ARC Squadron
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''ARC Squadron'' is a 2012
space combat Space warfare is hypothetical combat in which one or more belligerents are situated in outer space. The scope of space warfare therefore includes ''ground-to-space warfare'', such as attacking satellites from the Earth; ''space-to-space warfare ...
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developed and published by Psyonix Studios for
iOS iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone; the term also includes ...
. It was released on the
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on 1 November 2012. Like Psyonix's previous game, ''
Supersonic Acrobatic Rocket-Powered Battle-Cars ''Supersonic Acrobatic Rocket-Powered Battle-Cars'' (colloquially known as ''SARPBC'' and officially abbreviated as ''SARP Battle-Cars'') is a vehicular soccer video game for the PlayStation 3. The game was released in North America in October ...
'', ''ARC Squadron'' runs on
Unreal Engine 3 Unreal Engine (UE) is a 3D computer graphics game engine developed by Epic Games, first showcased in the 1998 first-person shooter game '' Unreal''. Initially developed for PC first-person shooters, it has since been used in a variety of genre ...
. On 17 October 2013, ''ARC Squadron: Redux'' was released on iOS and
Android Android may refer to: Science and technology * Android (robot), a humanoid robot or synthetic organism designed to imitate a human * Android (operating system), Google's mobile operating system ** Bugdroid, a Google mascot sometimes referred to ...
, featuring improved graphics and performance as well as gameplay tweaks.


Gameplay


Combat

Players control a weaponized
space ship Spaceship may refer to: Spaceflight * Space vehicle, the combination of launch vehicle and spacecraft * Spacecraft, a craft, vehicle, vessel or machine designed for spaceflight * Starship, a spacecraft built for interstellar flight Music Songs ...
by swiping one finger on the
touchscreen A touchscreen or touch screen is the assembly of both an input ('touch panel') and output ('display') device. The touch panel is normally layered on the top of an electronic visual display of an information processing system. The display is often ...
to maneuver the ship and perform
barrel roll A barrel roll is an aerial maneuver in which an airplane makes a complete rotation on both its longitudinal and lateral axes, causing it to follow a helical path, approximately maintaining its original direction. It is sometimes described as a ...
s. Each ship has two methods of eliminating enemies: "Primary Weapon" (a pair of lasers that fire automatically when the ship's crosshairs are lined up with an enemy), and a "Secondary Weapon" (activated by tapping the screen, and requiring time to recharge). Neutralizing targets in quick succession builds a combo multiplier that rewards the player with bonus points. Additionally, chains of cubes appear on the battlefield, and if all are collected, they too add bonus points, adding to the player's total score. In addition to the main combat missions, there are also bonus levels, called "Wormholes", which contain challenges ranging from shooting concentric targets to dodging obstacles. Spread throughout the combat missions and Wormholes are nine boss battles. After each level, the player's score is totaled, rated from zero to four stars, and subsequently awarded a sum of "ARC Bucks" based upon the score and star rating. High scores can be uploaded to
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leader boards, and the game also includes a variety of achievements on Game Center.


The Hangar

After each mission, the player returns to the "Hangar", a central hub from which ARC Bucks can be used to purchase new ships, weapons, and skins, or upgrade existing equipment. In total, there are six ships and ten weapons, as well as twelve unlockable skins for each ship. Additional ARC Bucks can be bought with real money through in-app purchases, although everything in the game can eventually be unlocked by playing through the story missions.


