As part of their 24 hour charity stream for the Extra Life fundraising event (benefiting the Children’s Miracle Network), Studio Wildcard unveiled a teaser trailer for their upcoming expansion pack, ARK: Genesis Part II.
Billed as the biggest expansion to ARK: Survival Evolved yet, Genesis Part II will have Survivors running through incredible new biomes, finding all sorts of new and exotic creatures to fight, tame, and breed, and a new storyline leading up to an apocalyptic climax. Players will find themselves inside a massive colony ship, heading for parts unknown, and caught in a struggle for control between the ship’s AI and a power-mad colonist who might well have been reading the wrong books, like The Pnakotic Manuscripts.
Between “Noglin” creatures which can use mind control abilities on other creatures, pulling off Tony Hawk-level tricks on the skateboard-like “Hoversail,” or remote management of bases with new security camera functions, the developers claim that players are going to need to use everything they’ve learned over previous expansions to help them survive.
The trailer also shows off the new voice talent recruited to tell the story. Most of it is given over to David Tennant (Doctor Who, Jessica Jones) in full scene-chewing villain mode as Sir Edmund Rockwell, with a brief appearance by the game’s other new voice actor, Madeleine Madden (Dora and The Lost City of Gold, The Wheel of Time) as the player’s AI companion, HLN-A.
Additionally, the TLC Pass #3 update will be bringing new abilities and improved visuals for creatures like the Stegosaurus and Woolly Mammoth, as well as new activities like insect and wyvern breeding, and other quality-of-life improvements.
ARK: Genesis Part II is slated to come out in March 2021 for PC, Stadia, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. An enhancement upgrade is planned for Xbox Series X/S, but no word as yet on its availability on PlayStation 5.
