Arcadegeddon, a cooperative third-person shooter, is one of the free games for PlayStation Plus subscribers for July 2022. The shooter has a look and feel to it that may trigger memories of the classic Canadian show ReBoot, but that doesn’t diminish from its challenge. Your overarching mission is to help Gilly, the owner of the arcade, save his small business from a mega corporation because they hacked Gilly’s system and inflicted viruses.
Throughout the game (each play is considered a “run”), you’ll have various missions related to hacking and viruses such as closing breaches and destroying glyphs, not to mention entering anomalies to defeat bosses. Bosses can be thought of as the main viruses that you’re tasked with destroying. Read below for controls and gameplay tips to help you accomplish these goals. Note: while cooperative, this guide will focus on solo play, but should translate well to playing cooperatively.
Arcadegeddon PS4 and PS5 controls
- Move: L
- Look (Camera): R
- Sprint: L3
- Dodge or Slide: R3
- Jump and Double Jump: X and X + X
- Melee: Circle
- Reload and Interact: Square
- Next Weapon: Triangle
- Aim: L2
- Fire: R2
- Surge Ability 1: L1
- Surge Ability 2: L2
- Run Info: Touchpad (hold)
- Ping: D-Pad Up
- Emotes: D-Pad Left and D-Pad Right
- Drop Weapon: D-Pad Down
Note that the left and right sticks are denoted as L and R, respectively. Pressing either is marked as L3 and R3.
Arcadegeddon gameplay tips for beginners
Below are tips for Arcadegeddon aimed at beginners. Remember that the focus of these tips will be on solo play. However, the tips should work well in cooperative online play as well.
1. Destroy all breakable objects like crates
During your runs, destroy every breakable object like crates, sacs, and more. You’ll gain credits, mostly, but depending on the part of the stage you may unlock other in-game items as well. On the lower left of the screen, just above the health (magenta) and shield (cyan) bars, there is a white background; this is your amount of credits.
The main reason you want to build up as many credits as you can is to heal during your runs. At the Pay2Live stations (pictured), you can heal ten health per amount of credits given. The amount of credits necessary to heal increases with difficulty, and you have to hold Square at the station to receive the health. Each pulse will grant the ten health while subtracting the requisite number of credits. Especially when you are swarmed, knowing where these stations are will prove crucial – should you have enough credits to save yourself.
The other reason to destroy crates and the like to collect credits is to upgrade gear or refill ammo between levels. After you complete your objectives on level of a stage, you’ll hit a safe area with a little shop (and some more crates to break). You can see in the picture that things aren’t cheap, costing several hundred credits. Even the ammo refill, though cheapest, is going to run you north of 300 credits. Still, especially if your ammo is low or you see a weapon you’d like, having those credits will come in handy as you proceed to the next level of the stage.
2. Collect as many hacks as possible
Hacks can work both ways, right? Well, they will for you as you find them throughout the game. You’ll find hacks from chests (more below) with each hack providing a boost or benefit of some sort. The better ranked hacks will increase the base boost from the common ones (pictured). Hacks can include more ammo capacity, faster movement speed, higher damage with SMGs, and more.
You can view your hacks by holding the Touchpad to bring up the Run Info screen. You’ll also see the Boss Run Progress on the screen (more below) as well as the amount of continues you possess and more. Finding as many hacks as possible before entering a boss fight will immensely better your chances of defeating each boss, so explore and unlock every chest you find.
3. Experiment with the various types of guns and melee weapons
Arcadegeddon has a wide variety of weapons to equip. These range from assault rifles to SMGs to snipers and more, including elemental-based guns. Those who prefer rapidly firing at their enemies will probably go for assault rifles or SMGs, but those lack the pure power of some of the other weapons like sniper rifles, shotguns, and elemental weapons. Luckily, there is an easy way to practice with the various weapons during runs.
Colored chests (pictured) will contain a bevy of items, including weapons. You’ll gain a fair amount of credits as well as usually two or more weapons. You can see the stats of the weapon compared to what you have equipped now before you decide (you won’t drop your main or melee even if you switch). Since enemies will spawn around you if you just lollygag, you could conceivably wait and kill some of them while switching between the weapons from the crate to practice. However, be mindful of the difficulty and your health.
If you’re able to defeat a boss (more below), you’ll be rewarded with a boss chest. These chests are far larger and more distinct than their lesser counterparts. In fact, you could argue the contents of a boss chest can be overwhelming.
A boss chest will reward you with far more credits and weapons than the standard crates. The boss crate from defeating the Fury Daemon dropped around ten weapons! It’s a bit much considering you only have space for two guns and a melee. Still, you can game the system a little here, too. The timer will be stopped after defeating a boss with all that’s left to do is leave the stage. With your newfound time, why not test out each weapon? Then, after finding what you like – or keeping what you had – proceed to the end of the stage.
4. Head into boss battles at full health and shield with as much ammo as possible
As you proceed through your run and close breaches or destroy glyphs, the boss readiness meter will increase. When it reaches its max, you will receive a notification that the boss is ready. You’ll have to find and destroy “anomalies” to enter a void to face a boss, but unfortunately, you’ll still be chased by spawned enemies until you enter the void.
Once you enter, you’ll receive a video game-like faceoff screen that will show you and then the boss you’ll be fighting. Each boss will have unique animations during this screen, and each boss has their own level.
The Fury Daemon’s level is in a large, central square area of what looks to be a mall. The FFC Mech’s level is a small, circular base with elevated platforms spaced throughout the inner circle. The strategy in the Fury Daemon’s level might not work well or at all against the FFC Mech, and the same holds true in reverse and for the other bosses. You’ll have to adjust based on their abilities and the setting of the boss fight.
The Fury Daemon slowly stalks you while sending enemies at you. The best bet is to shoot from afar with a powerful weapon, avoiding the Daemon’s lasers by using the environment. The Daemon doesn’t have as much defense as the Mech, either.
The Mech is a bit more difficult because of the stage, There’s really nowhere to hide or use the environment to block attacks. Enemies can jump and float, so staying on the elevated platforms isn’t recommended. It doesn’t help that the Mech can jump and will follow you to a platform!
Your best bet is a hit-and-run tactic. Try focusing your fire on the Mech until there are at least three spawned enemies. Take them out, then rinse and repeat. The Mech is slow, but its jumping ability along with its powerful weapons make it a formidable boss.
Tip: if your shields are low, run around and avoid fire to recharge them! This is far easier against the Daemon, but this applies to any part of a stage. As long as you avoid fire, your shields will recharge. Sometimes, cunning is the better part of valor.
With the controls and tips listed above, you should be able to have some successful runs of Arcadegeddon. Remember to fiddle around with different weapons to find your ideal setup and to be as prepared as possible for each boss fight. Now go help Gilly save his arcade!
(5 votes, average: 4.80 out of 5)
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