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ark survival ascended differences graphics

Ark: Survival Ascended vs. Evolved: Differences explained

Is it worth it?

For those unaware, Ark: Survival Ascended is a new Unreal Engine 5 remaster of Ark: Survival Evolved, which ran on UE4. While the remaster is obviously very similar to the original, there are significant differences that should be taken into consideration. Let’s get into it.

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Ark: Survival Ascended vs. Evolved: Changes and differences

The most noticeable difference between Ark: Survival Ascended and Ark: Survival Evolved is the graphics. Even on lower settings, the graphical beauty of Ascended easily overpowers its predecessor.

ASA on Low settings (Screenshot by Dot Esports)

The original Ark: Survival Evolved was nothing to sneeze at when set to Epic graphics settings, but the new Lumen Global Illumination lighting system used in Ark: Survival Ascended is what really allows it to shine (literally).

On top of the obvious graphical improvements, Ark: Survival Ascended has a unique Photo Mode, which is surprisingly awesome.

Photo mode OP (Screenshot by Dot Esports)

This new Photo Mode grants tons of control to the more artistic Ark players, including camera features like focal length, depth of field and tracking. These features will allow ASA players to create beautiful movies and screenshots with ease.

Besides these changes, ASA also boasts a ton of new features that I’ll list below:

Just to be clear, these are only the most important differences featured in Ark: Survival Ascended. There are a ton of lesser additions, like HUD changes and new items and sounds.

As a long-time fan of Ark: Survival Evolved and Studio Wildcard, I would say Ark: Survival Ascended is definitely worth a try based on the new graphics alone. I often find myself looking out into the ocean or playing around in Photo Mode, admiring the new graphical improvements.

Now that you know the most important differences between Ark: Survival Ascended and Ark: Survival Evolved, it’s time to join those official servers and get raided over and over again…


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Joe Greene
Joe Greene is currently the SEO Manager for the prestigious Dot Esports. If Joe isn't playing Bloons Tower Defense 6, he's probably thinking about playing it. With a background in writing, music and coding, Joe can really do it all!