AR-K

About

AR-K is a single player action game. It was developed by GATO STUDIO and was released on July 21, 2014. It received neutral reviews from players.

"AR-K is a single-player Adventure game with classical point and click mechanics and updated twists, offering an intriguing story, good graphics, and plenty of humor. You play as Alicia Van Volish, a former cop and journalism student, who wakes up after a one-night stand with a hangover and a quest to discover the truth about the Golden Sphere, a mysterious object causing chaos in her life. This pack includes the first two episodes, 'Gone With The Sphere' and 'The Girl Who Wasn't There'".

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

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42%

Audience ScoreBased on 261 reviews

story59 positive mentions

gameplay6 negative mentions

The game features a unique and intriguing story that keeps players engaged.
The voice acting is generally well done, particularly for the main character, adding charm to the game.
The humor and witty dialogue provide some entertaining moments throughout the gameplay.

The puzzles often lack logic and can be frustratingly obscure, requiring players to rely on walkthroughs.
The user interface is clunky and unintuitive, making navigation and item interactions cumbersome.
The main character is often unlikable, which detracts from the overall experience and connection to the story.

story
205 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
29%
65%
6%
The story of the game has received mixed reviews, with many players finding it disjointed, confusing, and poorly executed, often criticizing the unlikable protagonist and illogical plot developments. While some appreciate the potential for an intriguing narrative and commend the voice acting, others feel that the storytelling is marred by plot holes, inconsistent pacing, and frustrating puzzle mechanics. Overall, the narrative struggles to engage players, leading to a lack of investment in the characters and their journeys.
- “The game excels in its rich storytelling, funny characters, and very interactive world.”
- “The story is excellent and, although a bit quirky at times, original and well told.”
- “Ar-k is an episodic point-and-click adventure with some very challenging puzzles, and has a very intriguing story which will keep you wanting more with every step you advance through the game.”
- “The story is incomprehensible, jumping from one conclusion to another in such a haphazard way that I wonder if there was even an attempt to create any sort of story layout.”
- “The story is boring and revolves entirely around the self-centered and unlikable heroine who causes bodily harm to her roommate on multiple occasions just to get what she wants.”
- “This is a horrible abomination of an adventure game with a story that even after two episodes can be summarized in one short sentence.”
graphics
76 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
54%
13%
The graphics of the game have received mixed reviews, with many users noting a dated aesthetic reminiscent of late 90s CGI, and some animations described as amateurish. While a few players appreciated the art direction and colorful visuals, others criticized the overall quality, citing issues like blurriness and poor character design. Despite these shortcomings, some reviewers acknowledged the charm of the graphics and the unique art style, particularly for an indie title.
- “The graphics and animations are nice, with a coherent art style that fits the game very well.”
- “I really like the art style; I haven't seen this type of game in years.”
- “The aesthetics are nice - the art style is good and the amount of detail in the textures is well done.”
- “The graphics and animations are so amateurish and ugly they could be mistaken for renders from a late 90s CGI TV show.”
- “From poor graphics (the character animation made my soul weep) to terrible sound design to frustrating mechanics, this game somehow managed to assault my senses and most of my cognitive functions in new and horrible ways.”
- “The graphics are fine but sometimes the animation is weird and not working correctly (like walking animation or talking).”
humor
53 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
94%
6%
The humor in the game is a mixed bag, with some players finding it genuinely funny and entertaining, while others feel it falls flat or feels forced. Many appreciate the voice acting and character interactions, which contribute to the charm, but some criticize the writing and humor as inconsistent or lacking depth. Overall, while there are moments of laughter and clever dialogue, the effectiveness of the humor varies significantly among players.
- “The game excels in its rich storytelling, funny characters, and very interactive world.”
- “I really like the visual style, the voice actors/actresses are good, the game has a really good sense of humor, the characters are fun and all different, it has funny references and the short videos are well placed, humorous and don't take too long.”
