Anarchy Reigns

Anarchy Reigns
Cover art featuring (clockwise from upper right) Jack, Sasha, Blacker Baron, Mathilda and Leo.
Developer(s)	PlatinumGames
Publisher(s)	Sega
Director(s)	Masaki Yamanaka
Producer(s)	Atsushi Inaba
Composer(s)	Naoto Tanaka Hiroshi Yamaguchi Akira Takizawa
Platform(s)	PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
Release date(s)	JP: July 5, 2012 NA: January 8, 2013 AUS: January 10, 2013 EU: January 11, 2013[1]
Genre(s)	Beat 'em up, fighting
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer

Anarchy Reigns, released in Japan as Max (Japanese: マックス アナーキー, Hepburn: Makkusu Anākī), is a PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 open world^[2][3] beat 'em up video game developed by PlatinumGames, published by Sega, produced by Atsushi Inaba and directed by Masaki Yamanaka.^[4] It is the sequel to the Wii video game MadWorld, and was released on July 5, 2012 in Japan, but the planned simultaneous release in North America, Europe and Australia is said "to be confirmed" by Sega on May 25.^[5] On June 18, Sega confirmed via Twitter that the game would be released in North America and Europe in March 2013,^[6] but on October 19, 2012, Sega announced that it released in North America on January 8, in Australia on January 10 and in Europe on January 11, 2013.^[7]

Gameplay

The player can control one of various types of fighters using extravagant moves to defeat their opponents. Multiplayer modes are Tag Team, Battle Royale, Death Match, Capture the Flag and Survival. The single player campaign consists of two interwoven plots, Black Side and White Side. Once all of them are completed, the player can go on the Red. Though there are two Red sides depending on which side players can originally chose, the only difference between them are the characters you play as.

Plot

Characters

The game features seventeen playable characters, plus one additional DLC character. Returning from MadWorld is protagonist Jack Cayman, an agent of the Chaser Guild, who sets out to find the fugitive Maximillian Caxton at Jeannie's request. Jack also confronts Max's team called the Strike One unit, including villainous leader Nikolai Dmitri Bulygin, female agent Sasha Ivanoff and Jack's rival Leonhardt "Leo" Victorion.

A few characters also reappeared in MadWorld, including former final boss the Blacker Baron and his assistant Mathilda, cyborg bull Big Bull Crocker, and Crimson Dragons clan member Rin Rin, now aided by her sisters Fei Rin and Ai Rin. Amala, Jack's partner and radio contact from MadWorld, also returns in a non-playable role. Other playable characters include cyborg bounty-hunting partners Durga and Garuda, cybernetic ninja Zero, junk seller Edgar Oinkie, mutant hunter Douglas Williamsburg, mass-produced combat mech the Gargoyle and Maximillian Caxton himself. Additionally, the titular hero of PlatinumGames' Bayonetta appears as a playable character via downloadable content.

Story

The game includes separate story campaigns for two characters: the "Black Side" campaign featuring returning MadWorld protagonist Jack Cayman and the "White Side" campaign featuring new character Leonhardt "Leo" Victorion. The two characters' stories occur in parallel with one another, intersecting at various points before converging in a final "Red Side" campaign.

The story takes place in a post-apocalyptic future in the fictional city of Altambra. After sightings of former Bureau of Public Safety agent Maximillian Caxton, who was arrested for the murder of his wife three months prior before staging a jailbreak, the BPS’s Strike One Unit is dispatched to Altambra to track down and kill Max, with agent Leonhardt Victorion splitting off from the group to search on his own. Leo remains unconvinced that his former mentor could have turned into a violent killer, despite Max’s wife Ondine being found dead three months prior with wounds matching Max’s Cybrid Arts, and is determined to bring him back alive. At the same time, Chaser Guild member Jack Cayman is also searching for Max at the behest of his daughter, Jeannie, while a series of robot drones try to pursue and kill Max. After encountering fellow bounty hunters the Blacker Baron and Mathilda, Jack is reminded of the incident in which his adoptive daughter, Stela was killed by friendly fire during the rescue mission. It is while visiting her grave that Jack is first contacted by Jeannie, who reveals that Max was the officer that shot Stela, after which he fell into self-destructive habits, such as drugs and alcohol before ultimately disappearing, and that the BPS plans to kill Max. Jeannie asks Jack to find and save Max. Meanwhile, Leo follows a trail of cyborg corpses with wounds identical to those of Ondine. Evidence suggest that Max’s cyborg body is damaged and Strike One determines he will head to Port Valenda to scavenge for parts.

