In the future the world has devolved into chaos and humanity has begun changing, either via mutation or augmentation. This is the basic backdrop for Anarchy Reigns, a sort of fighting game/action hybrid that falls short of being great, but is serviceable for those looking for violent action. Think of it as a video game equivalent of a made for cable action movie from the 80s.
There is entertainment to be had. The premise and characters are crazy, the action is over the top and there is a sense of fun in the proceedings. The combat system is pretty solid, and most players will get the hang of it fairly easily.
But there’s something about having fun at the expense of logic. The story and dialogue just don’t make a lot of sense if you spend any amount of time thinking about them. Actions aren’t always explained, dialogue sometimes has little relevance, and character motivations are often absent or unclear.
Again, just more to reinforce my earlier analogy about this being like a made for cable action movie from the 80s.
Some of the missions are pretty good, but almost always have more to do with the combat system of the game than with the story. Fight off X amount of baddies in X amount of time, or use X to fight of X number of enemies. This is very much not a story driven game. That’s what disappointed me the most as I get into Anarchy Reigns.
With no story, one would hope for some deep combat, but Anarchy Reigns also falls a bit flat here too. There are only a couple of different attacks to use in combination. The missions are unlocked one at a time in a very linear fashion, and you get what feels like random sillyness being spoon fed to you.
It’s almost as if this game were meant to have been made 10 years ago.
Multiplayer is present, deathmatch, capture the flag, etc. The more players online, the better, but don’t expect Anarchy Reigns to feature a lot of players online in a few months. There isn’t a heck of a lot of lasting value other than for those who need a new fix for their brawler video game addiction. You know who you are. If you’re one of those folks, that’s fine, and Anarchy Reigns is for you.
And don’t get this for your kids. It’s very VERY violent with blood, gore, some bad words and more.