Recently we’ve seen a number of new genres and several old ones come back, but the brawler seemed to be left out. Seeing this Platinum Games went out to add their usual style to a pretty much dead genre, but is that enough? Can the brawler genre survive or is it doomed to cross over titles?
Let’s see what’s HOT and what’s NOT in our review of Anarchy Reigns.
HOT
Amazing Soundtrack
From the second you boot up Anarchy Reigns you’re greeted to an amazing soundtrack. Every song is either a rap / hip-hop song, which really suits the street brawling gameplay. Additionally with roughly 50 total songs, there is a vast variety of songs that never really gets old.
Surprisingly Deep Combat System
At first glance Anarchy Reigns has a fairly basic combat system, but like most fighters there is a layer of depth underneath that. Beyond simply attacking or blocking, characters can dodge to unleash an attack, use a 360 attack to save your ass from attackers or even parry incoming attacks. If this isn’t enough, there are also killer attacks that do critical damage, easily break guards and in some cases have special animations. These come in various forms, so it isn’t an uncommon sight to see a chainsaw launching at you, then getting your chest torn up by it.
If this isn’t enough for you, the various characters have their own unique elements to them. For instance Bayonetta has insane attack speed and is good at close or midrange. Every character has their own highs and lowers, which requires you to constantly plan ahead.
Over 10 Online Modes
Gamers looking forward to the online gameplay will be pleased to learn there are over 10 modes to play. The majority of these modes are various forms of deathmatch or CTF, but there is also a survival mode and the unique Death Ball mode. While most of them are self explanatory, Death Ball is basically an insane version of football. You have two teams fighting for a ball, which can be passed or ran into the goal yourself. However unlike traditional football, your team has to hold the ball for a period of time. This usually ends with someone getting killed or the ball going to the other team. Additionally sometimes you can get a crazy “superstar” shot, which makes it one crazy mode.
If these modes aren’t enough for you, there are another two modes you can purchase via DLC. The first mode is Mad Survival, which is another enemy wave mode like survival, but with named characters. Due to the more powerful enemies, it is a lot harder, but a lot more fun to play. The other mode is a unique mode called Dogfight. As the name suggests this mode is about fighting with planes and is pretty crazy.
Supports Several Languages
As stated several times, Anarchy Reigns supports languages other than Japanese. These include English, French, Italian and Spanish, so you shouldn’t have an issue understanding the game. Additionally language is based off your system language, so you don’t need to fumble to change it. However if you would like to change something, you can switch the voice acting to one language and make the subtitles another. This is a huge plus if you’re a fan of the Japanese voice acting, but would still like to understand the game.
