REVIEW: ‘Ark: The Animated Series’ Is Shockingly Good

I’m not going to lie. When I first saw that Ark: Survival Evolved would get an animated series, I was skeptical. With hundreds of hours played across multiple PvP servers, the game, to me, was just about fighting to survive the server—or, more honestly, hoping a larger Alpha tribe allowed you to grow before they got bored. The narrative didn’t mean as much as dinosaurs and crafting blueprints. However, I couldn’t stop watching when Paramount+ shadowdropped the first season.

Based on the survival video game, Ark: The Animated Series takes game mechanics and surprising island clan dynamics and runs with it. Everything is taken to another level with a narrative that is well above average. Released as a Part 1, the series has tackled one artifact, brought to life the spider monster inside, and explored the actual narrative in Ark: Survival Evolved. To continue my honesty streak, it is more than I ever did in my time playing. But more than that, the series focuses on Helena (Madeleine Madden). She is a scientist from the 21st century filled with grief when her wife Victoria (Elliot Page) tragically dies.

An Aboriginal woman, she has tried to stay out of fighting since she attended her first protests. Instead, she has leaned on her education. But her knowledge won’t take her all the way, and she has to become a fighter when she’s dropped into the Ark. The series’ opening is set in the middle of the water. With Helena floating, a megalodon hunts her before she washes up on the shore. In this opening alone, the series highlights just how much it knows about the game—don’t go in the water.

From there, we quickly learn that the island is populated by dinosaurs and people from across the eras. From World War II to the Roman Empire, Ming Dynasty China, and 18th-century Europe, the diversity of the cast’s era and backgrounds allows the series to push conflict not just because each tribe is fighting for control but also because their moral identities are opposed.

While some will call Ark: The Animated Series an anime, the series isn’t animated by Japanese animation studios. While MAPPA did do some support work, as noted in the credits, the main studio is California-based Lex+Otis, which did work on Netflix’s Trese and was directed by Jay Oliva.

That said, the issue with Ark: The Animated Series is the animation quality in some of the episodes. Sporting similar frame rate issues to that of the early seasons of The Dragon Prince, there are action sequences that could be improved before the series catches its stride in the last episodes. That said, the characters more than make up for all of this, and the pacing can compensate for some lackluster background stories we get in the beginning as well. With a cast brought to life by a star-studded cast that includes Madeleine Madden, Zahn McClarnon, Michelle Yeoh, Devery Jacobs, David Tennant, Alan Tudyk, Russell Crowe, Gerard Butler, Jeffrey Wright, Tatanka Means, and Cissy Jones, the ensemble doesn’t disappoint.

Whether Helena embraces becoming a fighter, Mei-Yin (Michelle Yeoh) faces the guilt and grief of her past, or John (Zahn McClarnon) takes his Lakota name, Thunder Comes Charging, with strength, each of them has an arc that is deftly defined not just through their past but by what they do in the present. Their chemistry is also something that works. With complementing backstories, an undercurrent of empathy runs through them all.

Among them all, though, McClarnon’s John is the emotional power of the season. His story is heartbreaking, but his resiliency and resolve are moving. From character design to the incorporation of the Lakota language, everything about John and his background is powerful. These choices add depth to his character’s need to continue fighting an unrelenting force in the Ark. As always, McClarnon imbues his character with a heart that doesn’t stop for a moment, whether it’s in how he relates to others or how he fights back.

The series has larger-than-life characters meant to bring conflict and spectacle with Gaius Marcellus Nerva (Gerard Butler) and Sir Edmund Rockwell (David Tennant). That said, our main ensemble is the emotional heart of the series. They’re what makes Ark: The Animated Series a successful adaptation of a video game IP. While the characters may not reach the complexity of other animated adaptations like Castlevania: Nocturne, this is a fine outing. Honestly, it is worthy of something more than a shadow drop on the weekend.

The strength of the characters is even more fascinating, given the series’ violent approach to them. Plot armor is scarce and the dinosaurs of the Ark are brutal. Just when a character seems like they’re going to be important, some violent action keeps that from happening. A T-Rex eating them, an arrow through the back of the head, and other violent ends. This is adult animation through and through. When it comes to its pacing, subject matter, and, ultimately, propensity for blood, it all works for older audiences. It caters to older viewers without ever crossing the line of being too much for the sake of shock.

The interactions between Helena and the other characters with dinosaurs are all thoughtful. Moments like the ease with which you can domesticate a dodo that will follow you around, the importance of training a Parasaurolophus for your first mount, to the ferocity of a surprise Giganotosaurus, it’s truly the game. I wouldn’t be surprised if the animators or showrunners weren’t avid players. The dinos don’t just look cool, but they are true to how many people play the game as well.

Ark: The Animated Series is a surprising adaptation of a video game. Not just because its good, but because the game doesn’t really have a narrative at its core. It’s astonishing how the series can adapt game mechanics and player politics by creating a new narrative with both. A fascinating take on a survival game, Ark: The Animated Series deserves more than just a Part 2.

Ark: The Animated Series is streaming now on Paramount+.