Video games have long relied on traditional UI elements to help players interpret what’s happening on their screens. Health bars, enemy indicators, and damage numbers have become so commonplace that many players barely question their existence. But the developers of ARC Raiders took a very different path. Instead of leaning on the usual heads-up display conventions, Embark Studios set out to build a world where players could understand danger, damage, and momentum purely through what they see and hear — without a visible health bar in sight.
It’s an unusual approach in the modern shooter landscape, but it has become one of ARC Raiders’ most defining and celebrated qualities. The game’s commitment to physics-driven immersion elevates every encounter, turning battles into dynamic exchanges where machine behavior and environmental reactions are the player’s primary tools for reading the situation.
This design philosophy is explored in depth in “The Evolution of ARC Raiders,” a documentary-style series following the game’s development. In one of the most illuminating episodes, creative director Stefan Strandberg explains how ARC Raiders’ team embraced physics not just as a technical feature but as the very language of the game. His insights reveal a project built on the belief that realism doesn’t come from overwhelming players with information — it comes from letting the world speak for itself.
The Foundation: A World That Communicates Without UI
Many games rely heavily on UI as a shortcut for conveying information. But ARC Raiders attempts something more ambitious: making the world readable without needing on-screen indicators. According to Strandberg, everything began with a simple yet powerful idea:
“Allow the things in there to be real.”
This phrase captures the essence of their philosophy. If machines in the world behave like real physical objects, they shouldn’t need floating bars to tell players how injured they are — their damaged parts, slowed movement, or loss of functionality should be enough.
Building a world that reliably communicates its internal state through physics requires a tremendous amount of technical and artistic effort. ARC Raiders embraces:
- Gradual structural damage
- Visible wear on machine joints
- Malfunctioning thrusters and rotors
- Dynamic debris shedding off surfaces
- True-to-physics movement changes
These are not decorative details. They’re the primary gameplay indicators.
When a drone loses a thruster, the machine doesn’t simply flicker or flash — it spirals downward, loses stability, or starts drifting off course. When players damage the leg of a Bastion, that machine visually reacts by kneeling or slowing down rather than simply flashing a red icon. It’s physical storytelling rather than UI messaging.
Physics as a Replacement for Health Bars
ARC Raiders’ most radical departure from standard shooter design is the complete absence of enemy health bars. Instead, the team built a system where the condition of the machine is itself the health indicator.
Strandberg explains this approach by comparing it to how players make decisions in real life. Humans don’t need labels or floating icons to understand environmental danger — they rely on observation. So why should a video game break that instinct by forcing the player’s eyes to a UI element instead of the world?
In ARC Raiders, every shot creates a reaction:
- Sparks erupt from stressed joints
- Panels buckle under repeated fire
- Momentum shifts when engines are damaged
- Pieces fly off and scatter realistically
- Machines change posture when weakened
These signs tell players exactly how the fight is progressing. The lack of a health bar is not a limitation — it’s a challenge addressed by world-driven communication.
The more familiar players become with ARC Raiders’ machines, the more readable the feedback becomes. After a few hours in the game, players stop searching for UI cues entirely. They don’t need direction from a status bar; they can see what’s happening.
PvPvE Combat Demands Natural, Instinctive Feedback
ARC Raiders is not simply a PvE shooter. It’s a PvPvE hybrid, meaning players must constantly adapt to unpredictable combat environments filled not only with hostile machines but also other players who may attack or assist depending on their goals.
In such chaotic environments, UI-heavy gameplay can feel cluttered or distracting. Embark Studios wanted the battlefield to speak for itself without overwhelming the player with information layered on top of the visual experience.
This is where physics-driven immersion becomes invaluable.
When exploring the environment, players will run into ARC machines far more frequently than human opponents. These machines come in many varieties — Wasps, Bastions, and more — each with distinct physical vulnerabilities. Recognizing their behavior is crucial for survival.
For example:
- A Wasp missing one rotor wobbles in the air
- Missing two rotors? It nosedives or spirals helplessly
- A Bastion that has taken concentrated fire to its legs may crouch or collapse
- Smaller ARC units spark violently when close to critical failure
These cues allow players to understand:
- How close the fight is to ending
- How dangerous the machine currently is
- Whether it’s safe to reposition or advance
- Whether the enemy is still capable of attacking
All without UI clutter.
Trusting the Player: A Rare Philosophy in Modern Game Design
One of the boldest decisions Embark Studios made was to trust the player’s intelligence and perception. Instead of spoon-feeding data through UI, ARC Raiders asks players to analyze the world themselves.
Strandberg describes this as “trusting the human ability to decode” visual and auditory signals. Humans naturally interpret sensory data every day — from reading facial expressions to noticing mechanical failure in machinery. ARC Raiders taps into this instinct.
This kind of trust is unusual in gaming. Many developers fear players will struggle without constant UI direction. But ARC Raiders proves that with enough physical detail and consistent machine behavior, players can make effective decisions based solely on how the world reacts.
The key is consistency. The player never feels cheated because the machines behave reliably. Damage causes predictable types of reactions, which players learn to read over time. As a result, players become more immersed because they stay focused on the battlefield, not indicators or menu elements.
Making Physics the Core Gameplay Language
Physics in ARC Raiders isn’t a background system — it’s the primary language of the game. The developers built multiple layers of physical feedback to convey depth without UI:
- Movement changes: Damaged machines lose balance or mobility
- Visual deterioration: Panels crumple, sparks fly, smoke emits
- Behavioral shifts: Machines slow down, retreat, or malfunction
- Debris feedback: Parts fall off, revealing internal structure
- Sound cues: Mechanical whines, stressed joints, failing rotors
Together, these elements create a rich, readable battlefield.
Consider a Wasp machine. In a traditional shooter, you might fire at it until a health bar depletes. In ARC Raiders, your job is to understand how it behaves as you disable various components:
- Hit a rotor → it falters slightly
- Hit another → it struggles to keep altitude
- Remove both → it plummets or spins out
That physical progression is far more immersive than a bar slowly draining.
This style of design makes combat more cinematic, more dynamic, and more memorable. Every fight tells a story of physical damage rather than numerical depletion.
Immersion Without Sacrificing Clarity
Removing UI often leads to frustration when games don’t offer enough feedback. But ARC Raiders avoids this trap because the physics system is designed to be incredibly readable.
Every machine is built around:
- Multiple damage states
- Distinctive reactions
- Clear weak points
- Predictable patterns of collapse
This ensures the gameplay remains accessible even as UI elements fade into the background. Instead of learning icons or health colors, players learn behaviors — something far easier to internalize.
Over time, players build a natural intuition about how much effort is required to finish a fight. This makes ARC Raiders uniquely approachable despite its apparent complexity.
A Development Philosophy That Shapes Everything
The second episode of “The Evolution of ARC Raiders” reveals how central this philosophy is to the game’s identity. Physics-driven immersion is not an isolated feature — it influences every part of ARC Raiders’ systems.
Enemy AI, movement patterns, environment interactions, and even the progression of battles all revolve around the idea that immersion should come from the world itself, not UI overlays.
The more Embark Studios expands on this philosophy, the easier it becomes to see why ARC Raiders feels distinct in the modern shooter landscape. Its physics systems don’t just add realism — they grant players a more instinctive, intuitive way to engage with combat.
This commitment to immersion gives ARC Raiders a bold, expressive identity that sets it apart from traditional shooters.