ARC Raiders‘ open beta is slowly drawing to a close. The game’s less than two weeks away from release, and fans are eager to hop into the full experience. However, eagle-eyed players have noticed something different about the game: the graphics are worse than they used to be, by a lot
According to a keen-eyed player who shared their findings on ARC Raiders‘ official subreddit, the game seems to have significantly downgraded its graphics since the last technical test. While before it had luscious and realistic foliage and strong, atmospheric volumetrics to boot, this current iteration of the title seems to be lacking in both.
Comparison images show that, during the second technical test, ARC Raiders‘ foliage had a lot more texture, depth, and realism to it, whereas now it appears more jagged and game-y. Likewise, the prior instance has heavy volumetric fog, which significantly improves the atmosphere of a swampy marshland, but the current version has next to none of it.
Graphical downgrades are nothing new in video games and are done all the time, but it appeared that Embark Studios had no particular reason for doing so, given how well the game performs and how much the devs have spent on optimization overall.
And it might just be that this wasn’t intended. OssenJ, Embark’s community lead, commented on another report that ARC Raiders appears to have been downgraded, chiefly regarding its shading and lighting. “The team will look into this, thanks for letting us know,” she wrote.
Visibility might have also been a reason for the devs to reduce foliage density and fog, ARC Raiders being a PVP shooter and all. However, the poorly-rendered, jagged, and shimmering foliage does tell me things weren’t done for the sake of improved PVP, as it’s an overall eyesore and takes a lot away from the experience.
Having less realistic and rarer foliage, as well as removing volumetrics almost entirely, can and will improve fps on less capable machines like consoles. ARC Raiders is already a well-polished, highly optimized game, so it doesn’t make much sense to see devs sacrifice graphical fidelity and compromise the style they’ve worked so hard to establish just so they could squeeze out a few frames per seconds more on average.
Whether intended or not, the fact remains that ARC Raiders‘ current version isn’t its prettiest, and I certainly hope the devs officially address player concerns, as the game is, in more ways than one, one of the most promising titles of this year.
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