God, life is stressful. There's too much to do and too few hours in the day to do it. So when I get a couple of hours of free time in the evening I have to be pretty mindful of what I do, and let me tell you getting domed in Arc Raiders by some rando hiding in a bush is not at the top of my list.
It's a shame, because I love the world of Arc Raiders. I love its mystery, its grandiose landscapes, and its bizarre communal storytelling that you just can't get in most games. But there's finally a solution: the PvE test.
Embark teased the test a few weeks ago, finally admitting that due to a large portion of its audience favouring a more passive approach to the game, it would test out a temporary PvE toggle . While Frozen Trail released a few days ago, the PvE test has only gone live now, and it's a hell of a lot of fun.
Dropping into Pendola Pass has never been so chill, well, it's more chill than usual; as soon as I came out of my bunker I was met with hellfire raining down on me and the pinging of bullets as they shot past my face while a couple of players attempted to take down the newer arc, a Bully. 'Ok' I thought to myself, 'I guess I'll start here'.
The Bully isn't anywhere near as lethal as a Queen but it's tankier than I expected it to be for its size as it ate my Wolfpack grenade like it was nothing. I hadn't come equipped for a fight like this but thanks to the growing group of curious raiders we managed to take it down before long. It may sound boring to someone who loves the adrenaline dump of PvP, but for someone who just wants to explore the map, take down arcs, and perhaps help out their fellow raider along the way this experience right here is golden.
Instead of shuffling around bushes and hiding in the shadows I feel relatively free to wander about the surface and actually take in the surrounding views. You still have to be careful of arcs, but not having your blood run cold when you hear footsteps closing in to your location is such a welcome change.
In fact, it's quite the opposite now, hearing raiders close by reassures me that if things were to go wrong, someone would help—which is especially nice when arcs in the PvE mode will finish you off if they catch you moving while downed. After taking out a number of arcs on my way to the Observatory my hubris was bolstered, so when I saw the new Skulker, a seemingly small and insignificant enemy, I thought that it would be easy pickings. I was wrong.
Maybe I was just unlucky, but this Skulker had a couple of other friends with it, and it took way more ammo than I thought to take it down. I was pinned behind a couple of crates, quickly going through all my reserves and trying to come up with an exit strategy when I heard gunfire. I have no idea where it came from, perhaps it was an angel from above, but a stranger saw I was in need of assistance, helped take the Skulkers out, and then moved on.
They were gone before I could say thank you, so I decided to pay it forward instead. On my way to the extract I saw a bunch of arcs swarming an outbuilding, I didn't have much ammo left but I still wanted to help, so help I did. I started taking pot shots at some of the Wasps to distract them away from the shed and before long another raider popped their head out and together we took them out. Nothing was said, but after a thankful wave we went our separate ways and I extracted back to Speranza.
As I said before, I love Arc Raiders for its world, action, and crafting, but it also just feels really nice to help without the worry that the person you've just saved may shoot you in the back of the head and ruin any faith in humanity you had left. The PvE test is a welcome change of pace, and I'll be playing it almost exclusively while I still have the chance.
