In the most recent trailer for Ark: Survival Evolved, Vin Diesel's character Santiago stood out for all the wrong reasons. Ark 2 has long touted its use of Unreal Engine 5, setting players' expectations for the game extremely high. The most recent trailer shown at the 2022 Xbox & Bethesda Games Showcase coincided with the announcement of Ark 2 being delayed further, with the game now promoting a 2023 release window. In the trailer, Ark 2's dinosaurs look magnificent and definitely steal the show, with the character models looking less impressive in comparison.
First announced at the Game Awards 2020 with a 2022 release date, Ark 2 is the sequel to 2017's smash-hit survival game Ark: Survival Evolved. Ark gained a loyal, significant following, quickly becoming popular with players, earning a score of 9 out of 10 on Steam with over half a million reviews. Ark's critic reviews were less favorable, citing the game's "grind mechanics" and abundance of bugs and glitches. These were even more prevalent in Ark's 2018 port to Nintendo Switch, which earned a critic score of 29% and a score of 2.6 out of 10 on review aggregator Metacritic.
The announcement of Vin Diesel's involvement with the Ark sequel surprised many and drew criticism from some. Some responses to the initial Ark 2 announcement teaser commented on Studio Wildcard's decision to use a famous, recognizable actor, with an abundance of Fast & Furious jokes ensuing. Epic Games received similar conjecture when it announced the Rock as Fortnite character the Foundation, though players generally enjoyed his addition to the battle royale game. In spite of these early criticisms, players' reactions to the Ark 2's casting and trailers have been overwhelmingly positive, successfully drumming up excitement for the Ark sequel.
Ark 2's 2022 Release Window Delayed To 2023
The problem with Vin Diesel's appearance in the latest Ark trailer is the stark contrast and relative lack of detail compared with the beautiful dinosaur-filled paradise around him. The trailer also features Santiago's daughter Meeka, played by Moana actor Auli'i Cravalho, whose character model is considerably more detailed, though both characters' movement appear a bit clunky. Although the initial Ark 2 trailer starring Vin Diesel used in-engine graphics presumably on Unreal Engine 4, and the latest trailer was captured in Unreal Engine 5, Santiago's character model still looks plasticky and far from lifelike, which is probably exacerbated since he bears such a well-known face.
Although the latest trailer for Ark 2 didn't showcase the best graphics for its character models, the game's dinosaurs absolutely shone. Most responses to the Ark sequel's latest trailer focused on the stunning dinosaurs, with many Ark players sharing their hopes for the game. Hopefully, Ark fans will get another glimpse at the game soon, as the early trailers may not be indicative of the final product. The recent news that Ark 2's release has been pushed back to 2023 suggests the game is still very much a work in progress. Regardless, if Ark 2's dinosaurs are as impressive as they look in the trailers, players may be willing to overlook if Vin Diesel's character still looks like a potato.
