Ark: Survival Evolved v257 just released, and it allows players to “ascend” to the game’s ending cinematic. Following widespread discontent about its lack of resolution, Wildcard co-founder Jeremy Stieglitz tweeted a tease of more to come in the future.
Thankfully, he confirmed the cinematic featured in the game today won’t be what’s there for the final release. “Gonna point out that the ending in Ark v257 is not the game's ‘true’ ending, not even close,” he said. He added that the final version will be “coming soon and it’ll be glorious.” As if he wasn’t clear enough, he assured “what’s in there now is a placeholder for what is to come.”
Gonna point out that the ending in ARK v257 is not the game's "true" ending, not even close. That'll be coming soon, & it'll be glorious :-)
— Jeremy Stieglitz (@arkjeremy) May 6, 2017
The ending of Ark: Survival Evolved is accessible via terminals in the newly added Tek Cave. With the right gear, supplies and tames, players have the ability to take on three different difficulty tiers of what’s essentially an insanely hard boss rush featuring almost every creature on the island. Those who complete the task can level all the way up to 115 by finishing at the alpha levels. Beta and gamma conquerors will progress to level 110 and 105 respectively. In many ways, the gameplay loop of the dungeon turns Ark into a first-person shooter akin to Halo instead of the primitive survival experience it’s always been.
Having completed such a massive challenge, fans were hoping for a major plot reveal or discovery. As it stands now, however, winning teams are simply picked up by a gravitational force that brings them into a blinding light. After that, the credits roll and the adventure is over. Pretty anticlimactic, right?
Of course, a more complete ending isn’t the only thing Studio Wildcard intends to include before the game’s long-awaited final release. The development roadmap also features teases of new structures, creatures and gear to come. By the end of this month, v258 is planned to introduce five more Dinos, a harpoon gun, two new hairstyles and a boatload of optimizations. Changes must also be made to the recently redesigned UI as well.
Ark: Survival Evolved is available now on PC, Xbox One, PS4, OS X and Linux. Consoles are expected to get v257 in the near future.
What did you think of the Ark: Survival Evolved Ascension ending? What do you expect to see in the final version? Tell us in the comments section!
