Review: Anarchy Reigns

Anarchy Reigns is a beat ‘em up/fighting game for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. It was developed Platinum Games. It features several characters from the Nintendo Wii game MadWorld, but shares little else with it.

In a post-apocalyptic future, two men are on the hunt for wanted criminal Maximillian Caxton: Jack Cayman, a bounty hunter with a chip on his soldier and a personal grudge against Max, and Leo Victorion, a member of the Bureau Strike One unit and Max’s former pupil who wants to bring Max to justice. With help from their friends Max and Leo have to track down Max while putting up with each other.

The important part of Anarchy Reigns is the online multiplayer, which has all the standard modes like deathmatch (small group of players), battle royale (large group of players), team deatchmatch, capture the flag, etc.

All characters have normal and heavy attacks, a grab, super strong killer attacks that you can only use a few times before a meter runs out and you have to recharge them, and Rampage mode that makes your character unleash a nonstop wave of hits. Attacks are simple, but there are so many that you can still string together combos. The simplicity of them though, means that anyone can pick up the game without having to memorize complicated moves.

Jack performing a killer attack.

While there plenty of ways to kill someone, character defense is lacking. You have a block that works for a limited time, but you cannot use if you are attacking someone or if someone is attacking you, so if someone beating the crap out of you, you are stuck until you hit the ground and can get back up.

There is also a dodge that has the same problem, plus it takes way too many buttons to work quickly.

You also have a spin attack that I am almost positive makes it impossible for anyone to hit you when you use it, with only a small cost to your health, which a powerup can negate. It is way too easy to spam, but at the same time it is your only real defense since the normal block and dodge are useless.

What I found when I went through the multiplayer was that the it was mostly populated with people who had been playing Anarchy Reigns since it first came out, and had memorized the location of every item you could use as a weapon. They also knew all tricks and exploits that make them temporarily invincible, and took full advantage of that, as well as how to break out of grabs. I would have sworn that they also knew how to keep me from grabbing them. It was enjoyable the few times I fought someone my own skill level, because then the fight was more than me having my entire life bar destroyed in a second and unable to land a hit.

The only mode I really had fun with was capture the flag, because that mode was not based entirely around fighting, though fighting still played a very important part, so I still had a chance of winning. It was also the only mode where people had to use the entire map instead of just sticking to one corner of the map. Too bad the only thing anyone was playing was team deathmatch and cage match.

Arenas are huge and full of weapons, which can be fun if people use them.

There is a single player mode which you have to go through to unlock the characters. It is four levels long, with three story missions and three free missions per level. You unlock the story missions by scoring enough points, first by beating mutants up in the hubs, then from completing the free missions. Free missions are usually something like “Kill fifty mutants in three minutes” while story missions are normally about fighting a new character.

The single-player mode is less frustrating than the multiplayer since you are fighting bots and not other players, but it is more repetitive. If you have done one mutant fighting missions then you have done them all. Sometimes the free missions can get creative, like pushing a bunch of balls into goals, but most of them are not. It gets really bad if you do not get enough points and you have to play free missions again or run around the hub killing people for measly points.

The story is not really good either, it is mostly Jack and Leo running around getting into fights with people for no reason. Leo’s side of the story is more likable because he does more than insult and dismiss everyone he talks to, is not prone to making speeches about corrupt government, and does not hang around an annoying black guy stereotype. The only interesting character is Max, who is somewhat tragic.

The cast is colorful at least.

I am not sure anyone should bother with Anarchy Reigns. Given how few people know about it, no one will be playing the already problematic multiplayer in a few months, leaving only the single player. If you have a friend who also owns it, maybe then it is worth it.