ArcRunner is a fun shooter where death is never the end.
ArcRunner is a cyberpunk-themed roguelike shooter game. It was developed by Trickjump Games Limited, an indie game studio that popped up in 2017 with the debut of their game Battle Royale Trainer in 2018, a game that helps with practicing your shooting for any shooter battle royale game you play and 10 Miles To Safety in 2019, a strategy puzzle game that was released in 2019. ArcRunner is the studio’s third game title.
ArcRunner’s publishers, however, are well known. PQube is an international development, publishing, and distributing entertainment company with both big and small names under their belt, like Alice Gear Aegis CS, Labyrinth of Zangetsu, and yet-to-be-released titles such as Ghostpia.
When you first log into ArcRunner, you aren’t sure if there is a storyline, but as you start a new game, you go through a well-thought-out cutscene that explains the lore about the world you are in. Then the ever-helpful AI who had re-atomized you explains why you are shooting down robots on the way to your ultimate goal to shut off the main AI, which had been infected with a virus. ArcRunner is made of different stages, each stage has to be reached in the same run, and the final boss has to be defeated to complete the game. The Arc is made up of 3 stages, The city, The Docks and Eden. There are 6 levels per stage, and they have both a mini-boss and a main boss.
You have three different classes available for you to play with, but unfortunately, one of them isn’t available until you reach Eden. Up until this level, you have access to the Soldier which is a combat specialist with rounded abilities and a little bit more hit points than the other classes, which makes it a great combat class and all-around tank. Soldier’s Ultimate ability allows them to become invulnerable for a short while.
The second Class is the Ninja, a class that specializes in katana attacks and stealth, and the Ninja can also move faster than the other classes, making it great for scouting ahead. This links into both the first ability and the ultimate. The ninja’s first ability is a stealth cloak, and this allows the player to move around unseen as long as you have the energy to keep the ability powered. Ninja’s ultimate is Samurai Strike, where your character throws your katana and can strike up to 10 enemies. With bosses, it tends to bounce around them, dealing constant damage for as long as the ability is active.
The last class and the only class you have to unlock, is the Hacker. This class specializes in subterfuge and infiltration but also has the least amount of health. The main ability of the hacker is to upload viruses and hacks onto any hackable object and enemy in the area. The Hacker’s ultimate is called Neural Overdrive, which turbo charges your hacking abilities.
Completing a run isn’t as easy as it sounds in ArcRunner since you don’t just start with max perks. Every run you do gathers the nanites that you need to upgrade your perks. From more health, extra life and even unlocking your class’s ultimate skill. Gathering as many nanites as you can in your first few runs tends to become more important as you progress to higher stages and levels because while each stage may have its enemy designs, they get tougher the further you go.
You can also unlock starting equipment by killing off enemies with that weapon. This makes starting a run easier when you are packing your favourite ranged weapon as starting heat. While the game does have melee weapons, they are class-specific, for example, the Ninja has access to a Katana, and the Soldier has the slower-moving but more powerful Gravity Hammer.
Normal ranged weapons aren’t the only things you can get your hands on, as you will have access to heavy weapons. Now fortunately, most of your weapons have unlimited ammo. The heavy weapon, however, does not, but the game would not be fun if you could end it instantly with an endless supply of grenades from a grenade launcher. Luckily a lack of ammo can be solved by leveling up certain perks, and this makes it highly likely for enemies to drop more ammo as well as for you to hold far more ammo in your weapon clips.
You don’t always have to hit the enemy to take them down in ArcRunner. Littered around each level are tons of environmental elements that you can use against your enemies. From blowing up cars to take out a large cluster of enemies to shooting an electrical box to stun the enemy sniper trying to hit you. Unfortunately, the same things that can be used to turn the tide of battle can be used against you as enemy weapon fire also affect the environment, so plan your strategies carefully and watch your surroundings.
While it’s fun blowing things up, don’t forget to keep an eye out for supply crates. Whether it’s a challenge crate that’s in a side area in each level or it’s hidden in different spots on the map, these crates are the difference between life and death. The reason for that is not only do they drop health and armour, but they also drop weapons, weapon mods, as well as extra nanites. Unfortunately, not every run you do will have a glorious amount of supply crates, and some will not even have a single drop of the glorious loot outside of challenge crates.
ArcRunner features a 3-person cooperative mode. While you get extra enemies to watch out for throughout the levels, you can enjoy the game with other people. Unfortunately, while there isn’t friendly fire, you can still down a fellow player by blowing up environments near them, and you can knock on their aim, of course, if you manage to shoot them in time, making self-sabotage highly likely.
Each Run you do doesn’t just end in a game over as the way the fighting is set is live, die, upgrade and repeat for almost every run. But with every upgrade and every death, it gets easier to both combat the enemies and progress through the levels. While playing through the many runs in ArcRunnner can get boring or frustrating on your own after a while if you can’t get further along than you did before. When playing with friends, the game is way more fun since you’ll have someone to watch your back.
Each stage has its weapon drops; while you can get guns from the previous stage in the level you are currently in, it’s not as likely. From bows and shotguns to SMGs, the game has you covered, no matter the way you play. However, the aiming for the guns seems a little off every now and then. Even with the crosshairs, any bullet you shoot heads just a little too much near the left, so you have to shoot off the target sometimes to hit your enemy.
ArcRunner has some beautifully designed levels that make you feel as if you just stepped aboard a high-tech, cyberpunk major satellite. Each stage has its unique designs that add to the effect. The enemies themselves have changing designs depending on which stage you are in, as well as the additional enemies that get added in.
Listening out for enemy attacks may be important in ArcRunner. This ties in with the fact that they went all out with the sound effects in the game. Being able to tell where an enemy is shooting from does get harder when you have a large group spawning in, but it’s easier to tell which type of enemy it is. For example, the drone makes an almost charging static or electrical noise, and they only fire when they are right next to you, so creating a distance from them is always the best thing to do. The background music suits the theme of the game with an EDM feel to the music.
Overall, ArcRunner is a fun roguelike shooter with an interesting twist to deal with. Even after dying in multiple runs, it’s always fun to get back into the fray with new weapons and a completely different set of chosen augments each run, it’s easy to see any player looking for an adrenaline rush playing through the game and claiming their prize at the end.
