ARC Raiders has become my new obsession for the past few days. After spending almost 20+ hours of looting and shooting players or Arc machines, I’ve grown accustomed to its gameplay loop, and now I am in too deep with how addicting it has become.
Part of the reason why I’ve enjoyed ARC Raiders so much is how it perfectly uses proximity chat. For an extraction shooter, it’s an essential feature that makes everything unpredictable.
Proximity Chat as a Weapon
Many have found issues with ARC Raiders’ PvP mode being too hostile, but not many are aware that there’s a much more powerful weapon against these types of players: Diplomacy. Using the game’s in-game voice chat makes these tense encounters less dangerous, and with a simple press of a button and saying “Friendly! Friendly!” or “Don’t Shoot!” you can actually make a temporary partner in your run. Unless, of course, they betray you in the last second. Either way, both are good stories to tell your friends.
In my personal experience, proximity chat has saved me more than once in Solo play. There was one moment where I was casually looting a base in Dam Battlegrounds and fell three stories high after a failed zipline attempt. I was lucky enough to encounter one other player with a Defibrillator and ended up reviving me, continuing my run in the process. We had a friendly chat together and eventually extracted ourselves before things got worse.
There was also one moment where I was with my group of friends and encountered another squad of players. Fortunately, they were kind enough to listen and engage in some friendly conversations. We decided to team up and destroy a nearby Rocketeer harassing us for the past few minutes. We successfully blew the Rocketeer to smithereens and took what we could from its metallic carcass, evenly shared, of course.
ARC Raiders and Player Choice
The amount of player freedom in ARC Raiders is insane, and with proximity chat, it makes each run feel “human,” and not a formulaic mess we see in most triple-A shooters today. These are actual, living people who just want to enjoy their time with the game, and meeting random players who just want to hang out and pop some clankers is a joyous sight.
Of course, hostility will always be around since PvP will always be in the game. For every good Raider I encounter in Toledo, there’s always an evil equivalent where I’m being shot on sight with barely any communication. I don't see these as dealbreakers, since I could also become hostile depending on my mood.
Proximity Chat in Other Games
Proximity Chat is a double-edged sword. While it guarantees fun and player communication, it’s also a playground for player toxicity. Which is why Bungie refuses to add it to their upcoming extraction shooter, Marathon. It was so controversial that fans begged that Bungie reconsider its omission, since proximity chat is always essential in an extraction shooter, as it adds to the drama and suspense.
Games that do proximity chat well have spawned wholesome encounters rather than toxicity. Sea of Thieves does this so well that meeting other seafarers across its great seas feels like a welcome surprise. Sure, there are moments of warfare and misunderstanding, but it mostly ends up in unexpected diplomacy... temporarily, of course.
Overall, ARC Raiders’ use of proximity chat adds more layers to its replay value. You’re always guaranteed to have unique encounters with every run, and it will all depend on how you use the power of diplomacy. I don’t consider myself a talker in video games, but ARC Raiders has surprisingly turned me into one. And that’s the beauty of it.
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