Back in the day, when shooters were on the rise, face-paced arena shooters like DOOM, Wolfenstein, Quake, and Unreal Tournament were at their peak. This was before modern shooters like Valorant and Overwatch took over the scene with their abilities and tactical gameplay.
However, if you wish to play a game that harkens back to the old-school roots of arena shooters with a frenetic pace, IllFonic has your back with Aracdegeddon. This colorful and frenzied shooter with guns and enemies galore will be fun if you can team up with other friends.
After playing roughly 25 hours of this game, I decided to share my experiences with you all. Therefore, check out this review if you want to play old-school games in 2023.
Arcadegeddon Synopsis
The synopsis of this game is every bit as wacky as you expect old-school shooters to be. Here, Gilly is the owner of a local gaming arcade. While he is a devout follower of arcade games, Fun Co., an evil gaming corporation, is not. The latter also wants to take over Gilly’s business in the most ruthless manner possible.
Therefore, to save his games from potential extinction, he connects them all together to create a super game – Arcadegedon. However, Fun Co. gets wind of this and injects a deadly virus to shut it down.
Gilly calls forth all gamers to play this game to save the legacy of Arcade games. Your job as an “arcade gamer” is to get inside this game’s various game modes and levels and eradicate the virus from the inside, which has manifested as the enemies you face in this game.
While the plot seems unique and fun, it loses substance once you start playing the game. While it has a unique premise, this game fails to capitalize on its potential. At the end of my playthrough, I was least interested in the story or how it turned out. The writing is terrible, and so is the lackluster ending.
Arcadegeddon Character Creation
When you first start this game and go over the account registration process (which is simple and hassle-free), you will be greeted with the character creation screen.
Here, you can customize the look of your character with various outfits, looks, and hairstyles. However, compared to other games, this is relatively limited and looks colorful but generic. Don’t be surprised to see other players looking the same as you do.
Arcadegeddon Visuals And Soundtrack
I loved the visual and soundtrack aesthetics of Arcadegeddon. While the graphics look cartoony, like Fortnite, its vibrant and dense special effects take it up a notch.
Each gun looks different, thanks to its various colors and unique effects. When you shoot, you know whether you are firing a rifle or a shotgun, The sound cues also match perfectly with the impact on screen.
Graphically, this game is incredible. Instead of going with a more realistic look that modern games seem to prefer, Arcadegeddon eschews it for a more colorful and zany approach. Judging by its premise of being inside an arcade game, this is the best decision that IllFonic has made.
Plus, character models are also well designed. Judging by the character’s looks, most are done well, while others seem generic and forgettable. However, I wish IllFonic produced this level of polish with the story to make every character memorable.
The music also feels sublime in its settings. Taking place inside an arcade machine, going with an electronically dense synth-wave soundtrack. It’s energetic and fast-paced, which makes the whole experience a lot zanier. Even some of the more guitar riff-based soundtracks are the standouts. I liked them more since I am a hard rocker by heart! Sprinkle in some shoegaze and lo-fi hip-hop scores; it’s perfect.
Arcadegeddon Gameplay
While the story might be bad, the graphics and gameplay make Arcadgeddon playable. And when I mean playable, I mean playing it constantly for hours on end without feeling bored.
I heard about this game when Arcadegeddon early access went live in early 2022. However, after its release in Q3 2022, I was too busy to try it out, and it slipped my mind. However, a friend soon reminded me of this game, and I was grateful he did.
This game follows the rogue-like experience of other games like Hades, Dead Cells, and the Binding of Isaac. You and your teammates enter a dungeon, which changes its shape every time, along with the loot you get. Complete the objective, grab the loot, and get out.
Each run you make will spawn different types of enemies, powerups, and loot you can gather. Once you complete a run, you will be rewarded with lots of XP and Tickets. After you finish a run, you can use the XP to level up your character stats. On the other hand, you can use the Tickets to purchase new cosmetic items and outfits to retrofit your character and look more badass than before.
In addition to completing the main missions, you also have various side missions. These side quests give you new passive and active abilities and allow you to unlock new AI companions. They can help you out on missions if you don’t have anyone else to team up with.
However, apart from the fear of dying, the other aspect that makes roguelikes unique is its mission variety and randomized dungeons. This is another aspect where Arcadegeddon falls short.
Its levels look the same, with only a handful of objectives you will repeatedly complete. If the gameplay were not good, I would not have made it past the ten-hour mark of playing this game.
The objectives here are the same – extract data, survive hordes of enemies, capture moving points, and find keys. While the objective variety is limited, its varied enemy and boss design keeps it engaging, making me want to go for another round as the first one gets over. All the bosses are challenging, with strategic teamplay required to bring these titans down.
Some of the best bosses I encountered were cyber demons and giant Mechs straight out of Gundam or Power Rangers. However, most enemies and bosses lack any mechanical variety. You just shoot at them to kill them. No need to think about ways to defeat them. This makes it less fun to play after some time.
While this game is geared towards co-op PvE, there is only one PvP game mode – Team Deathmatch. I only played a handful of Deathmatches and found it bland and boring.
Guns Galore
Apart from leveling yourself up, you get stronger using weapons in-game. The more you use a gun, the stronger it gets. The best thing – there are many excellent weapons to choose from. I liked the sense of progression I received after completing a run, as I felt the surge of increased strength after playing enough. I like feeling powerful, and this game made me feel so.
You have your traditional shotguns, pistols, assault rifles, machine guns, and snipers to choose from. Apart from these, you will also get various unique weapons, ranging from laser guns that freeze or incinerate enemies. However, my favorite is the Incinerator – which simply turns enemies into ash. There’s also a buzzsaw gun, which reminded me of Half-Life 2, throwing blades with the Gravity Gun.
Apart from your guns, you also have a special gauntlet that lets you fire off special elemental and magical attacks. This includes firing ice spikes and fireballs at enemies, along with buffing your defense and increasing your gun damage for a short time. I loved using Slow to slow down enemies to a crawl, then punching holes in their skulls with tactfully placed sniper headshots.
Aracdegeddon System Requirements
Arcadegeddon is available on both PC and PS5. If you play the PS5 version, you can be more immersed in the game thanks to the DualShock 5’s haptic control feedback.
The minimum system requirements of Arcadegeddon PC are low, allowing you to run it on older systems. Here’s what you need:
OS | Windows 10 and above |
Processor | Intel Core i3 560 3.3 GHz / AMD Phenom II X4 805 |
Graphics Card | AMD Radeon HD 7970 / NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670 (2 GB) |
Memory | 8 GB RAM |
Storage | 8 GB |
Final Verdict: Is Arcadegeddon Worth Playing In 2023?
Is Arcadegeddon worth the $20 price tag you will pay? The answer is yes. But more so because it’s $20.
This game has impressive gameplay coupled with good graphics and a soundtrack to keep the adrenaline pumping at all times. However, the missions will soon get repetitive, with only a few bosses to face. Plus, the story is barebones, which you will stop following and completely forget after a few hours.
PROS | CONS |
⦿ Tight gameplay ⦿ Colorful and chaotic visuals ⦿ Adrenaline-packed soundtrack ⦿ Goof weapon variety ⦿ Fun co-op gameplay | ⦿ Forgettable story ⦿ Repetitive missions ⦿ Repetitive enemies and bosses |
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