Arc Raiders launched October 31 to mostly enthusiastic reviews praising its clever AI enemies, satisfying gunplay, and surprisingly friendly player community. Critics called it the best extraction shooter in years, a refreshing take on a notoriously punishing genre, and one of 2025’s must-play multiplayer experiences. Then Eurogamer gave it 2 out of 5 stars, tanking its Metacritic score, and the reason has nothing to do with gameplay.
The controversy centers on Embark Studios’ decision to use AI-generated voices for in-game characters and communication. While reviewers across the board praised Arc Raiders’ mechanics, world design, and combat systems, Eurogamer’s Rick Lane called the AI voice usage inexcusable in his otherwise positive review. That single aspect dropped what would have been a recommendation into a 40/100 score that now sits as the game’s lowest by far on aggregator sites.
What Makes Arc Raiders Special
Before diving into the controversy, it’s important to understand why the game earned such positive reception everywhere else. Arc Raiders is a third-person extraction shooter set in post-apocalyptic Italy where deadly robotic enemies called ARCs have driven humanity underground. You play as a Raider venturing to the surface to scavenge resources, complete missions, and extract valuable loot while avoiding both mechanical threats and other players.
The extraction shooter formula is simple: drop into a map, collect stuff, try to escape alive. If you die, you lose everything except items stored in your safe pocket. Arc Raiders doesn’t reinvent this wheel, but according to multiple reviewers, it perfects the execution in ways that eluded other attempts like Battlefield 2042’s failed Hazard Zone mode.
What sets Arc Raiders apart is the AI enemies. The ARCs aren’t mindless bullet sponges. They flank, coordinate attacks, adapt to your strategies, and genuinely feel dangerous. Combat encounters require thoughtful positioning and target prioritization. Shoot a drone’s rotors and watch it spin wildly based on physics before crashing. Larger enemies lose plating and spark as you riddle them with bullets. The machine learning-powered behavior patterns make each encounter unpredictable in satisfying ways.
Kotaku’s review praised how the ARCs serve as patrolmen that keep you constantly on edge. Their patrol patterns feel believable for a force designed to keep you off the map rather than being NPCs that just walk back and forth forever. ESPN called them the game’s secret sauce, noting how a couple standard drones can easily kill you with coordinated stun shots and machine gun fire.
The Surprisingly Friendly Community
Perhaps the most unexpected praise Arc Raiders received centers on its player community. Extraction shooters traditionally attract hyper-competitive players who shoot first and never bother asking questions. Tarkov and Hunt: Showdown built reputations on brutal PvP encounters where trusting another player is basically suicide.
Arc Raiders deliberately designed systems to encourage cooperation over constant betrayal. The famous Don’t Shoot voice command lets even voice-chat-averse players defuse tense encounters. The third-person perspective makes it harder for enemies to ambush you compared to first-person shooters. Energy shields prevent instant kills, giving you time to respond rather than dying before you can react.
Eurogamer’s review specifically highlighted this unusually friendly atmosphere, noting how some players avoid conflict entirely, others watch silently from cover, and many are willing to team up temporarily. Gamesradar called it tense but wonderfully approachable, crediting the game for sanding down some of the genre’s roughest edges.
Of course, plenty of players still shoot on sight or pretend to be friendly before backstabbing you. Those betrayals sting, but they’re part of what makes genuine cooperation feel special. The game wouldn’t work if everyone played nice all the time. The tension between trusting and suspecting other players creates the magic.
The AI Voice Controversy Explained
Here’s where things get messy. Embark Studios used AI-generated voices for NPC characters and in-game communication rather than hiring voice actors. This isn’t the first time the studio faced criticism for AI usage. Their previous game, The Finals, received backlash for similar practices.
Rick Lane’s Eurogamer review spent considerable space addressing this decision. While he praised the gameplay extensively, calling the combat rich and the community surprisingly friendly, he concluded that Embark’s continued use of AI voices is inexcusable. The review awarded 2 out of 5 stars largely because of this ethical concern, despite acknowledging the game’s mechanical excellence.
The controversy reflects broader industry tensions about AI’s role in game development. Voice actors argue that AI voices threaten their livelihoods while producing inferior performances lacking human emotion and nuance. Studios counter that AI reduces costs and accelerates development, especially for games requiring hundreds of lines of dialogue or multiple languages.
For Embark specifically, this is their second major game using AI voices despite knowing it generates backlash. That persistence suggests either strong conviction in the technology’s benefits or willingness to accept reputational damage in exchange for cost savings. Neither explanation satisfies critics who believe hiring human performers is both ethically necessary and artistically superior.
How This Impacts Review Scores
The Eurogamer review’s 40/100 equivalent score became Arc Raiders’ lowest on Metacritic by a substantial margin. Most other outlets awarded scores between 80-90, with some calling it the best multiplayer experience of 2025. Forbes ran an article specifically questioning whether tanking a review score over AI usage is fair when the actual gameplay receives universal praise.
This raises interesting questions about review ethics. Should reviewers penalize gameplay quality for ethical concerns about development practices? Is it fair to dock a game 30-40 points because you disagree with the studio’s decisions on voice acting, even when those choices don’t meaningfully impact the player experience?