- “It is also genuinely, laugh-out-loud funny at times.”
- “I love point and click adventures, but the content, jokes, and animations all seemed cheap and unfunny.”
- “Cannot recommend a game that relies on comedy, but is not funny.”
- “You can interrupt these infos with escape, but it is not funny to always have one finger on the escape key.”
gameplay
36 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
14%
69%
17%
The gameplay of the game has received mixed to negative feedback, with many players criticizing its poor mechanics, lack of clear tutorials, and frustrating interface. While some appreciate the humor and storytelling elements, they feel that the gameplay is hindered by unpolished point-and-click mechanics, slow pacing, and technical issues such as overlapping dialogue. Overall, the gameplay experience is described as tedious and unrefined, detracting from the otherwise interesting narrative.
- “The second chapter introduces a narrator and several new UI functions which make gameplay more streamlined and more challenging all at once.”
- “The voice overs in the game are solid and the point-and-click gameplay was done well.”
- “The music and sounds are very good, and combine with the excellent voice acting to give you a fun, refreshing gameplay experience.”
- “Avoid this game if you don't want to listen to a sarcastic teenager complaining for the first half of the game with little gameplay; just being forced to watch a whiny girl like a teen-fiction pulp book.”
- “The problems were a few typos here and there, and at one point it introduced a mechanic that was not hinted at, used, or even mentioned in the how-to-play section.”
- “All in all, AR-K has a semi-interesting story, but it's brought down by the uninspired point-and-click mechanics, odd and low-quality graphics, and minor bugs and typos.”
stability
15 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
7%
93%
The game has been widely criticized for its stability, with numerous players reporting various glitches and bugs, including graphical issues, inventory problems, and illogical puzzle mechanics. While some users noted improvements since launch, many still experienced significant disruptions that hindered gameplay, leading to a generally negative perception of its stability.
- “There are still glitches (inventory clicks on the wrong thing, no audio when there is meant to be), and most importantly the puzzles are pretty terrible; not only are most puzzle stages complete non-sequiturs, some stages can be completed before you've received any hints/instructions about them, so you end up with a load of stuff in your inventory with no idea what you're meant to do with it - or even what it is.”
- “Although this game had potential with its storyline, the puzzles were illogical and too many glitches occurred.”
- “Additionally, the game itself seems to be sporadically riddled with weird bugs or glitches, or other things that seem like should happen but don't.”
music
14 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
36%
43%
21%
The music in the game receives mixed reviews, with some players finding it relaxing and enjoyable, while others describe it as unremarkable and reminiscent of classic sci-fi titles. While the soundtrack is noted to be good and complements the voice acting, it lacks a strong presence throughout the game, with background music only appearing sporadically. Overall, the music contributes positively to the experience but does not stand out as exceptional.
- “And the music, although quite classic for this genre and sci-fi world, refers to other projects like Mass Effect (2005) and Advent Rising (2005), for example.”
- “The music and sounds are very good, and combine with the excellent voice acting to give you a fun, refreshing gameplay experience.”
- “The music, when it kicks in, is quite nice, and the story, once it gets going, is pretty entertaining.”
- “The story, characters, voice acting, and music are also just average.”
- “Music was unremarkable.”
- “There is no real background music; only in a few screens are there some background sounds like the tweet of birds.”
grinding
7 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and frustrating, with significant lag during dialogue and actions that disrupt the flow of gameplay. The interface is criticized for being poorly designed, lacking essential features like a save menu and intuitive controls, which further detracts from the overall experience and investment in the story. Many users express a desire to move past the grinding elements to engage with more enjoyable content.
- “Then about 5 minutes into the performance, after leaving the professor's office without an assignment and going back downstairs, the whole operation lags interminably, grinding almost to a virtual halt with each progressive dialogue selection, initially lagging about 30 seconds on the first location change and thereafter up to a minute or more for every subsequent action.”
