For example, electrical rounds are great for crowds as the electricity arcs between foes, while peppering enemies with fiery bullets builds up a burn effect. Weapon variety is good too most are based on typical gun types, but often mix things up with elemental effects. Guns feel great to use, and feedback from the presentation as well as the DualSense’s haptics make dispatching baddies feel satisfying. The good news is that the action itself is really strong. This all sounds like a lot of busywork, but it all comes together pretty naturally while you play. Power Tokens are needed to unlock Plugins (perks) and Surge Abilities (special moves), so they’re pretty valuable. The dialogue gets a little obnoxious, but these additional tasks give you something else to think about while you’re blasting robots, and you’ll also earn Power Tokens and other rewards for completing them. Leveling weapons up further increases their base rarity, and each grade makes them more powerful, so you’ll slowly be equipped with super strong gear to carry you through to the later levels.Īdditionally, gang members hang out in Gilly’s, and you can recruit them and their followers to the arcade-saving cause - provided you can complete their challenges. A weapon you’ve leveled up at least once can be selected as part of your starting loadout, meaning you can eventually begin a run with all your favourite boom sticks. Through use, each individual weapon also earns XP, which is important. That’s the gist, but there’s a bit more to it. Back in the hub, you can customise your avatar, buy outfits, and boost yourself with passive buffs and special abilities. Each attempt will reward you with some XP and Tickets the former goes towards leveling up your character, while the latter is a currency used for purchasing cosmetics. Essentially, the loop has you blasting your way through as many stages as you can before you lose all your health.
It’s a simple premise that gets out of the way pretty quickly, letting you crack on with the game proper. Installing a virus in the game to take it over, it falls to you and up to three buddies to enter the game, fight back the baddies, and save the arcade. The owner creates the titular Arcadegeddon, a supercharged game to draw in business, but it attracts the attention of the FFC. is absorbing independent arcades in the game’s futuristic city, and Gilly’s is the last one standing. It’s a third-person shooter you can play alone or in co-op, with both a rogue-lite adventure mode to follow and competitive multiplayer.
Arcadegeddon is its latest effort, and while it lacks the appeal of a recognisable movie franchise, it’s probably the team’s best effort so far. However, the studio has yet to make something truly standout. Developer Illfonic has been gradually making a name for itself with licensed multiplayer games, like Friday the 13th: The Game and Predator: Hunting Grounds.