head to head
vs
ARK: Survival AscendedvsEmpire: Total War
ARK: Survival Ascended leans Optimization (Pure Optimization); Empire: Total War leans Optimization (Pure Optimization).
ARK: Survival AscendedEmpire: Total War
Axis by axis
Execution3 vs 2
ARK: Survival Ascended leans harder on execution: Combat is clunky; precision rarely decisive.
Reads4 vs 3
ARK: Survival Ascended leans harder on reads: PvP servers introduce some adaptive human opposition.
Variance3 vs 3
Even - both lean on variance about the same.
Optimization8 vs 8
Even - both lean on optimization about the same.
Two games can score the same on an axis and still test it in very different ways - read each rationale, not just the number.