Fans of ARK: Survival Evolved who play on the PC are in for a real treat, as Studio Wildcard has released a new expansion map named “Valguero.” This new content adds a large, diverse map to explore with exotic biomes, new encounters, titanic boss arena battles, mysterious ruins, unexplored networks of caves, and a ferociously quick and agile dinosaur, the Deinonychus!

Best of all, the expansion content is completely free. Does it get better than this? Yes! For those who may be considering picking up the game, now is the perfect time as the game is on sale for this limited promotional period at a whopping 65% of the regular price on Steam.

Meanwhile, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One players are forced to wait a little longer. The expansion will arrive on both consoles in July. However, now is still the perfect time to be playing, as the evolution event is currently ongoing until June 24:

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A new addition that has the potential to be great fun and challenging to players is the new arena that will feature three bosses to deal with all at the same time.

Via: Studio Wildcard

Now, when the developer says there are a large network of underwater caves on this map, they meant it. Here is a brief list of some of the most important ones to check out, at least from the little time we have had to explore the map:

  • Western Cave at 33,10: This is a great spot to build a base, and has plenty of aquatic beasts to tame
  • Western Cave 2 at 60,10: Similar to the first, this provides ample amounts of natural protection to make defending easier.
  • Spider Cave at 72,40: This is a large cave rich in resources, but requires scuba gear to get to because of all the water. It is one of the main Artifact Caves, so you will need to come here eventually if bosses are a goal for you
  • Red Obelisk Cave at 82,25: Another smallish cave that is great for solo players.
  • Temple Cave at 42,83: This is the second Artifact Cave to explore, once again for boss objectives
  • Ice Cave at 15,27: This is only a simple, narrow ice cave with an Artifact within
  • Under Castle Cave at 37,90: Talk about massive. This is a huge breeding cave with lots of water. Best to be careful here, it will be full of activity

In considering how successful this map will be from the perspective of player reception, we must look to Ragnarok, the expansion map that released in 2017. Right now the consensus among Steam and Reddit users seems to be that while Valguero is interesting, and has a fun network of underwater caves, it feels barren in certain locations.

Via: Studio Wildcard

For example, places rich in resources are few, and seem to be concentrated in only three areas. This means that if you are playing on a public server, it will be challenging to harvest properly with so much competition. Players also say that there seems to be far less biome diversity than Ragnarok.

At the moment, players are still making lists and comparing them on the Steam forums and on Reddit to see which dinosaurs are available. Is seems that everything will be on Valguero, but that is still to be confirmed. For now, the map feels good, but as good as Ragnarok is right now.

Via: Studio Wildcard

With that in mind, we should also recall that players made similar comments of Ragnarok when it first released, and we should treat the release as more of a beta for players to test out the new map. The reality is that developers often have limited resources to test everything in new maps, whereas players dive in and often discover bugs that may be simple to fix in a future patch, as well as game-breaking mechanics.

If there are any issues, they will most likely be addressed before or coinciding with the release of the map onto both the PS4 and the Xbox One.

Via: Studio Wildcard

For now, get out there and explore the new map! It certainly looks like it has awesome potential to be a fan favorite in the coming months!

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