Anarchy Reigns Updated Hands-On Preview

Let's just get one thing confirmed from Anarchy Reigns' producer Atsushi Inaba and designer Hirono Saito: The game's story is not a direct continuation of MadWorld. Based on the E3 2011 closed-doors presentation we saw at Sega's meeting room, the game does have characters from the black-and-white stylized Wii beat-'em-up (Jack Cayman, the Baron, and Mathilda). However, Anarchy Reigns' story is an entirely separate beast set in the future where cyborgs are commonplace and the battlefield reeks of postapocalyptic trappings.

The game's single-player story is split between the black and white side, with the former starring the double-chainsaw-wielding Jack and the latter part told by the Positron blade-amped Leo's viewpoint. After both sides of the story are complete, there will be a new chapter that opens up to tie up all the loose ends of the story in one supposed climax. The demo shown by Inaba showed off a fight between Jack, assisted by an AI-controlled Baron and Mathilda, and ninja Zero with his motley crew of cyborg ninjas.

Zero's friends served as appetizers for players to build up their kill streak and beef themselves up when they go toe-to-toe against the ninja leader. The fight looked basic enough, and it seemed to serve as a tutorial of sorts before players try out the touted multiplayer feature. On Leo's side, he showed off his arsenal when initiating a duel against Jack. Inaba said that any boss character you beat in the single-player campaign will be selectable in multiplayer, so players can expect to face AI versions of other selectable fighters like Big Bull and Sasha down the line.

While brawling is the main course of Anarchy Reigns, Saito said that there will be some variety in the missions. Some of them require players to explore the map, pick up certain objects, or even do certain "chores" before activating a boss fight in an area. The duo wasn't forthcoming on the details of these chores, so it remains to be seen how much variety the campaign will have apart from "beat X number of guys."

Inaba also said that players can customize abilities only on the multiplayer segments; the move set and abilities in the single-player mode remain the same. As you play and get more experience online, you can use these points to unlock abilities and additional skills. The catch is that players can only equip one skill for a fight. One example of such a skill includes the ability to pull off quicker and farther-reaching throws on opponents. Inaba added that if you pull off kills consecutively, you gain momentum and become powerful for a short period of time. Anarchy Reigns seems to follow the unlocking options and kill streak bonuses from the recent Call of Duty games, which makes sense because it provides incentives for players to commit themselves to the game.

While Inaba has yet to reveal the number of selectable characters, we managed to take a peek at the character selection slot and saw nine extra slots on the character roster, making the current roster a grand total of 17 characters at this point. There will also be 10 different color palettes to choose from for each of the characters.

After the short session, we headed down to Sega's booth and checked out the PlayStation 3 version of the game. In terms of control, players can alternate between normal and strong attacks with the square and triangle buttons, respectively. Grabbing and throwing is done with the circle button, while jumping is done with the X button. Locking onto an opponent requires a press of the L1 button and will target whoever is within your character's line of sight, while guarding from an opposition's attacks are mapped on the R1 and R2 buttons. Players can unleash killer moves by unsheathing their character's weapons by pressing the L2 button. While powerful and damaging, their durability will run out in mere seconds if not kept in check.

We picked the Baron for our play-through; though not as speedy as ice-wielder Sasha, this yellow-clad pimp could hold his own when up close against an enemy because he hits hard but isn't as challenged in the mobility department like heavyweight cyborg Big Bull. He also has a countermove that made him do a Tasmanian devil-like spin with a flurry of fists that was only activated when the Baron was blocking. That move proved to be a great surprise that caught our opponents off guard as the counterattack knocked them away easily. In terms of strategy amidst the chaos, players will have to take into account which enemy they're locking onto while fighting, as well as watch their back in case a projectile or a rushing attack comes their way.

One thing to note during both the presentation and multiplayer hands-on was the game's streetwise and hip-hop-fused soundtrack. According to Inaba, the music will be done by the artists who contributed to the rap and hip-hop sounds of MadWorld's soundtrack, along with new ones that "may surprise fans of MadWorld." Players who were fans of oddly named artists like Sick YG and S.O.U.L. Purpose will get to hear them yet again while getting on their online mayhem.

We weren't really sure if the graphics will be touched up because they looked rough around the edges. We also weren't sure how net coding will be handled when it comes to online play because Inaba didn't reveal much about that aspect. At the very least, the game seems like a good throwback to Sega's past brawlers like Spikeout: Battle Street that will be tailor-made for this generation of gamers. Anarchy Reigns will be out next year in January.