I’ve yet to play a videogame that wasn’t improved by the presence of reactive physics. We all share a biological imperative to throw stuff across a room, smash two objects together, and laugh when something big falls flat on its face. The Arc of Arc Raiders deliver on all of these treasured pastimes, and never has there been a better example of their unpredictable, physics-powered behavior than watching the extraction shooter’s alpha predator, the Queen, get absolutely suplexed by a rocket returning home.
It’s a sight that I would not have believed if the footage didn’t exist. You must see it for yourself, as documented by blessed witness ExpertCatJuggler on Reddit.
The circumstances couldn’t be simpler, nor more perfect: A Queen is roaming the abandoned fields of the Spaceport when it happens to crawl over an Arc Probe, a type of loot cache that lands in random spots on maps and then rockets back home after a while. I would have guessed that in the battle between Queen and a puny probe rocket, the 600-ton monster would prevail, but the probe proves an unstoppable force.
arcraiders from r/ArcRaiders/comments/1oz3a0r/queen_gets_fucking_suplexed_by_probe
What I love most about the interaction is how the Queen reacts to its sudden inversion. Despite it probably never being Embark’s plan to topple the game’s baddest boss with a loot cache, it plays out so naturally. There is no stiff animation set or buggy collision—the Queen simply flips and proceeds to flail its legs around, much like a panicked crab that’s been one-eightied like a pancake for the first time in its life.
The Arc’s believable movements are a testament to the way Embark programmed its automatons with machine-learning behavior sets. They don’t stay upright through rigging alone, but by learning to balance on their legs, not unlike those Boston Dynamics robots that definitely aren’t unsettling as a concept.
The clip cuts off right as the Queen faceplants like a buffoon, which prompted a bunch of commenters to ask the first question that came to my mind: Did it manage to flip back over?
“Indeed flipped back over,” responded CatJuggler. “In a rather violent manner that may or may not have resulted in my death.”
Some skeptics doubt that the last part really happened without video evidence, but a flipping maneuver wouldn’t be without precedent. We know that sometimes Arc will retaliate to Raiders mounting their heads by flicking them off with a barrel roll. And after what I’ve seen in my own raids, I’m a believer, too.
My incident was a less funny, but equally impressive example of Arc robots responding to predicaments in unexpected ways. I was taking pot shots at a Leaper from the roof of a Spaceport facility when it leapt up to make me regret it. I dropped down from a nearby skylight to the floor below. When the Leaper gave chase, it got its feet stuck in those square-shaped skylight gaps.
There it languished, kicking and screaming, occasionally attempting to dislodge itself by firing its rocket thrusters. It was no use. I watched it squirm for several minutes before trying to put it out of its misery. Turns out, I didn’t have to: eventually the Leaper accepted that it was stuck and decided to blow itself up. I almost felt bad for the fella.
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