a fun, somewhat grindy, but altogether massive experience.