Game announcements have been flooding out over the past week, but few would have expected one of the most interesting surprises to be a new Arkanoid game. Arkanoid is a 1986 arcade game in which players break different arrangements of blocks with bouncing balls using their paddle and power-ups. Now Arkanoid is coming back with a new release for PC and consoles in 2022. Arkanoid: Eternal Battle will mix the retro gameplay of Arkanoid with modern multiplayer -- including a battle royale mode.
The announcement trailer for Arkanoid: Eternal Battle was released during Saturday's Guerrilla Collective presentation and focused on the four different game modes included with the game. The most exciting of the game modes is, as the game's title suggests, Eternal Battle. This is a 25-player battle royale mode akin to other retro battle royale throwbacks like Tetris 99. 25 players will compete to quickly complete their Arkanoid block breaker stages while punishing their opponents, with the last player standing becoming the victor.
Multiplayer in Arkanoid: Eternal Battle isn't limited to just Eternal Battle, of course. Players will be able to test their competitive block-breaking edge in Arkanoid: Eternal Battle's Versus Mode first. Versus mode will allow for between two and four players to play against each other, but with a catch. Unlike Eternal Battle, which is online, Versus mode will only be available locally via split-screen multiplayer.
In addition to the two multiplayer modes, there will be two single-player modes. Retro mode will offer a classic Arkanoid experience featuring all the content of the original game, pulled straight from an 80s arcade machine. Neo mode will offer a modernized version of Arkanoid with all-new content that builds on the series' strongest elements. And while both modes are played offline, they'll also have online leaderboards for players to compare their scores with friends and rivals.
Additional features included in Arkanoid: Eternal Battle are an "adaptive" original soundtrack from Xavier Thiry. The synthwave soundtrack will adapt to the player's combat meter, increasing in pact and intensity to fit the state of the game. Arkanoid: Eternal Battle will also support cross-play between all platforms, ensuring the battle royale mode will remain well-populated.
There's been a surge of retro games returning for modern platforms in recent years and Arkanoid: Eternal Battle seems like a perfect opportunity to capitalize on this wave of nostalgia. Breaking blocks is always fun, but the addition of a battle royale mode will likely draw in a new audience of players who may have never had a proper Arkanoid experience before.
Arkanoid: Eternal Battle releases in October for PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, and Xbox Series X/S.
