One of the first new releases of 2013 is Sega and Platinum Games' beat'em up action game, Anarchy Reigns. The game was released on Jan. 8 and features various types of fighters battling it out in several game modes including Tag Team, Battle Royale, Death Match, Capture the Flag, and Survival.
"We are excited to see the game reaching the Western audience," said Atsushi Inaba, Executive Director/Producer at PlatinumGames. "Anarchy Reigns is an ambitious project for PlatinumGames, as we wanted to challenge ourselves by creating a new genre, Multiplayer Brawling. You could play the game as a one-on-one fighter, but Anarchy Reigns truly comes alive when multiplayer characters are locked in chaotic battles. We look forward to global anarchy online once everyone gets a hold of the game."
So far the Anarchy Reigns has received positive to mixed reviews from video game publications and websites. On review aggregating site Metacritic, the multiplayer brawler currently holds a rating of 73-out-of-100 based on seven reviews for the Xbox 360 and a 72-out-of-100 for the PlayStation 3 based on six reviews.
Eurogamer says, "It just never lets up, setting up every type of fight you want in single-player, and quick matchmaking for multiplayer that keeps changing the rules. Online Anarchy Reigns is often built around large team battles, objective-based as well as straight-out bootfests, but things are spiced up with the odd one-on-one cage match and the absolutely mental, mesmeric all-out brawls." The review gives the game a score of 90-out-of 100.
Game Informer says, "Anarchy Reigns' multiplayer scratches an itch I didn't know I had, but its camera faults and near-identical character move sets hold it back from scratching hard enough. However, online matchmaking is quick and easy, and the network fidelity held strong through every round I played. The campaign is rough at times but overall entertaining, though I wouldn't recommend it to anyone looking for a high-caliber action experience." The reviewer gives the game a score of 7.5-out-of-10.
The game received a slightly lower score from Edge Magazine. The reviewer says, "Anarchy Reigns sits awkwardly, then: its balanced multiplayer mode means a fixed moveset and an unremarkable singleplayer campaign, while the high online player count means matches too often descend into scrappy pileups." But the reviewer also sees potential in the online brawler genre and says, "Platinum has shown that an online brawler can work. It's rough around the edges, sure, but it's a proof of concept to build on." Edge Magazine scores the game a 6-out-of-10.
Anarchy Reigns is now available in North America for the PlayStation and Xbox 360 for only $29.99. Anarchy Reigns will be released on Thursday, Jan. 10 in Australia and Friday, Jan. 11 in Europe.
Check out the game's official trailer below...