There, Leo confronts and fights with Jack, until Max shortly appears and leaves. As Jack and Leo split up at Hong Long, Leo runs into Max, who suffers with varying degrees of memory loss and attacks Leo, not recognizing him, but fellow agent Sasha Ivanoff and team leader Nikolai Bulygin arrive to help. After fighting Max, Nikolai prepares to execute him, but Leo intervenes, demanding a fair trial for Max. While Nikolai and Leo argue, Max runs off, and Strike One begins tracking him. Later, Jack, Baron and Mathilda fight Max, whose mental state is rapidly deteriorating due to the influence of his addictions. Jack nearly kills Max in revenge, but is barely stopped by the Baron at which point Max escapes. The group follow him to Bari Shur, where they encounter Sasha. The Baron and Mathilda distract her while Jack continues looking for Max. At the same time, Leo argues with Nikolai over whether Max should be returned dead or alive, culminating in a battle between the two. Leo defeats Nikolai, and he and a sympathetic Sasha resume the search on their own. Jack finally catches up to Max, who tells him that he did not kill Stela, though he still expresses remorse. Jack defeats Max, before Leo arrives.

Leo insists Jack to bring Max back home for a fair trial, but Jack refuses. The two fight each other, but the Baron, Mathilda and Sasha stop them. Soon after arriving, Nikolai reveals to be Ondine's real murderer and orders the squad of drones to kill others who fight back. Jack and Leo team up to defeat Nikolai, with Jack delivering the final blow with the chainsaw to slice him in half. The group take Max home to Milvallen and prepare to have Nikolai put on trial for punishment.

Soundtrack

Reception

Reception

Aggregate scores Aggregator Score GameRankings (PS3) 71.95%[8] (X360) 71.75%[9] Metacritic (X360) 73/100[10] (PS3) 71/100[11] Review scores Publication Score CVG 7/10[12] Destructoid 8.5/10[13] Edge 6/10[14] EGM 6/10[15] Eurogamer 9/10[16] Game Informer 7.5/10[17] Game Revolution [18] GameSpot 7/10[19] GamesRadar [20] GamesTM 6/10[21] GameTrailers 7.4/10[22] IGN 5.9/10[23] Joystiq [24] OPM (UK) 6/10[25] OXM (UK) 7/10[26] Polygon 7/10[27] Digital Spy [28]

Anarchy Reigns received mixed reviews. Aggregating review websites GameRankings and Metacritic gave the PlayStation 3 version 71.95% based on 20 reviews and 71/100 based on 35 reviews^[8][11] and the Xbox 360 version 71.75% based on 28 reviews and 73/100 based on 38 reviews.^[9][10]

Lucas Sullivan from GamesRadar gave the game a 6/10, praising the simplicity in gameplay and combat system, but criticizing the short, predictable and dull single-player campaign, as well as the confusing multiplayer. He also stated that he encountered occasional lag problems.^[20]

Richard Mitchell from Joystiq also gave the game a 6/10, praising its good vocal performances, well-designed characters, well-performed story, but criticizing the limited combat, irritating matchmaking problem and lack of competitiveness in the multiplayer modes.^[24]

Mark Walton from GameSpot gave the game a 7/10, praising its satisfying combat, but criticizing the story, repetitive single-player missions, lack of fluidity in combat, disappointing visuals, repeated textures and environment, as well as generic character design as he described most characters as "muscular video game guys, or overtly sexualised females".^[19]

Chris Carter from Destructoid gave the game a 8.5/10. He praised the soundtrack as well as the huge variety of playable-characters, allowing players to play in every playstyle possible. However, he criticized the lack of split-screen capabilities. He also stated that the combat would be nuanced, and a bit complicated for starters, but brawler fans should find everything they're looking for with Anarchy Reigns.^[13]

Mitch Dyer from IGN gave the game a 5.9/10 only, praising the concept of the multiplayer, but criticizing the frustrating mission design which leads to repetition, disappointing and weak story, inconsistent tone, empty world, as well as numerous of technical issues, such as framerate problems and fuzzy visuals.^[23]

Rich Stanton from Eurogamer gave the game a 9/10, praising the satisfying gameplay and the multiplayer, but criticizing the camera and the fighting styles that despite being various share the same visual foundations.^[16]

Hardcore Gamer gave the game a 4.5 for the PS3 praising the games presentation and soundtrack stating "Hip hop inspired tracks play between missions in the open-world where you beat up random baddies to increase an overall score value used to unlock the next story or free mission."^[2]

References

External links

• Official website (Japanese)
• Official website