REVIEWED BY REDHELLC
Bring in the “Anarchy”
Anarchy Reigns or Max Anarchy in Japan a game made by Platinum Games and published by Sega saw its release in Europe on 11/1/2013 for the Xbox 360 and PS3. It is intended to be an online multiplayer brawler style game in 3D, which takes cues from action/slash games, with some already developed by the same studio. In this game, you choose from a decent sized roster of characters, each with unique attacks and styles of play.
A two face story
Before the game begins, we are shown where the game is set, a post-apocalyptic world, similar to earth, where horrible mutations have occurred and, in some sense… anarchy reigns.
When the campaign starts, we are taken to a bar and introduced to the two main characters, Jack Cayman and Leonhardt Victorion, AKA Leo. Here we are given a choice between the dark side of story, Jack, or the light one, Leo. The plot revolves around a former BBS Agent, Max, which is said to have killed his wife and gone to a life of drinking and drugs. Since the murder, he is being hunted by his own BBS team, which he led, composed by Leo and the remaining company, with an order to shoot to kill. In the meanwhile, Jack, a bounty hunter, is seeking Max by a “request” of Max’s own daughter in order to bring him home safely. The problem is that Jack has other motives for seeking him, since he believes he is the cause of his daughter's death.
The story goes on with the chase of the fugitive, meeting other faces along the way. The story in itself uses a series of missions to move along it, doing this in a good pace. Still, while small, it is well made and quite interesting. In it, Leo considers Max a father-like figure, which creates a good chemistry with the other members of the team. Besides that, there’s an internal conflict residing at the heart of Jack’s quest, having to choose between his revenge and his mission goal, which is also well played with some over-the-top elements. The dialogue is likewise smart and “querky”, which fits the tone of the game very well. While a few of the characters do sound annoying, there are some really good serious moments, as well as some outright hilarious ones.
Fighting in chaos
Gameplay-wise, the commands are pretty basic and typical of a brawler-type game. You move with the analog stick, as well as the standard jump button. There’re also weak attacks and strong attacks, which can be used to deal a good number of combos. You can grab enemies or objects, which can then be thrown or smashed into other enemies, as well as defend or evade incoming attacks.
Next, the game features a unique weapon for each character, which can be used through a combination of left trigger (XBOX)/L2 (PS3) + weak/strong attack to perform an attack using the weapon. However, usage of the weapon is limited by an energy bar, which is filled by performing actions during the battle. There is also the unleash mode, which charges during the battle. In this mode, that lasts a small amount of time, your character becomes invincible, all its stats are increased and the weapon attacks become unlimited. Add in some items and vehicles you can use, like sniper rifles, rocket launchers, helicopters, and you got a pretty diverse set of options you can use during each battle.
Furthermore, during the battle, several enemies can appear, ranking from small soldiers to huge bosses. To add to this, there are also events like bombardments and earthquakes, which gives you a lot of obstacles to face during each battle, besides your opponents. Still, the A.I. could be a bit better, since it acts little strange at times, not to mention that it has of some cheap attacks up its sleeve. This can be a bit frustrating most of the time.
When facing other players online there are also a few events that can happen. One example is when a prize money emerges on some of the players’ heads or even an infection-styled game, with some players getting ill and the remaining being the cure. This gives some more interesting spins to the battles. Even so, with all of this happening at once, sometimes the game might get a little too confusing. Also, the camera doesn’t help, which loves screwing you over sometimes and the auto-locking system is only useful when throwing objects, since it likes to jump from character to character. Nevertheless, the name of the game is anarchy reigns, so a little anarchy is to be expected. Lastly, there are a lot of modes one can play with a lots of different goals, which make up a fun experience for the multiplayer gamer.
Overkill environment
In terms of graphics quality, in overall, they are pretty good, with some special attention to detail. The textures are mostly high resolution and generally look good on screen. The models and their respective animations are really good which in turn makes the game feel truly alive.
Aesthetically speaking, while the stages do feel different from each other, the overall world looks pale and somewhat “dead”. I know it’s an apocalyptic world but, still, a little life wouldn’t hurt the game. Maybe it doesn’t help that a lot of games these days are going with the gritty style, but, even so, the game stills has its moments, each one screaming with overkill action. Nevertheless, the developers did a very good job on the game, giving it a very unique feel.
What really aids this game coming to life is the amazing soundtrack, which is diverse and expressive, with songs ranging from rap to rock, as well as a little mixing in-between. It gives expression to the world and its characters, which in turn get some sweet tunes themselves.