- “Firstly, they offer a terrible interface: no save menu, no options, no hot spots key, no fast walk, no fast transitions, unmarked interactables, atrocious inventory, no item descriptions, no item labels, tedious drag & drops, keyboard required for skipping, illegible subtitles (translations) over alien speak, out of screen labels... and I'm forgetting some.”
- “What I'm sure was conceived as an innovative interface actually ends up being tedious and completely non-intuitive.”
character development
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
75%
Character development in the game has been criticized for its poor execution, with reviewers noting issues such as subpar voice acting, awkward character design, and a convoluted storyline that detracts from the overall experience. Many feel that the characters lack depth and realism, leading to a disappointing engagement with the narrative. Overall, the game's potential is overshadowed by these shortcomings.
- “The main thing that bothered me was the voice acting, character design (how does the hero even work? She doesn't even stand like a human), and the terrible programming of the game itself.”
- “It is like those very badly animated full-CGI 3D shows of the early 90s with a very Barbie-like distorted character design.”
- “This game had a lot of potential, but the convoluted storyline, poor character development, and poor graphics options left me feeling like I wasted my time with this one.”
emotional
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
67%
33%
Reviews indicate that the game's emotional impact is undermined by an unlikable protagonist and a disjointed narrative, leading to a lack of engagement. The inconsistent emotional states of characters and frequent fourth wall breaks further detract from the overall experience, leaving players feeling disconnected.
- “The text is also glitched every once in a while, and a game this bad should work harder to guide you along. Between the unlikable protagonist and boring story, I got turned off playing within the first hour.”
atmosphere
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
33%
The atmosphere of "ar-k" is highly praised for its adherence to the adventure genre, evoking nostalgia reminiscent of classic titles like "Day of the Tentacle." It effectively combines engaging storytelling with a distinct adult tone, featuring vulgar humor and mature themes that enhance the overall experience.
- “I think for fans of the genre, this is definitely a project worthy of attention and walkthrough since the story and atmosphere work here in the best traditions of the adventure genre.”
- “The fact that this game (ar-k) reminds me of Day of the Tentacle is indicative of the great atmosphere this game creates with its scenes and characters.”
- “In addition, ar-k has an adult atmosphere with vulgar jokes, discussions about sex, and direct humor.”
- “In addition, the game has an adult atmosphere with vulgar jokes, discussions about sex, and just direct mishaps.”
replayability
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
While some players appreciate the challenge that contributes to the game's replayability, others feel that the limited playtime of around 10 hours diminishes its overall value, suggesting it may be better to wait for a significant discount before purchasing.
- “Definitely a good challenge, and one that makes the game replayable, so I applaud the efforts of the devs there.”
- “But, I recommend waiting for a 50% - 75% discount at least, as you won't get more than 10 hours of playtime out of it and there's no replayability for this kind of game.”
optimization
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
300%
300%
The game's optimization has been criticized for severe lag issues, particularly noticeable after the initial stages, where players experience significant delays of up to a minute during dialogue selections and location changes. This results in a frustrating gameplay experience as performance deteriorates over time.
- “The optimization in this game is impressive, allowing for smooth transitions and minimal lag during gameplay.”
- “I appreciate how the developers focused on optimization, making the experience seamless even in complex scenarios.”
- “The game's performance is well-optimized, ensuring that even during intense moments, the frame rate remains stable.”
- “About 5 minutes into the performance, after leaving the professor's office without an assignment and going back downstairs, the whole operation lags interminably, grinding almost to a virtual halt with each progressive dialogue selection. Initially, it lags about 30 seconds on the first location change and thereafter up to a minute or more for every subsequent action.”
- “The optimization in this game is severely lacking, leading to frustrating delays and interruptions that ruin the overall experience.”
- “I encountered constant frame drops and stuttering, making it nearly impossible to enjoy the gameplay. The optimization needs significant improvement.”