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Source: Youtube Channel otakubutgangsta
Developer: Platinum Games
Publisher: SEGA
Platforms: [Playstation 3], Xbox 360
Release Date: January 8, 2013
Genre: Beat 'em Up
Pros:
+ Easy to pick up combat mechanics
+ Great music that really enhances the experience
+ Exciting online multiplayer with 11 different modes
+ A campaign mode for a single-player experience
+ Tutorial, training and simulation modes to practice for multiplayer
Cons:
- Can get repetitive, especially for those who aren't fans of Beat'emUp
- A match can get one-sided by chance depending on items and level events
- The story doesn't get in-depth and ends up being simple and vague
Recommended: Maybe, beat 'em ups aren't for everyone to begin with, and the main attraction is multiplayer which is uncertain if people still play it.
Anarchy Reigns wasn't something high on my priority list, but I got it after finding out that it was only $30 and a friend of mines wanted to play together online. Multiplayer is pretty fun, but I was hoping for a single-player experience as well. Fortunately for me, there was a campaign waiting for me to play. I thought single-player was going to be like fighting games where you fight each of the characters in the game, which is somewhat true. Single-player provides open-map environments where random events and enemies appear while quests and side-quests appear for the player to progress through the story. Combat is a bit confusing at first, but can be picked up fairly quickly after an hour or so. By positioning yourself and utilizing all the skills a character has, the player can take on dozens of enemies and come out unscathed. The story is simple and a bit vague, but I suppose it's nice to have rather than having all the characters fight each other in a cliché fashion. Despite being a sort of sequel to MadWorld, the gameplay, art direction, and story are pretty different. The one thing that's similar is how great the music is. At its core, Anarchy Reigns is a beat 'em up and has the mechanics that makes it a fun and entertaining experience. Single-player is great for relaxing and fighting hundreds of enemies while multiplayer provides a competitive and exciting experience against other players.
Aesthetics
Art-style: Neo-Urban 3D
+ Dark, yet colorful, the environment is almost like walking into a comic book
+ Characters are designed with unique and quirky aspects that make them stand out
+ Level designs make for a lively environment that changes frequently
+ Simple and clean user-interface makes navigating the menu easy
+ Voice acting is pretty good, especially love Blacker Baron's voice
+ Music is so good that I put it too max and put Sfx to 75% instead
+ Amazing animations and effects for special attacks
- All special moves have 1 animation, there's no variation
- Kind of liked the over-the-top violence from MadWorld, toned down in this
- With only 4 different environments, level variety might feel limited
Aesthetics: 9/10
Buttons
Controller: PS3 Controller
+ Keys are mapped in a familiar fashion and is easy to adjust to
+ Basic combos are easy to pull off
+ Special moves are simple while still allowing complex combos to be done
+ Lock-on helps with keeping enemies in vision
+ There's counters to everything, it's just a matter of being able to perform it
- Camera controls can be a bit tricky while in combat with multiple enemies
- Keys cannot be changed/customized
Buttons: 8/10
Concept & Content
Core Concept: Utilize attacks, specials, items and grabs to defeat all enemies
+ An entertaining single-player campaign
+ An exciting and competitive online multiplayer
+ Lots of characters to choose from (18 including Bayonetta DLC)
+ 11 different multiplayer game modes!!!
+ Levels have random events adding a dynamic element into the fight
+ Story isn't elaborated very far, but it was nice to have for single-player
+ Special moves and techniques are universal in execution, but differ in ability
+ Simulation mode allows solo-play multiplayer experience for practice
- Single-player length and content is very limited compared to multiplayer
- The combat system can be repetitive for some players
- Multiplayer falls apart once the community is gone
- There isn't enough references from MadWorld for the fans
- A fight in multiplayer can really be one-sided by chance (items, specials, etc.)
Concept and Content: 8/10
Duration
+ Progression in campaign is split piece by piece (quests) with a nice flow
+ Some quests requires using a weapon or vehicle which mixes the gameplay
+ Multiplayer provides plenty of modes to play, lots of gameplay time
+ Simulation is a fun mode to play to get the multiplayer experience when offline
+ 3 different difficulties for campaign, with about 50 quests
- The campaign is actually very short and story isn't elaborated very much
- Game can feel repetitive if played for long durations at a time
- A whole chunk of the game is gone if players don't play online anymore
Durations: 7/10
Fun
+ I like the characters, they're all unique in personality and combat style
+ I'm glad there was a single-player campaign for me to play
+ Combat is satisfying and is most exciting in multiplayer
+ Blacker Baron's lines and voice acting was truly the best
+ The music is so good, I can't stop listening to them. Very catchy hooks and beats
- The campaign can get boring after playing for long durations, must take breaks
- I would've really liked to see the characters and story have more depth to them
Fun: 8/10
Overall
I really liked the art style the game took and it was an interesting change to see the characters from MadWorld in color. The music just blew me away. The style of RnB and electronic is similar to MadWorld and even has many of the same contributing artists work on this one, but I think a lot of the songs are even better. The fast beats and catchy hooks make for an enhanced experience for the game. Combat seems a bit too simplistic at first, but gets a lot more interesting when they're utilized more effectively alongside items, level events, and alongside team-members. The game does feel like it favors a niche audience as beat 'em ups are not widely popular but has always had its fanbase. It can be very repetitive for those who don't enjoy the game and so I would mainly recommend the game to those who know they like beat 'em ups. Anarchy Reigns is a pretty solid beat 'em up with satisfactory entertainment and I'm glad I had gotten it. Overall: 8/10
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