The first thing anyone needs to know about Wildcard’s new Ark expansion is that it is hard. This was supposed to be something of an apology for Ark not being all that great of a game, and their apology is in the form of several deaths over and over again. I feel something like Bill Murray from Groundhog Day in that I have been stabbed, burned, broken, frozen, trampled, and eaten. And that was in the first few hours of play! But does this apology of a DLC hold up? In a word, no.

Gameplay

Given that in Ark there isn’t much of a story, it’s best to look at gameplay first. The first thing to note about Ark: Genesis is that it has a new map, boasting 5 new biomes, each with its own wildlife, flora, and dangers. These biomes, however, are really small. There really isn’t a lot of space to base build when you take into consideration that much of the land is taken up for missions; bland tasks that reward you with an in-game currency that can be used to by supplies, essentials, or the game’s version of loot boxes... Joy.

Traveling between biomes can only be done via teleportation using your “fractal personality” guide named HLN-A. Teleportation, however, is a dicey procedure. It takes time to charge, and anything in the circle goes with you. Sure hope you’re not trying to get away quickly from a swarm of murderous insects! Furthermore, while it does get you to the biome you asked for in the general direction, you have no idea where exactly you’ll end up. I once teleported and landed right in front of a very large, very hungry dino who quickly made me into a Manwich. Another attempt led to me appearing right in front of some lava, almost instantly searing my delicate health to nothing. While this does provide some hilarity, it gets frustrating after several times. And that’s to say nothing of the times I respawned after death and immediately died because the game couldn’t be bothered to respawn me in a safe place.

On the subject of movement, another puzzling thing about Ark: Genesis is that they removed the ability to fly. Oh, there are dinosaurs that can fly, sure. However, even after you patiently wait for them to land so that you can tame them, they apparently forget about the wings currently on their body. It takes an almost impressive lack of logic to make a pterodactyl’s wings vestigial just because it has a saddle on its back.

Visuals

This is pretty abysmal here. There are framerate drops all over the place and the resolution is awful. There’s also pop-in everywhere, even on the tools you’re literally holding right in front of you! This is to say nothing of the character options, which are about as ugly as can be imagined. You can’t change face types or hairstyles at all, and the color options for skin and hair are baffling. To its credit, you can change the size of a variety of body parts, so your vomit colored protagonist can also look like it has elephantiasis in its hands. So there’s that.

Audio

The sound here is not awful. There are some decent atmospheric sounds, and the ambiance is actually pretty nice. You can tell they put work into 3D sound, as you can actually tell where some of the dinosaurs or wolves are by their howls or roars.

Replayability

Survival games aren’t so much about replayability as they are continuing to play and survive. In that vein, if you loved Ark and its previous DLCs, then there is still plenty to do here. There’s the usual taming of dinosaurs, battling new monsters, finishing missions to explore more about the biomes, and building of bases. However, in this writer’s opinion, the issues and frustration are not worth it in the end.

What It Could Have Done Better

Oh boy. There is a great deal this game could do to improve. To start, the character models really could use some variety. Looking at the same hideous faces and body models my entire playthrough was a boring chore, and it would be nice if I could have done more than change a few shapes in the face. The game also needs to overhaul travel. Connect the biomes by paths that can be travailed, add flight back into the game, and fix the mind-boggling teleportation issues. In a word, the game needs to be fun.

Verdict

Calling this DLC an apology would be like me stealing your car and then apologizing by taking the stereo out of it, slashing the tires, filling the tank with sugar, and then giving it back to you. Sometimes, the apology is worse than the crime.