Playing through the Story of ARK: Survival Evolved
Ark: Survival Evolved has become one of my favorite games since its initial alpha testing release in June of 2015. Nobody expected where the story of Ark would take us, and it was years before we would get to see its conclusion.
Ark: Survival Evolved’s story is divided into two parts. The first is the “ARK” story-line which consists of the 4 maps I am going to cover in this article. The second story-line is the “Genesis” story which takes place on the “Genesis Part 1 & 2” maps. There are also several non-story maps created by both the community and the developers.
The Island: Discovering the Truth (Part 1)
The first story map in Ark is called the “The Island”. If you have ever played Ark: Survival Evolved, this is likely the map you played. The Island is filled with dinosaurs to fight and tame. There are artifacts to find, bosses to fight, and lore to discover.
I played The Island map on and off over the course of 8 years. In mid 2023 I decided to start a new server with my family. We played on Nintendo Switch, which in itself is an awesome thing. Just being able to play a game like Ark on a handheld device is incredible.
We tamed dinos, found artifacts, and built bases. This time though I was on a mission. I wanted to beat the story of Ark: Survival Evolved.
This first video shows some highlights from my playthrough of “The Island” map. I did not know that I was making a video series until after I beat the first map, so the videos in this article get progressively better and more detailed. This first video is the shortest and sadly does not show all of the boss fights, but my later videos do.
Collecting Artifacts and Beating Boss Fights on The Island
The Island map has players learn to survive before discovering that they can collect artifacts in caves, and summon giant boss encounters. The 3 boss encounters that can be summoned by artifacts are the Broodmother, Megapithecus, and Dragon.
After beating the three bosses, players can enter the “Tek Cave” and challenge the “Overseer” high above the island. The journey through the Tek Cave is filled with lore and story, and gives players their first real look at what an ARK is, and how they work. Upon beating the Overseer players “ascend” for the first time.
What is an ARK?
But wait, I didn’t explain what an “Ark” is. Arks are self-sustaining biodomes that float in the atmoshphere above Earth.
What is the purpose of the ARKs?
To explain that, we need to go back to the begining. Sometime in Earth’s future an asteroid brings a rare metal called “element” to earth. This “element” advances human technology rapidly, until humans decide to fight each other with it. At which point the element poisons Earth. The poision and destruction becomes so bad that humans must leave Earth to survive. This is where the ARKs come in.
Two plans are crafted, one to make ARKs that will heal and repopulate Earth; one to leave Earth behind in search of a new planet (the second plan being called the Genesis project).
Back to beating the story of “The Island”
Once the overseer is destroyed, the player(s) are teleported into outerspace (aka Ascend). They get to see the many ARKs as they float toward a new ARK called “Scorched Earth”.
At this point players can re-log into the game and choose to download back onto “The Island” or start a new adventure on “Scorched Earth”. Players can bring their character and dinosaurs with them.
Scorched Earth: Exploring New Arks (Part 2)
At this point we know why we are on the ARKs. The mysterious woman Helena has explained to us that we should travel across the ARKs retracing her footsteps. This is where we start to have an idea of the bigger picture.
The video above shows my journey on the “Scorched Earth” map. My family and I built new bases, tamed new creatures, and found all 3 artifacts to summon the “Manticore” boss. We beat the boss with an army of dragons which was very cool.
The three caves, which contained the artifacts, were much easier than “The Island” caves. I was able to run straight through them on the back of a Thylacoleo (seen in the video).
The “Scorched Earth” boss fight was also easier than those found on “The Island”. That didn’t bother me though. I was very determined to beat the entire story, and so I pushed hard to get my team to the next map.
Abberation: Defeating Rockwell (Part 3)
“Abberation” is my favorite Ark: Survival Evolved Story Map. Players are welcomed by Helena, who lets them know that they will need to confront and defeat Rockwell in order to leave this next ARK.
I remember the night I began my Aberration adventure. At this point I was all-in on the story. I had been watching lore videos on YouTube and soaking up every bit of Ark knowledge I could find.
The mission objective was clear. I needed to destroy Rockwell.
Who is Rockwell? And why do players need to kill him?
Dr. Edmund Rockwell was a scientist and friend of Helena Walker. He traveled the ARKs to learn their secrets as he conducted experiments focused around “element”. His journey led him to being corrupted and mutated beyond recognition.
As players leave “Scorched Earth”, it is Rockwell that drags them onto the broken Ark called “Abberation”. Why is the Abberation Ark broken you ask? That’s a long story, but the short version is that prior survivors detonated a bomb when realizing they would lose the fight against the Overseer of the Abberation Ark. With no Overseer, Rockwell became the new ruler of the Abberation Ark. His plans were much bigger though. He wanted to eventually rule Earth and humankind.
My favorite parts of the Abberation Map
Abberation is a vertical map, meaning that players travel deeper and deeper as they work to beat it. The map is large, but it feels smaller due to its verticality. There are new dinosaurs, creatures, and tools for survivors to use. One of my favorite additions is the glider, which allows players to fly through the air. A lot of the video footage above shows me having fun with the glider attachment.
Abberation is considered by many to be the hardest map in Ark: Survival Evolved. I agree that it is the most challenging, but it is also the most fun. The music is amazing. The story is compelling. The caves are creative. Overall I think that Abberation is a masterpiece!
Extinction: Saving Earth from the Titans (Part 4)
After destroying Rockwell I ascended for the third time and was teleported back to Earth. Helena explained that the element had somehow created giant monsters called Titans. These titans would need to be destroyed in order for the ARKs to land on Earth.
Sounds easy enough right?
The video above shows my journey on the Extinction map. I defeated and tamed all 3 minor Titans to help me take on the King Titan. I raised an army of dinosaurs, built multiple “Tek” bases, and acquired the best gear I could find. (Tek is the highest level stuff players can craft in the game, and requires element to make.) Flying around with a Tek suit was game changing. It felt rewarding and well deserved to finally have access to the entire Tek Armor Suit. Each piece of the suit granting a special ability like super speed, night vision, or even flight. It feels like playing as the super hero “Iron Man” at moments.
Challenging the final boss was bitter-sweet. I knew that my first playthrough of the ARK story was about to come to a close. It took me two attempts to beat the King Titan, and when I did I was rewarded with the final cutscene. The ARKs landed back on Earth and Helena was there to thank me. I had saved Earth! Mission Accomplished…
My overall impressions of the Ark: Survival Evolved Story
Playing through the story of Ark: Survival Evolved was one of the most fun gaming experiences I’ve ever had. Right up there with playing SWTOR for the first time, or beating Pokemon Red. Ark is quite the game.
I highly recomend playing with friends. It makes the whole experience more fun; not to mention easier. Ark is a hard game. It can be brutal at times, even whilst playing on your own hosted server.
The story of Ark: Survival Evolved is well written. It is unique and entertaining. Scorched Earth felt like it could have been left out, due to not contributing a lot to the overall story arc. Abberation was my favorite map, but Extinction really brought it home. It felt good to finally arrive on Earth in the Extinction map. It felt like an epic finale.
Want to play Ark: Survival Evolved? You’re in luck, because it is available on almost every gaming platform. Visit Ark’s official website.
I hope that you enjoyed my synopsis of the Ark Story and my personal adventure through it. Stay tuned for more articles on Ark as I explore the new unreal engine remake Ark: Survival Ascended.
