Arc Raiders Looks Great, But There’s One Big Caveat for Me
My pals at PC Gamer believe Arc Raiders is the most exciting thing to happen to the extraction genre in a long time. The huge numbers the server slam playtest is putting up right now prove they’re not alone in thinking so.
For me, though, there’s just one problem: it’s a third-person shooter—and I don’t like third-person shooters.
That leads to a second problem: the odds of Arc Raiders ever getting a first-person mode are basically zero.
This little spot of disappointment comes from Arc Raiders’ design director, Virgil Watkins, who told PC Gamer’s Tyler Wilde in a recent interview that the game was built around the third-person perspective. According to Watkins, shifting to a first-person view doesn’t “give us a benefit of any sort.”
He explained, “So much of our immersion, our world, and the interactions that your character has with things in the world, the enemies, the other players, are amplified by the quality that’s come from our animation team, our audio team, and our environment team. It all works together as this very nice package that really places your character in that world.”
“That’s not to say it’s impossible in first person,” Watkins continued, “but [third person] worked so well for us that we never really looked at first person. I know there are hybrid models, like Helldivers 2 and a few others, but for us to try that would mean re-evaluating how our areas are built and laid out, because first person changes sight lines in very specific ways.”
There are also technical considerations. Watkins pointed out concerns with the game’s geometry and asset quality. Since everything in Arc Raiders is meant to be seen from the distance of an over-the-shoulder view, “once you start putting your face right up against an asset, it kind of falls apart.”
The net result: it’s “very, very implausible” that Embark will ever add a first-person perspective, Watkins said—although he understands why people might ask for one.
Similarly, even though I don’t care for third-person shooters, I get why Embark would want to stick with it. I find the perspective awkward and difficult to aim with—my eye tends to follow the gun, and I end up blasting holes in the floor far too often. It’s also not nearly as immersive as an FPS.
However, I also acknowledge that third-person can deliver a more “cinematic” experience. That’s at least partly why I’m such a fan of Max Payne.
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/third-person-shooter/dont-count-on-arc-raiders-ever-getting-a-first-person-mode-once-you-start-being-able-to-put-your-face-right-up-against-an-asset-it-kind-of-falls-apart/