'Anarchy Reigns' is a great game, if you have played 'Madworld', then this game may seem familiar. That is great...
Disclaimer: I have not yet played the story mode of the game and thus my review is only for that of the multiplayer modes
'Anarchy Reigns' is a great game, if you have played 'Madworld', another of Platinum Games's titles, then this game may seem familiar. That is not a bad thing…
'Anarchy Reigns' is completely 'over the top', I don't think this game was aiming to make sense, it was aiming to entertain the market. The game consists of a lot of action, there are submarine attacks, and giant crocodiles wielding giant stone hammers, there's even a mech called Cthulhu
Game play
The game play comes across as rather simplistic, the controls are not overwhelming, there is a light attack, heavy attack and grab button. It isn't though, when holding L2 your moves are boosted with each characters special weapon, this is limited to a meter that is know as your 'killer gauge'. These 'killer' attacks are also slower than your normal attacks though and thus knowing how to chain them is important if you have a chance of winning.
Dodging is quite important also, you will find dodging to be important in terms of survival, the amount of action in this game has you constantly on your toes.
The lock on system is okay, I would have preferred it if you were able to switch between targets with a button press instead of using the stick, this is because whenever you move you find your targets switch between each other uncontrollably, this can make it difficult to finish off a foe.
Weapon items seem to be a great way to score kills, weapon items such as the rocket launcher or sniper rifle can annihilate enemies. They have limited uses but I still think they are too powerful, when I picked up a rocket launcher I got 1 kill nearly 2 and all I did was spray rockets. There doesn't seem to be an aspect of skill when using that weapon. I have not picked up a sniper rifle yet.
Despite some flaws, the game play is fun above all things characters are easy to use and because each character plays almost the same once you start getting good with one character your skill with all characters is developing.
Environments
The environments in 'Anarchy Reigns' are quite diverse in style, but despite the style many of the environments have similar textures throughout that do not create good looking or realistic environments. The main point of the environments in anarchy reigns is to create a good battleground for people to fight in, don't expect breathtaking environments.
The environments do interact well though. There are many environmental sequences in the middle of battle that are brilliant, I enjoy seeing the giant octopus attack, and it just shows the craziness of the game. You really don't want to be around when that octopus strikes.
Weapons are frequently found in the environments also, in the same way as 'Madworld', you can impale people with street signs, bung a bunch of tires over their heads, or just throw vehicles at them. It adds another level to the depth of battle.
The soundtrack is comprised of rap and hip-hop styled songs, I enjoy them and think they blend together well with the action. It suits the environments well in a way I can't describe, what you're looking at and playing, is what you're listening to also.
Multiplayer
Game modes, such as 'Battle Royale' and 'Cage Match' are easy to get into games on. 'Cage Match' because of its lack of required players: you only need two people to start a 'Cage Match' because it's essentially a one on one fight. 'Battle Royale' because of its popularity… it's a fun game mode and many people play 'Battle Royale'.
However less popular game modes such as 'Deathball' and 'Dogfight' could leave you waiting for 30 minutes for a full lobby, this is tedious when all you want to do is play the game, but when these are your favourite modes it can be a little frustrating.
I have not experienced any problems to do with lag during game play and I have to say game play online seems to be very fluid throughout.
The rank up system is good, until you unlock all the characters, once you've unlocked all the characters you get perk kind of power ups that can be equipped to your character before battle. I have to say I haven't noticed a difference with a perk equipped or not.
Conclusion
'Anarchy Reigns' is good; it's fun, fast paced and a brilliant brawler. Some multiplayer issues can be annoying but for £20 you cannot really complain. The game is excellent and is well worth your time, attention and money.