How is Ark Survival Ascended different compared to Ark Survival Evolved?

Wait, is Ark Survival Ascended the same thing as Ark 2? If not, how is Ark Survival Ascended different than Ark Survival Evolved?

Don’t worry. I’m going to break down everything that makes Ark Survival Ascended different than Ark Survival Evolved.

Related: Is Ark Survival Ascended on Game Pass?

All Ark Survival Ascended and Ark Survival Evolved differences, explained

Up top, know that it’s a remaster, not a remake or a sequel. Ark Survival Evolved was made in 2015 and had an impressive eight-year run. In an attempt to wrap it all up with a bow, Studio Wildcard has created Ark Survival Ascended, a remaster of Ark Survival Evolved and its eight-year run.

The first thing you’ll notice is that Ark Survival Ascended has much better graphics. This game is built on Unreal Engine 5 and features advanced technology like lumen lighting, nanite mesh streaming, and chaos physics.

Ark Survival Ascended also differs from Ark Survival Evolved in that it will feature every Ark Survival Evolved map. While we’ll only get The Island at first, Studio Wildcard promises to release each map on a regular basis at no additional cost, which is a major win.

And if better graphics and everything from Ark Survival Evolved weren’t enough, Ark Survival Ascended also has a lot of quality-of-life improvements. I don’t have space to put them all in one paragraph, so here are all the quality-of-life improvements and additional content we know about:

• Redesigned UI
• Dynamic navigation for intelligent creature pathfinding
• Wild babies
• Photo mode
• New camera systems
• New map system
• Tracking system
• New structures and items
• New creatures

When I said everything from Ark Survival Evolved, I meant everything. Studio Wildcard is dedicated to bringing many mods from Ark Survival Evolved to Ark Survival Ascended. Also, the mod-making tools have been greatly expanded for PC and console (when it comes to console) players.

Ark Survival Ascended also has cross-play and cross-progression. Plus, public servers can have up to 70 players and private sessions can have up to eight players. There’s local split-screen with up to four players on Steam and two players on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S.

In general, Ark Survival Ascended is everything Ark Survival Evolved is but better. Almost everything is elevated in every way. If you are still patiently waiting for Ark 2, you might consider jumping into Ark Survival Ascended to satiate your dino appetite.

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