ArcRunner is a Roguelike game that focuses on action using a cyberpunk theme. In the package we have third-person shooter gameplay with melee skills and accessories. Which is not exactly innovative gameplay, the game presents very fluid action with good level design, but it fails in some details.

Survive the levels and stop an out-of-control AI

All the action in the game consists of surviving the levels in three different areas. And each level consists of small areas where various enemies appear and the player needs to survive. The enemies start with waves of easier enemies and the game later introduces a greater number or new types.

What at first the enemies seem easy, with a greater number starts to become a challenge to survive, mainly because no common enemy leaves any healing item, which can only be obtained randomly from boxes scattered throughout the game or from bosses that appear in parts of the journey. With this, the player now realizes that he needs to be careful not to lose a portion of the life bar in vain.

In gameplay, the player can use up to three firearms from the game’s varied arsenal and one melee weapon. Unfortunately, using more than one weapon is not something that is available at the beginning and it is necessary to use points that the game calls “nanite” to evolve your character according to the player’s preference.

One curious thing about the game is that using a melee weapon always yields better results than shooting enemies around the arena. Of course, you can’t kill all the enemies like this, but it makes things easier.

Graphically, the game has beautiful graphics and the level design is very good. The levels have fluorescent signs, cars and tents in some levels that match the theme of the environment. However, the biggest flaw is in the choice of colors for menu and game interface elements.

In addition to the inconsistency in the same menus, there are options where there are buttons where the background color is the same as the text, where the difference is just a shadow or border, apart from the questionable choice of font style for the entire game.

This can unfortunately be annoying to players and viewers because of the brightness of the colors and how difficult it is to quickly read text with the font style and color.

In terms of sound, the game doesn’t stand out but it also doesn’t get in the way of becoming repetitive. The songs follow the theme, but there is no song that will make the player want to listen again or give an additional experience to a part of the game.

In ArcRunner there are details that need to be polished

Something interesting to comment is that some additional adjustments to gameplay with joysticks would be good, as playing using one ends up being very imprecise and can result in faster deaths with the player trying to hit enemies before being hit, especially with the fact that the game runs very well on the Steam Deck.

And the game has multiplayer that improves the experience if you play with up to three players and this can attract the attention of viewers who like these types of games.

Finally, the game did not present any problems when playing and is localized for several languages.

ArcRunner

PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series, Nintendo Switch (2024)

Performance

Streamability

Audience Engagement

Replayability

Summary

ArcRunner is a solid action Roguelike experience, but one that can alienate players and viewers with its choice of colors and font styles. Could have better support for joystick gameplay.

3.3