INSOMNIA: The Ark is a single-player action RPG set in a dieselpunk sci-fi environment aboard a massive, decaying space station known as the Ark. Players take on the role of a mercenary navigating political intrigue, resource scarcity, and hostile encounters while making choices that shape the narrative and character development. The game emphasizes exploration across dozens of handcrafted locations, real-time combat, and survival management alongside traditional RPG progression systems.
Gameplay
Core gameplay revolves around real-time combat that blends melee weapons, firearms such as pistols and machine guns, shields for defense, and throwable explosives. Encounters require positioning and resource management, as ammunition and durability play key roles. Outside of fights, players handle survival needs including hunger, thirst, and fatigue while traversing the station map, where travel consumes in-game time and can trigger random events or new discoveries.
Character advancement uses a flexible perk and skill system without rigid classes. Players collect gear, craft items, and customize loadouts from a wide variety of equipment found or assembled during play. Dialogue choices influence interactions with NPCs and factions, leading to different quest outcomes and access to areas or alliances. Inventory limits and item durability add layers of decision-making during expeditions to over seventy unique sites.
Game Modes
The experience centers on a single-player campaign structured around a main storyline with numerous side quests and optional objectives. Progression unlocks new locations on the station map, encouraging backtracking and exploration at the player's pace. Non-linear elements include points of no return and multiple story endings that depend on choices made throughout the journey, including background selection that affects faction relations and quest resolutions.
Travel between hubs involves time passage and potential encounters, blending structured questing with open-ended scavenging and combat opportunities. There are no separate multiplayer or competitive modes; all content unfolds in the single-player context focused on story, character growth, and world interaction.
The World and Factions
The setting draws from early twentieth-century references blended with retro-futuristic design, creating a visually distinct dieselpunk atmosphere across settlements, rebel strongholds, and military outposts. Various factions control different areas, each with their own agendas, and player decisions determine alliances or conflicts that alter available paths and narrative branches. Paranormal elements and environmental hazards further complicate survival on the isolated station.
Exploration rewards careful navigation through densely detailed environments filled with lore, resources, and threats. The world feels lived-in, with settlements reflecting different societal breakdowns and power struggles among groups ranging from organized military units to mercenary bands and radical factions.
Is It Worth Playing?
Reception highlights the strong atmosphere, detailed art direction, and engaging setting as standout features, while noting occasional issues with combat pacing and quest structure. The game suits players who enjoy atmospheric single-player RPGs with choice-driven stories, tactical combat, and survival elements rather than fast-paced action or online features. Those drawn to dieselpunk sci-fi worlds and non-linear narratives will find substantial depth in the campaign and exploration loop. The Deluxe Set adds supplementary materials like concept art, a comic expanding on key characters, and an original soundtrack that enhance the overall experience for fans of the core title. Support for the game has remained stable since its 2018 release without ongoing seasonal content.
