Free roaming meets old school beat em up for a rumble on the streets...
Anarchy Reigns plays something like Saints Row 2 meets Streets of Rage with a hint of Virtua Fighter and a pinch of Dynasty Warriors. The game has you running round a free roaming area defeating hordes of enemies using simple combos that become deeper if you delve. Some would scoff at the repetitive nature of pressing X,X,X,X to defeat these hordes but then there are lots of combos available not to mention barrels, tires, and vehicles to smash or throw at your foes. And that's before you hijack a super futuristic chopper and use it to fire missiles before smashing it into the ground.
This helps to alleviate that repetitive nature that some would tar the game with, so knowing this lets get into what the game offers.
Campaign:
Essentially the games story mode where you choose a side (black or white) and enter one of several free roaming areas defeating foes and finding secrets. What's interesting is that you see the story from both sides, this adds an extra "one more go" feel to the game as you want to know just how things pan out if roles were reversed.
There are two types of missions available, free and main.
Free missions don't advance the story and you don't have to complete them hence their name, main missions however will advance the story. The missions themselves are devilishly fun having you defeating as many enemies as possible to riding a huge beast destroying everything in your path. There's even a racing mission where the rules of racing are thrown out the window and killing bad guys is part of the fun.
Once you complete one side you will automatically start the other side, there's even a secret Red side to unlock later on.
Characterization:
Sometimes very rarely, a videogame will come along which will be missed by the unaware consumer and finds itself pushed to the back of the gaming shelf. Games like Anarchy Reigns or Max Anarchy in Japan where the price is right (17 pounds in the UK for the limited edition) the gameplay is smooth and rewarding and the characters are anything but generic.
Anarchy Reigns plays something like Saints Row 2 meets Streets of Rage with a hint of Virtua Fighter and a pinch of Dynasty Warriors. The game has you running round a free roaming area defeating hordes of enemies using simple combos that become deeper if you delve. Some would scoff at the repetitive nature of pressing X,X,X,X to defeat these hordes but then there are lots of combos available not to mention barrels, tires, and vehicles to smash or throw at your foes. And that's before you hijack a super futuristic chopper and use it to fire missiles before smashing it into the ground.
This helps to alleviate that repetitive nature that some would tar the game with, so knowing this lets get into what the game offers.
Campaign:
Essentially the games story mode where you choose a side (black or white) and enter one of several free roaming areas defeating foes and finding secrets. What's interesting is that you see the story from both sides, this adds an extra "one more go" feel to the game as you want to know just how things pan out if roles were reversed.
There are two types of missions available, free and main.
Free missions don't advance the story and you don't have to complete them hence their name, main missions however will advance the story. The missions themselves are devilishly fun having you defeating as many enemies as possible to riding a huge beast destroying everything in your path. There's even a racing mission where the rules of racing are thrown out the window and killing bad guys is part of the fun.
Once you complete one side you will automatically start the other side, there's even a secret Red side to unlock later on.
Characterization:
This game features of the most bizarre and strange takes on generic characters available including:
A guy with a chainsaw in his arm
A psychotic female fighter with nunchaku
A disturbed man with a cybernetic leg that fires missiles
Ok yeah you get the idea and the great part is you get to play as these characters on levels you have completed when you unlock them.
Combat:
Many games like this one fail in this department due to over simplicity or because they are hyper technical. Thankfully Anarchy Reigns is neither and offers simple and stylish combat along with decent training and tutorial modes. Each character has their own "killer weapon" that deals a hell of a lot more damage than your regular fists and feet. These weapons range from chainsaws and nunchakus to missile laden cybernetic legs and flaming Chinese fans. However my one complaint surrounding the combat is the guard/roll system. If done correctly you can avoid enemy attacks and counter them, however the input is rather fiddly at times and can throw you off.
It is however a minor complaint and not a deal breaker.
Multiplayer:
Characters you unlock can be used in the games multiplayer mode you can also unlock the characters here by going up in rank. The mode consists of your typical battles such as Team, Tag, and all out battle Royale.
They are oodles of fun and even if you lose you still rank up.
Extras:
Oh yes the game features a tonne of extra content from concept art to character models and even a color customize of sorts. Its a very rare site to see a bargain priced game offer so much content for so little.
Conclusion:
Platinum Games have created a rather fun game that brings back memories of the 80's/90's era of gaming when men were men, women were well women and the script was right out of an action movie. A great budget game with enough to keep you going for a long time and the limited edition features extra multiplayer modes plus Bayonetta as a playable character. There are a few misgivings such as the roll move and the music is not as drum and bass as you might expect.
However the content on offer and the small price tag will ease any qualms you may have about purchasing.