Before the game begins, we are shown where the game is set, a post-apocalyptic world, similar to earth, where horrible mutations have occurred and, in some sense… anarchy reigns.
When the campaign starts, we are taken to a bar and introduced to the two main characters, Jack Cayman and Leonhardt Victorion, AKA Leo. Here we are given a choice between the dark side of story, Jack, or the light one, Leo. The plot revolves around a former BBS Agent, Max, which is said to have killed his wife and gone to a life of drinking and drugs. Since the murder, he is being hunted by his own BBS team, which he led, composed by Leo and the remaining company, with an order to shoot to kill. In the meanwhile, Jack, a bounty hunter, is seeking Max by a “request” of Max’s own daughter in order to bring him home safely. The problem is that Jack has other motives for seeking him, since he believes he is the cause of his daughter's death.
The story goes on with the chase of the fugitive, meeting other faces along the way. The story in itself uses a series of missions to move along it, doing this in a good pace. Still, while small, it is well made and quite interesting. In it, Leo considers Max a father-like figure, which creates a good chemistry with the other members of the team. Besides that, there’s an internal conflict residing at the heart of Jack’s quest, having to choose between his revenge and his mission goal, which is also well played with some over-the-top elements. The dialogue is likewise smart and “querky”, which fits the tone of the game very well. While a few of the characters do sound annoying, there are some really good serious moments, as well as some outright hilarious ones.
Gameplay-wise, the commands are pretty basic and typical of a brawler-type game. You move with the analog stick, as well as the standard jump button. There’re also weak attacks and strong attacks, which can be used to deal a good number of combos. You can grab enemies or objects, which can then be thrown or smashed into other enemies, as well as defend or evade incoming attacks.
Next, the game features a unique weapon for each character, which can be used through a combination of left trigger (XBOX)/L2 (PS3) + weak/strong attack to perform an attack using the weapon. However, usage of the weapon is limited by an energy bar, which is filled by performing actions during the battle. There is also the unleash mode, which charges during the battle. In this mode, that lasts a small amount of time, your character becomes invincible, all its stats are increased and the weapon attacks become unlimited. Add in some items and vehicles you can use, like sniper rifles, rocket launchers, helicopters, and you got a pretty diverse set of options you can use during each battle.
Furthermore, during the battle, several enemies can appear, ranking from small soldiers to huge bosses. To add to this, there are also events like bombardments and earthquakes, which gives you a lot of obstacles to face during each battle, besides your opponents. Still, the A.I. could be a bit better, since it acts little strange at times, not to mention that it has of some cheap attacks up its sleeve. This can be a bit frustrating most of the time.
When facing other players online there are also a few events that can happen. One example is when a prize money emerges on some of the players’ heads or even an infection-styled game, with some players getting ill and the remaining being the cure. This gives some more interesting spins to the battles. Even so, with all of this happening at once, sometimes the game might get a little too confusing. Also, the camera doesn’t help, which loves screwing you over sometimes and the auto-locking system is only useful when throwing objects, since it likes to jump from character to character. Nevertheless, the name of the game is anarchy reigns, so a little anarchy is to be expected. Lastly, there are a lot of modes one can play with a lots of different goals, which make up a fun experience for the multiplayer gamer.
In terms of graphics quality, in overall, they are pretty good, with some special attention to detail. The textures are mostly high resolution and generally look good on screen. The models and their respective animations are really good which in turn makes the game feel truly alive.
Aesthetically speaking, while the stages do feel different from each other, the overall world looks pale and somewhat “dead”. I know it’s an apocalyptic world but, still, a little life wouldn’t hurt the game. Maybe it doesn’t help that a lot of games these days are going with the gritty style, but, even so, the game stills has its moments, each one screaming with overkill action. Nevertheless, the developers did a very good job on the game, giving it a very unique feel.
What really aids this game coming to life is the amazing soundtrack, which is diverse and expressive, with songs ranging from rap to rock, as well as a little mixing in-between. It gives expression to the world and its characters, which in turn get some sweet tunes themselves.
At the end of the battle
In the end, the game succeeds in delivering what it promises. Yet, there is still some room for improvement. There’s a lost chance with it being online multiplayer only, cutting a lot of the experience for the player that doesn’t have his console connected to the internet. Adding to this, the multiplayer component isn’t having a lot of success right now, with the game taking a long time to setup an online match testing the patience of the short-fused among us. Besides that, the lack of publicity meant that the game released almost unnoticed which resulted in a rather small community. Withal, it’s a good acquisition for the player who likes brawlers/action type games and with a not-so-big launch retail price it only makes it even better.
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