It’s a Madworld – Anarchy Reigns Review

I loved Madworld for the Wii, it was a great blend of over-the-top violence with a cool comic book look. Sadly, like most really good 3rd-party games on the Wii, it was a commercial flop. That didn’t stop the team at Platinum games from taking a second stab at the world they created, making the pseudo sequel to the Wii Brawler on the PS3 and 360 as Anarchy Reigns.

Anarchy Reigns takes place in the far future, after the world was destroyed by multiple nuclear attack, causing mutation to run rampant in the new world. The story mode takes place a few years after the end of Madworld and follows Jack; the former hero of Madworld, and Leo; a member of the Strike One Unit which could be considered the special task force of the series. Jack and Leo are rivals at first looking for the same man, Max the former leader of the Strike One Unit, Leo’s former mentor and the person who murdered Jack’s daughter.

While playing the story mode, you are given certain tasks to complete while moving around the environment, from Free Fight mode, your given certain simple tasks like beat a set amount of enemies in a specific amount of time. Of course these can range from extremely simple like 50 enemies in 5 minutes, to taking out a giant mutant in 1 minute. Other missions progress the story further with a cutscene and the goal to defeat a major character, defeating these characters will unlock them in the multiplayer modes.

The best way I could describe Anarchy Reigns’ gameplay is that it is similar to Temco Koei’s Dynasty Warriors, in which your character gets into hand to hand combat against multiple opponents and can wipe out a bunch at a time, but that wouldn’t do the game complete justice. Anarchy Reigns combat system is what separates it from the other “battlefield brawlers,” it uses the standard beat’em up practices of God of War and Bayonetta by linking light and strong hit combos; while giving you the option to pick up enemies/items and toss them, as well as Environmental Deaths, launch combos and more.

One big game changer is the Killer Weapons, each character has their own unique weapon, for example:  Jack’s Gator Teeth (two retractable Chainsaws). These weapons do a great deal of damage but must be charged by doing basic attacks. To the cannon fodder enemies, these attacks are lethal hit, but to boss and multiplayer brawls, these do a considerable amount of damage and stun opponents.

As I`ve mentioned, Anarchy Reigns has a very strong multiplayer element and is one of the major selling points of the game. In multiplayer you have a choice of many different characters, each with their own stats, abilities and Killer Weapons. There are several basic Multiplayer modes including Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, Capture the flag, and Survival.

The combat is actually balanced between the characters, fast characters can hit more for less damage and link combos easier, while heavy characters can take hits and not flinch as easily when attacked by smaller characters. It balances well enough that one character doesn’t feel better then the other, but keeps the competition alive which is great in a heavy Multiplayer focus game.

Anarchy Reigns is a budget title, priced at around $30 dollars, but definitely delivers a great punch. It is one of the better action brawlers to come out in recent months.