Reception

''ARC Squadron'' received "generally favourable reviews" according to the
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website
Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
. Critics praised the game for its excellent visuals and fast-paced,
arcade Arcade most often refers to: * Arcade game, a coin-operated game machine ** Arcade cabinet, housing which holds an arcade game's hardware ** Arcade system board, a standardized printed circuit board * Amusement arcade, a place with arcade games * ...
-style gameplay, with many comparing it favorably to the likes of the ''
Star Fox is an arcade style rail shooter and third person action-adventure video game series created by Shigeru Miyamoto, produced and published by Nintendo. The games follow the Star Fox combat team of anthropomorphic animals, led by chief protagoni ...
'' games. ''
IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...
''s Cody Musser was critical of the controls, but praised the graphics and the depth of the game, arguing that "''ARC Squadron''s controls hold it back from true greatness. But Psyonix has still created a compelling and gorgeous 3D space shooter worthy of your time and money. The ridiculous amount of content, large degree of variety and finely-tuned challenge will keep you glued to your mobile device's screen." ''AppSpy.com''s Andrew Nesvadba criticised the lack of story, but, like ''IGN'', praised the graphics and the depth: "''ARC Squadron'' is a solid
shoot 'em up Shoot 'em ups (also known as shmups or STGs ) are a sub-genre of action games. There is no consensus as to which design elements compose a shoot 'em up; some restrict the definition to games featuring spacecraft and certain types of chara ...
in the vein of greats like ''Star Fox'', but streamlined to suit the platform's larger casual audience." ''Modojo''s Chris Buffa also criticised the lack of a plot and the implementation of the secondary weapon, but concluded that "these small complaints aside, ''ARC Squadron'' satisfies with a combination of gorgeous imagery and intense, arcade-style gameplay." Matt Wales of ''
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'' felt that the touch controls were unresponsive at times, but still called the game "a satisfying blast of colourful, creative on-rails shooting that's only slightly let down by an occasional lack of responsiveness in its controls." Blake Grundman of ''148Apps'' was more impressed, saying, "not very often does a newcomer impress quite to the level that ''ARC Squadron'' has. The visual polish, overabundance of content, and addictive gameplay all meld together into a product that even
Fox McCloud is a fictional character and the chief protagonist of Nintendo's ''Star Fox'' series. He is an anthropomorphic fox created and designed by Shigeru Miyamoto and Takaya Imamura. He was introduced as a player character in the original 1993 video ga ...
would be happy to have bear his name." '' Gamezebo''s Jillian Werner criticised the difficulty, but praised the "gorgeous graphics, upbeat music, and fantastic level design. One-touch controls are executed superbly in both maneuvering and shooting. Tons of upgrades for your ship and weapons, all of which are affordable without shelling out real money. The entire game feels polished and lovingly crafted, from start to finish." ''TouchGen''s Nigel Wood said, "''ARC Squadron'' is easily one of the best shooters on the App Store right now. It has a strong Triple-A feel to it that only a few games have so far accomplished ..The graphics, sound, controls, ramping difficulty, ship and weapons upgrades, and the awesome bosses makes for an addictive mix that's hard to put down." ''
Digital Spy Digital Spy (DS) is a British-based entertainment, television and film website and brand and is the largest digital property at Hearst UK. Since its launch in 1999, Digital Spy has focused on entertainment news related to television programmes, ...
''s Scott Nichols said, "in many ways, ''Arc Squadron'' is a better sequel to ''
Star Fox 64 known as ''Lylat Wars'' in the PAL regions, is a 3D rail shooter video game developed by Nintendo for the Nintendo 64. It is the second installment in the ''Star Fox'' series and a reboot of the original ''Star Fox'' for the Super Nintendo Ente ...
'' than the official games that followed it, making it a must-have for mobile space combat fans." Eric Carlson of ''Slide to Play'' argued that the game was one of the best games on the App Store: "''Arc Squadron'' is a revelation. It's a game that truly exemplifies what can really be done on iOS if you're willing to push the devices. We didn't even mention the absolutely gorgeous graphics, which are some of the very best we've ever seen on iOS. And if we didn't mention the spectacular visuals, then you know the actual gameplay has got to be amazing. This is one of the best, most refined gaming experiences you'll ever have on your little phone or
iPad The iPad is a brand of iOS and iPadOS-based tablet computers that are developed by Apple Inc. The iPad was conceived before the related iPhone but the iPhone was developed and released first. Speculation about the development, operating s ...
. ''Arc Squadron'' is a Must Have for everyone." ''
G4TV G4 (also known as G4TV) was an American pay television and digital network owned by Comcast Spectacor that primarily focused on video games. The network was originally owned by G4 Media, a joint venture between the NBCUniversal Cable division ...
'' awarded ''ARC Squadron'' "Game of the Week" for the week of 9 November, and ''
Kotaku ''Kotaku'' is a video game website and blog that was originally launched in 2004 as part of the Gawker Media network. Notable former contributors to the site include Luke Smith, Cecilia D'Anastasio, Tim Rogers, and Jason Schreier. History ...
'' featured the game as its "Gaming App of the Day."


References


External links

* * * {{Portal bar, Video games 2012 video games Android (operating system) games IOS games Psyonix games Indie video games Space combat simulators Unreal Engine games Video games developed in the United States