Total playtime at time of report: 707 Hours 30 Minutes (140 Hours [Steam] 567 Hours 30 Minutes [Xbox])

Ark is a survival sandbox game that places you the player on an island inhabited by creatures both prehistoric and fantasy. Starting the game you do what most survival games have you do, punch a whole bunch of trees and pick up a whole bunch of rocks. Combine the whole bunch of wood and stones you harvested with your bare hands to create tools to gather yet again, even more wood and stones until you have enough tools and resources to build a hut.
All whilst keeping your hunger, thirst, stamina, and the temperature under control whilst also trying not to get eaten by every carnivore on the island you currently inhabit (which will happen more than you care to count). After a while you find yourself having tamed a dodo. This dodo will be your best friend, you shall show it off to your friends, give it a name even build a section in your home just for this dodo. Then one day your dodo will die. And this will happen again and again... And again... And again.
Eventually, however, you shall best the acid vomiting creatures that keep killing you and making every hour of your play time a living hell until you eventually tame something bigger and this... This is where Ark gets interesting.
Ark is like that annoying sibling that keeps catching you unaware, until one day you hit them so hard they stop bothering you. And that’s how the game progresses. One small victory after many, many defeats. However, this might seem like all bad news but it’s actually one of its greatest features. You find the ark constantly challenging you as you keep trying to constantly improve. Even if it's getting another dinosaur that was only 15 levels higher than your last, it is an achievement. And even though it's small you know it wasn't easy and you worked at it. But if you weren't paying attention the game promptly brings you back to reality, killing that tame you worked so hard for. You learn from this, you progress and then figure out what to do next.
Although the Story of the game isn’t a straightforward campaign and even after 700+ hours of playing, taming the hardest creatures and exploring each of the maps. I still have no idea what I’m doing. I’m still getting bested by something if I stop paying attention. I’m still having fun.


+ Pro’s

+ Large Maps with many details and areas to explore.
+ Hours of gameplay.
+ Great with friends.
+ Constant Updates.
+ Well designed Snap n’ Build construction system means anyone can design a great home.
+ Taming creatures and conquering dungeons gives a sense of achievement and progression.

- Con’s

- Obvious gap between players long-term and new in PvP servers. Long-term players having the final tech and best tames often attacking weaker tribes.
- DLC is quite expensive and the new price of the base game is more than I would pay.
- The story. As I said I have played 700+ hours and I still have no idea how I got here.
- Early hours of gameplay can be VERY repetitive and boring if on a new server and you have to start from Level 1 again.
- Taming higher level creatures can actually take many many hours.


Summary:

Ark is a great game, especially on the first playthrough with friends, It can be repetitive and follows a similar structure to every other sandbox but it has a great charm to it that keeps me playing. I cannot, however, recommend it to anyone at its full price and would recommend getting it on sale. Especially considering the lack of story.

Rating: 7/10 - Definitely get it on sale.