Arcadegeddon is an interesting battle for the gaming world against a corporation hellbent on bullying the little guy.
Arcadegeddon is a co-operative roguelite shooter that was developed and published by an independent game studio called, IllFonic, which is based in multiple parts of the US. They have two previous titles, Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed and Predator Hunting Grounds, that have been published.
Arcadegeddon takes place in the futuristic world of Super City, a futuristic metropolitan as explained in the intro, and it is a hub for everything from culture, commerce, and class warfare. On the top of everything in this world is your classic evil corporation that goes by the name funFUNco, Aka: The Man – A company filled with soulless “leeches” intent on draining the gaming industry dry. However, there are gangs of the super city that resist the evil corporation funFUNco, that gather from near and far. In the intro, you will also be introduced to Gilly’s Arcade, the very last bastion of true gaming in this corporation-driven world.
Though this independent spirit of gaming won’t stay unscathed for long, luckily, Gilly has a plan, well, at least, he hopes he does. As we go further into the cut scene, you also get to meet Gilly’s Tombot, who ends up giving Gilly a fright. Gilly tells Tombot to put away the random brochure as he has a grudge to settle with the corporation, as poetically stated by Gilly – “a revenge that needs… revenging”.
Plugging in his finest game and the last he will ever make, the machine sparks to life, Gilly asks Tombot what they should call it, and without hesitation, Tombot dubs it the Arcadegeddon, which gets Gilly’s approval. Gilly gazes in excitement at the fresh leaderboard, stating that it is the sign of a game waiting to be played.
As soon as the excitement hits its peak, disaster strikes in the form of a virus sent by funFUNco. Finally, having enough, Gilly calls out the big guns, that would be you. After receiving the message from Gilly, you are taken straight into character creation which has options for the head, hair, and body that embody the weird features of the future, though you can make a pretty normal-looking character too.
After having made your character, you will find yourself in an alleyway. This is where the basic tutorial is explained, such as moving your camera and movement. After the basics, you are given your first objective, find Gilly’s Arcade. Entering the arcade, you will see it’s not much of an arcade at all. Once you start the dialogue, more is revealed about Gilly and your character, calling you by your character’s old name, Plugworth. You get an explanation of the situation.
Once the explanation of the situation is done, Gilly asks if you would like to play the tutorial or skip it. Once you have entered the platform to do the tutorial, you will have the rest of the mechanics that you need to be explained, such as dodge roll and sprint. After having completed more of the basic movements, you are instructed to reach the checkpoint. After reaching the checkpoint, you are given your first gun, and you get tasked with taking out the targets that appear.
After making some more progress, you are given a loot chest. In the chest is a hacked card that acts as a passive skill system. After being told to get to a transport wire in hopes of getting out of the game, you are interrupted. Shocked, Gilly exclaims that there are enemies inbound and that that is not part of the tutorial. Jumping into the next zone, you are hit will a few enemies, some holding bats and others flying and firing guns with three mounted automatic guns around you. It’s your job to stay in the designated zone while taking out the enemies and avoiding death at the same time while Gilly patches the breach.
Within Arcadegeddon, there is a large variety of guns, from the standard assault to a particle ripper and many others in-between. Each gun within Arcadegeddon has its own randomly rolled properties that can include elemental effects as well as boosted damage. You will also be able to upgrade the weapons to a higher rarity which includes a large boost in damage and weapon stats.
As per mentioned before, the protagonist Plugworth, now known as Plug, has a special gauntlet building up energy from damaging your targets, the Surge Gauntlet, when fired, can shoot out a massive fireball that is used to take out groups of enemies or if you are feeling cold-hearted, you could use ice blasts and about ten other abilities all purchased with special coins called power tokens.
As mentioned before, there are gangs in this metropolitan world that resist funFUNco. The first of these gangs that you will come across is the gang NT8s which is pronounced “98’s” and the gang’s leader, Label, who seems a little full of herself. Although that could just be the demeanor of a gang leader ready to slay on the leaderboard, but first, you have to convince her to join in on the new game to slow down the corporation’s virus attack.
To get to the top of the leaderboard, you will need to build up your scores but beware, the more you score, the more your boss meter will rise. Once it is full, you will have to fight said boss. There are about a total of four bosses in a run, and taking them all down in a single run will give you Gilly’s friendship for life… Well, that and there’s a collectible in it for you as well.
Within an actual run of Arcadegeddon, combat is fluidly snappy and fast-paced, with a wide range of guns to use at your disposal as well as melee weapons for close-range combat. In the loot boxes, you may come across, there are credits within the game that will help with gun upgrades or buying back some health. Hacks play an important role within the game as it works as a passive system. As mentioned before, passives such as coin collection or accuracy, these passives will make or break your run, and you can also upgrade these passives or sell them to get others in their places.
After completing an actual run, you will be shown the scoreboard, well, yours, at least. You will see how many enemies you have killed, how many times you used your skills, and how much damage you produced during your runs, especially if you face a boss. You will also see how many tickets you have earned during your run. Tickets are used to buy cosmetic items for your character, Plugworth.
The soundtrack of Arcadegeddon is a rich dubstep soundtrack that gives an incredibly immersive feel to the game’s dystopian future. Although the soundtrack is dubstep based, the tune does change according to what area you are in, giving more variety to the soundtrack, which in truth, is refreshing as some games have repetitive soundtracks, which can get boring. Arcadegeddon’s soundtrack gives each round or runs a fun, immersive experience, and sometimes the track that plays is enough to give you a little bit of a jive while you are playing.
As for the art style of Arcadegeddon, it houses a unique design for characters and environments within the arcade and out in the runs, all having a range of colors and features to add to characters or come across in the game. The design is reminiscent of games like Fortnite and Arcrunner, with a cartoonish flare to the character design.
Overall, Arcageddon is a super fun, fast-paced rogue-lite shooter with co-operative gameplay and interesting art styles. Run and shoot your way to the top of the leaderboard while jamming to an insane dubstep soundtrack as you take down funFUNco.