Different outlets answer these questions differently. Kotaku, IGN, Comicbook, and ESPN focused reviews almost entirely on gameplay, mechanics, and player experience. They acknowledged the AI voice controversy exists but didn’t let it significantly impact scores. Eurogamer took the opposite approach, treating the AI usage as disqualifying despite loving everything else about the game.
Neither approach is objectively wrong. Reviews reflect critic perspectives, and Lane clearly believes AI voice usage is important enough to override gameplay quality in his final assessment. Players reading reviews can weigh that perspective against their own values when deciding whether to play.
What Players Actually Think
Community reception has been overwhelmingly positive despite the AI voice controversy. Players on Reddit discuss strategies, share extraction stories, and debate the ethics of betraying friendly players far more than they complain about voice quality. The game built an active player base quickly, suggesting most people either don’t care about the AI voices or find the gameplay compelling enough to overlook their concerns.
That doesn’t invalidate the ethical concerns. It just means different players prioritize different factors when deciding what games to support. Some refuse to play anything using AI-generated content on principle. Others evaluate games purely on whether they’re fun regardless of how they were made. Most fall somewhere in between, weighing multiple factors case by case.
The Broader Gameplay Experience
Beyond the controversy, Arc Raiders delivers a polished extraction shooter experience. The loot cycle feels rewarding, with every item serving a purpose in the crafting system. You need everything from antiseptic to toasters to build and upgrade workbenches that let you craft higher-tier gear.
Missions from traders introduce you to loot locations across vast maps inspired by Italian landscapes mixed with brutal space infrastructure. The post-post-apocalyptic aesthetic blends historical architecture with sci-fi elements, creating a world that’s simultaneously beautiful and deadly.
Character progression offers meaningful choices about playstyle and identity. The free randomized loadout system ensures you can always jump into raids even when running low on resources or cash. And then there’s Scrappy, the bizarrely lovable rooster who generates basic crafting materials over time and whose scavenging improves by feeding him eclectic items like dog collars, cat beds, and apricots.
Combat feels deliberately paced with slow weapon reloads and health replenishment emphasizing thoughtful encounters over twitchy reflexes. Stamina management, inventory weight, climbing mechanics, and gadgets create a deep toolkit where no two fights play out identically across the four large launch maps.
FAQs
What is Arc Raiders?
Arc Raiders is a third-person extraction shooter developed by Embark Studios where players venture to post-apocalyptic Italy’s surface to scavenge resources while fighting robotic enemies and other players. It launched October 31, 2025 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.
Why is there controversy about Arc Raiders?
Embark Studios used AI-generated voices for in-game characters instead of hiring voice actors, continuing a practice from their previous game The Finals. Eurogamer’s review heavily criticized this decision despite praising the gameplay.
Is Arc Raiders worth playing?
Most reviewers say yes, calling it one of the best extraction shooters in years with smart enemy AI, satisfying combat, and an unusually friendly community. The AI voice controversy is an ethical concern but doesn’t significantly impact gameplay quality according to most outlets.
What makes Arc Raiders different from other extraction shooters?
The game features sophisticated AI enemies with machine learning-powered behavior, deliberate third-person combat that prevents instant kills, and systems designed to encourage player cooperation over constant PvP aggression.
Can you play Arc Raiders solo?
Yes, Arc Raiders supports solo play, two-player teams, or three-player squads. The matchmaking system generally places solo players against other solos for balanced encounters, though this isn’t guaranteed.
What platforms is Arc Raiders available on?
Arc Raiders launched on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC with full crossplay support across all platforms.
How does the AI voice quality affect gameplay?
According to reviews, the AI voices are functional but lack the emotional depth and nuance of human performances. Most players report they don’t significantly detract from the core gameplay experience, though opinions vary based on individual sensitivity to voice acting quality.
Conclusion
Arc Raiders represents both the best and most frustrating aspects of modern game development. Mechanically, it’s a triumph, delivering refined extraction shooter gameplay that makes the genre more accessible without sacrificing depth or tension. The AI enemies are genuinely clever, the combat feels satisfying, and the player community has developed a surprisingly cooperative culture despite the genre’s competitive nature.
But the AI voice controversy overshadows these achievements for some critics and players. Whether you believe ethical concerns about development practices should impact review scores is a personal decision. Eurogamer clearly thinks they should. Other outlets evaluated the game purely on its playability and fun factor.
For players, the choice comes down to individual values. If you refuse to support games using AI-generated voices on principle, Arc Raiders isn’t for you regardless of how good the gameplay is. If you evaluate games solely on whether they’re fun to play, this is one of 2025’s best multiplayer experiences and the AI voices won’t significantly impact your enjoyment.
The industry will be watching how Arc Raiders performs commercially. Strong sales despite the controversy would signal that most players prioritize gameplay over development ethics. Poor performance would suggest the opposite. Either outcome will influence how future studios approach AI integration in their projects. For now, Arc Raiders stands as a technically excellent game wrapped in an ethical debate that won’t be resolved anytime soon.