Anarchy Reigns Down On Me

Something struck me as odd from this sort of surprise title.  I had heard nothing of the game until I saw a box for it on the shelf of my local game shack and thought to look it up based on it's art design and colorful cast of characters.  What I found was a game that is half beat-em up and half bullshit.  If you have ever desired a chance to play a forgettable single player campaign and unforgiving online multiplayer modes, then strap yourself in and welcome to the super stylized world of Anarchy Reigns.

Outside of a technicality, I am not really here to review this game.  Its closer to a warning than anything else.  Anarchy Reigns offers little in return for it's budget cost of $30 off the bat (though there is promised DLC at a later date).  The game has style, a bitchin' soundtrack, intriguing visuals, and a ridiculously over the top execution.  What the game lacks is depth, good acting, an intuitive combat system, and a fun single player experience.

The Story:

Alright, let us not even bother ourselves with a description of the story, you are not in for a treat with this bad boy.  Just expect terrible dialogue, unskippable cut-scenes  and some seriously crazy characters.  You get to start off as either of two characters, Leonhardt "Leo" Victorion or Jack Caymen.  Some of you may already be making the connection to pretty awesome action title MadWorld for the Wii a while back.  That game, also made by Anarchy Reigns creator Platinum games, was fairly decent.  Even though it is clear that Jack Caymen and others are from MadWorld, it doesn't seem to have any tangible connection storyline wise.  It is likely that the story simply exists in a similar yet seperate universe all together.  Either way, this story is pretty boring.  They limit you to the two characters despite there being almost 20 playable characters in multiplayer (including the Sega hit Bayonetta, also made by Platinum Games, as DLC).  It is odd that they purposefully exclude these characters from being played in the campaign, especially since they characters have so much character about them.  By the time you are done with the single player campaign, you will realize how stupid you were for continuing after the second level.  It is the fastest way to unlock characters for the actually entertaining multiplayer, but it is not a necessary evil as you can unlock them if you  press on in the multiplayer modes for long enough.

The Gameplay: 

As I clearly suggested earlier, this game is a beat-em up, thus it plays like a super toned down version of DMC or God of War.  The combat is not nearly as deep as those games, but it is awkwardly satisfying to kill shit.  The moves are ridiculously over the top and very easy to execute, especially since a few moves translate through all the characters as generic answers, like jump spikes or 360 degree group clearing moves (very beat-em up style).  Not too many characters feel unique unfortunately, a lot of them have cloned movesets, or similar moves to other characters, but where they lack vision in the basic attacks or throws, they attempt to make up for it in the ridiculous unique weapons that everyone gets access to via a kicking ass meter under your health.  These weapons are devastatingly powerful and ridiculous to watch...just take a look at some of the moves in this video.

The game really shines with it's multiplayer functions.  It has a large number of entertaining modes that vary based on objectives and player count, match sizes range from 2v2 to 16 player brawls.  It is insanely fun to destroy the competition online, but the move sets are extremely linear, meaning they are only really good for 1 on 1 action, you will likely get sideswiped while trying to finish someone off and be sitting there pulling your hair out in frustration due to the odd battle systems of the game.  Even still, the game is fun and a success in tow with other great multiplayer fighting games.  It is not every day you get to kick someone's ass in the style this game offers.  Now all that being said, it is not a fantastic game, it will likely die down in popularity fairly quickly and thus large games are going to become hard to find, and good competition even harder as the later months roll by.  

The Presentation: 

As stated previously, this is a ridiculously stylized game.  A lot can be forgiven in the name of style (and in the name of a $30 asking price) but there are still complaints to have.  Tons of odd visual glitches, shit textures, and grotesquely bland environments create an atmosphere of pure mediocrity while playing through this otherwise intensely cool game.  It is enough to really pull you out of the experience and just say "damn, why not?"  The soundtrack is fun enough to keep it going instead of playing your own tracks over them like most titles, but you will get tired of the same rap songs hitting repeat as the game dredges on (actually, you likely won't play this game so this may not happen at all).  It is far from the worst looking game I have seen, but lemme tell ya, it has a $30 price tag for a reason.

The Result:

So what do we have mixed together?  Intriguing if not bland visuals, a fun soundtrack, an undeniably bad story, ridiculously cool characters, over the top combat, and a hugely fun multiplayer aspect in an intense beat-em up enhanced for a modern era of internet.  Combine that with DLC promises and a budget price tag and you have your self a wildly mediocre experience from top to bottom.  I can't really praise this title because it fails on enough levels that you'd be willing to not bother and yet it has enough good qualities that I'd ask you to give it a chance.  There just isn't a good balance for the title and the game is going to suffer greatly because of it.  Perhaps they should have gave it more time and created a full blown $60 game, or maybe the concept just translates poorly to the developers.  Either way, we are left with an experience that feels incomplete.

The Judgement: 64%
+ Over-the-top character design
+ Intense competitive online multiplayer
+ $30 price tag
+ DLC expansions
- Horrifically bad single player modes
- Low-depth combat system 
- Limited character variety
- Mediocre graphics
- Limited player base
- Long wait times for online lobbies

That is the grade it gets and deserves from my perspective.  I can't justify anything more.  That's a D for those of you that believe in college, D's get degrees.  If you bored, looking for something you haven't played before, and are willing to put forth the work to make this title fun, you will probably find the gem of the game this title wanted to be. Just don't be surprised by all of the shit you'll have to push aside to find it.  

Wondering how the Bayonetta DLC looks? Check it out now.

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