Anarchy Reigns is a multiplayer brawler from PlatinumGames, the studio behind Bayonetta and Vanquish, and it asks players to pick a fighter and settle things with their fists in a lawless future city. Sega published it for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Japan got it on July 5, 2012; North America waited until January 8, 2013, with Australia and Europe following on January 10 and January 11.
Trailer, via GameSpot.
Jack Cayman and the Chaser Guild
The hook is a manhunt. Maximillian Caxton, a former Bureau of Public Safety agent, breaks out of custody three months after his arrest for his wife’s murder. The Strike One unit is sent to Altambra to find and kill him.
The story splits into two parallel campaigns that cross and then converge. Jack Cayman, a gruff bounty hunter of the Chaser Guild, takes the “Black Side,” hired after Max’s daughter Jeannie asks him to bring her father back. Jack agrees, though he hates Max for accidentally shooting his adopted daughter Stela on a rescue mission. Leonhardt “Leo” Victorion, a reluctant Strike One agent, takes the “White Side,” refusing to believe his old mentor is a killer. Clear both and a final “Red Side” campaign unlocks.
It is the spiritual successor to the Wii video game MadWorld (2009)
The roster runs seventeen playable characters plus one downloadable fighter. MadWorld veterans return: the Blacker Baron and Mathilda, cyborg bull Big Bull Crocker, and Crimson Dragons member Rin Rin. Newcomers include Rin Rin’s sisters Fei Rin and Ai Rin, bounty-hunting partners Durga and Garuda, cybernetic ninja Zero, junk seller Edgar Oinkie, mutant hunter Douglas Williamsburg, and the mass-produced mech Gargoyle. Bayonetta joins via DLC.
Multiplayer Modes and the Open City
The combat is close, over-the-top, and staged across a massively open world. Players fight in team co-op or last man standing battles, online or in split screen, with a third-person camera and single-player campaigns running alongside.
What holds it together, and what dates it, is the structure. The parallel campaigns are the real idea here — two hunters chasing one man, their paths clashing before the truth about Max’s fall surfaces.
Ranking what matters most:
- The two-campaign structure, which gives the manhunt real weight.
- The roster’s breadth, drawing on MadWorld’s cast rather than starting fresh.
- The multiplayer suite, which carries the game past its story.
Anarchy Reigns is not PlatinumGames at its sharpest, and the open city spreads the fighting thin. But the parallel campaigns and the MadWorld lineage give it a spine most brawlers lack. 7.8 of 10.
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