The Frozen Trail update is the latest milestone in the fascinating trajectory of ARC Raiders. Just over a year ago, Embark’s sci-fi extraction shooter launched with the full momentum of the internet hype train. Its success took everyone by surprise, Embark included. More surprising was the eerily friendly community that formed in what should have been a cutthroat post-apocalyptic adventure. The first six months of ARC Raiders were unlike anything I, and many others, had experienced in an online shooter. Sure, the community got a little trigger-happy and loot-hungry when we rocket-tubed to Stella Montis, but Shredders helped us rediscover our chill.
But then, for months, almost nothing happened. The biggest additions were lootable bird nests, a few guns and one new map, along with an overwhelming number of cheaters and stream snipers. The stagnation and cheating clearly took a toll. When ARC Raiders launched, Steam player counts routinely exceeded 400,000. By June’s Riven Tides update, that number had fallen to 135,000. Frozen Trail, the game’s largest update yet, arrives with Steam player counts sitting just above 40,000.
Frozen Trail is ARC Raiders’ most ambitious update yet. It features a massive new map with unique conditions and extraction options, new guns, tools, and gadgets to raid with, and four new ARCs to be murdered by. There will also be a new quest line, a reworked skill tree, outposts, and the first tentative step toward a dedicated PvE mode. Most importantly, Embark has promised to address the exploits and rampant cheating that have been ruining online play.
“Frozen Trail is ARC Raiders’ most ambitious update yet.”
At the heart of the update is the new map, Pendola Pass, which is as large as advertised. Our preview was only three hours long, which was enough time to explore about half of what I could see. Pendola Pass is set in the frozen mountains north of the Rust Belt. Overall, it felt like Buried City if it were dropped in the middle of The Blue Gate and covered in snow. At the center of the map is a fallen Emperor, an enterable ARC husk that’s about the size of a city. Sadly, it was still under construction, so we weren’t able to go inside, but we were able to scale it using the new reusable grappling hook.
The grappling hook kind of stole the show. I think everyone got distracted by how cool it was and just started tossing it hither and yon. For a good solid hour, the frozen hills were home to naught but daring danglers. Now and again, someone would be swarmed by hornets while scaling the Emperor or misclick while bouldering and plummet to their doom. Their fate was revealed by a distant flare and no accompanying gunfire.
The other major distractions were also rope-based. The tether gun and yank grenade both attach targets to an anchor and a short leash. It’s a very silly addition, but very useful and incredibly fun. I managed to hook a leaper midair and attach it to a truck, turning it into a sitting duck for a nearby group of players. Sadly, tethering an unsuspecting raider to a flying ARC didn’t deliver the comedy I expected, but a stranger’s confused panic was a decent consolation prize.
“The thing about the gadgets is that they open the door to new shenanigans, which is the bread and butter of ARC Raiders.”
Pendola Pass also uses explosive gondolas for extraction instead of elevators. Like the ropes, the gondolas offer a new way to mess with your fellow raiders. Gondolas are called down like a supply drop and rocket away once the raiders are inside. The catch is that the rocket countdown starts after the first person enters their pod. If your team messes up the timing, or you’re evil, someone’s getting left behind. Unless they have a rope, in which case they can ride the gondola from the outside.
An entire third of the preview was just people dicking around with ropes and trying to mountaineer to goofy vantage points. Another third was cheesing the extracts. There were a few new ARCs to contend with and a new level of customization for weapons, but they weren’t nearly as interesting. The thing about the gadgets is that they open the door to new shenanigans, which is the bread and butter of ARC Raiders.
Riven Tides and Stella Montis seemed specifically designed for trials and loot funneling. But when you don’t have anything to do, they’re just not very fun. Pendola Pass feels more like a playground than any other map. If you don’t have a mission, it’s just a fun place to be a raider. Soon, the map will include the Emperor section and Frigates, which are both focused on cooperation and puzzle-solving.
“Frozen Trail is the update raiders have been waiting for.”
It’s hard not to feel that this update is prepping for a wider transition. The extraction genre is losing steam, and Frozen Trail is laying the groundwork for an ARC Raiders that’s wider in scope. As someone who’s in love with the lore and mystery of the Rust Belt but doesn’t have endless time to grind for disposable gear, I welcome this change.
The main hurdle was the one Embark elaborated on the least: cheaters. Which is probably for the best. A good portion of the little pre-game meeting we had was about the state of cheaters, exploits, and stream snipers. They couldn’t get into details for obvious reasons, but appreciated the impact it’s had on their game. Embark seems to have a plan. But the thing about war is that the enemy has a say too, and the industrial cheat factories are going to be a tough nut to crack.
Frozen Trail is the update raiders have been waiting for. I think the player base was hoping for updates like this every few months instead of once a year, but a start’s a start. To be honest, I’m not sure there’s enough here to bring ARC Raiders back to its glory, but it is a substantial improvement over previous content drops. If the cheaters can be mitigated and the PvE tests and new co-op sections work out, Frozen Trail might be looked back on as the start of the new ARC Raiders. If it isn’t, at least we’ll have grappling hooks for a while.
