With the law enforcement now in the cities, civilians began to take the law into their own hands. Calling themselves the Coyotes, they began to destroy oil refineries, commercial installations and other vital industries throughout the southwestern United States. Sid organized a group of mercenaries and terrorists to help him in his task.
OMAR hired a professional terrorist names Sid Burn to cause havoc and destroy the United States' economy.
A foreign multinational oil consortium, Oil Monopoly Alliance Regime (OMAR), sought to monopolize the world oil trade.
All available law enforcement were called to the major cities, leaving the countryside and outlands vulnerable. The United States was on the verge economic breakdown, with crime, strikes and riots rampant. V8 Arcade is built around an alternate history, in which there was a serious worldwide oil crisis in the 1970s. Two additional arenas are available via downloadable content: "Stunt Track", a circular track that has ramps, loops and other daredevil-esque hazards, and "Garage", an over sized level set in a giant garage, making vehicles the size of an RC car.
The game includes five "arenas": "The Oil Fields", strongly inspired by the original V8 level of the same name, it features a completely new layout, "Farmland", also heavily inspired by the original, the stage features the original orange trees and silos, "Meteor Crater", a mix between the classic V8 "Canyonlands" and "Ghost Town", plus "Meteor Crater" from Second Offense, "Ski Resort", a remake of the "Ski Resort" stage in the original game mixed with "Winter Games" from Second Offense, and "Hoover Dam", inspired by the original map of the same name, but expanded with new areas. " Deathmatch" pits all players against each other, while "Team Co-Op" teams all players together against AI opponents. Multiplayer can be played via splitscreen or online via Xbox Live and features two modes. "Free Wheelin'" is a mode with no AI that allows the players to drive around the environment, searching for secrets and learning the layout. "Custom Battle" is similar, but allows the players to choose characters and the arena to play in. In "Quick Battle" players are given and random vehicle to combat against random enemies until the player is either dead or victorious. In "Quest" mode, players choose a character and play through the game from that character's perspective, learning more about the character's background as the game progresses. V8 Arcade features four single player game modes. Vigilante 8 Arcade is a remake of Vigilante 8, with some influences from its sequel, Vigilante 8: Second Offense.
The game uses a salvage point upgrade system slightly different from Vigilante 8: Second Offense, meaning that vehicles can be upgraded through the course of the game by picking up salvage point icons dropped by enemies. Each has a standard way of shooting, and three special combo moves can be activated for a specialized, more powerful attack.
Weapon powerups are found littered throughout each map and can range from heat seeking missiles to mines. Each vehicle is equipped with machine guns which overheat if fired for too long and one special attack that is unique to that vehicle. Vigilante 8 Arcade is a vehicular combat game in which cars, trucks, vans and flying saucers are outfitted with weaponry to combat opponents.