The best part of Anarchy Reigns is its title screen. That's not to imply that the rest of the game is particularly bad, because it's not. It's just that it has an amazing title screen. I could spend an hour staring at that thing. Have, in fact, done so. 

The opening image of the game's complete cast of characters hanging out around a sleazy bar as the game beckons you to "Press Start" sets the tone for what is ultimately an irreverent, if short-lived experience. Like a particularly divey bar, you come for the crazy cast of characters and fast-paced action, and you're likely to have a good time while things last. But the anemic campaign and small online player base mean you're unlikely to stick around 'til closing. Yes, unless you and some friends find yourselves enamored with Anarchy Reigns' bizarre brand of online brawling, this game is more of a Friday night fling than a long-term commitment.

Anarchy Reigns features a story mode complete with multiple hub worlds, more boss fights than you can shake a stick at and multiple playable characters. But using the term "story" might be overselling it a bit, really. There's almost no connective tissue between the various levels of the game, and although cutscenes are plentiful (and unskippable,) there isn't much in the way of a coherent story to be heard here. Tonally, the game veers from wacky brawler to tragic soap opera and back again with an almost alarming disregard for plot continuity or thematic consistency. 

And even with all of the boss battles and cutscenes that Platinum managed to cram in here, the story mode still ends way too quickly and winds up feeling more like a prologue to the crazy action of the online modes than a standalone experience. Players are encouraged to play through the story twice, as the mode features two distinct playable characters, but even then you're looking at a day-long commitment. 

Perhaps sensing that the story was far too short, Platinum crammed it full of a bunch of tedious side missions and made playing them at least once mandatory. Beating a side mission grants you experience, which goes towards unlocking the next story mission. And you can't tackle your real objective until you've played enough side missions to get all of that experience. But the problem is that there isn't enough variety in the side content, and even when you come upon a particularly unique one that involves kart racing or crashing semi trucks, chances are you'll have to repeat it at some point. 

Luckily, the game is fun enough to play that an array of tedious missions ends up being less of a problem than it initially sounds. Pumping out combos with the game's large cast of characters is really satisfying once you get a handle on each fighter's unique moveset, and there's a certain tactile skill inherent in learning how each of the game's combatants stacks up against the others. That's displayed best in the story's boss battles, which often see you doing battle against other named characters from the game's roster. You'll need to watch out for their special moves and quick timing. It's just too bad that the same level of depth isn't present in battles against normal enemies, who can typically be killed with a simple three-hit combo.

It would also be nice if there were more than two selectable characters in the game's campaign, and I still wish that the dodge move was more immediately accessible on the controller. As is, you have to hold down a shoulder button and hit a face button and a direction, which is just too many buttons for what should be such simple functionality. Still, complaints aside, the game's combat has a certain fast and loose appeal to it that translates perfectly to the online arena.

And it's online where the game really starts to live up to its name. It takes a good bit of practice and patience to even be able to tell what's happening in some of the game's more chaotic moments, but it rarely becomes more overwhelming than fun. A series of playful modes goes a long way towards adding charm to the game; playing a weird version of football in which cyborg ninjas and transforming robots try to kill each other is just about as awesome as it sounds. 

More importantly, Anarchy Reigns has the chops to make for deep PvP matches in the game's more serious modes. Playing the game at a high level will require intimate knowledge of each of the characters and their movesets; you'll want to be as familiar with who you're fighting as with who you're playing. It's a game that can be unkind to newbies, but the goofy fun that comes in the game's randomized events should be enough to keep the average player from taking the thing too seriously.

It's those random events that instill a true sense of anarchy into the online matches. While players brawl it out across streets, sewers and docks, the game will sometimes initiate a world-altering series of events that sees planes dropping out of the sky, semi trucks running rampant through levels, cars tumbling down the street and more. This injects enough random action into the formula to keep everybody on their toes, even if death by falling airplane can feel a little sudden at times.

Unfortunately, there's a dearth of players taking the game online, perhaps due to the practically nonexistant marketing push from SEGA on the game's release. It's a real shame to have to hold a lack of players against an otherwise totally decent game, and it's something that's been happening a lot lately, but the fact of the matter is that it can be tough to find a game online at all but peak gaming hours (evening hours seemed to work best,) especially if your mode of choice doesn't gel with what the rest of the community is into. 

Anarchy Reigns is an inherently flawed title, but one whose numerous charms go a long way towards appealing to a certain audience. If crazy melee combat with a colorful cast of characters sounds like your idea of a good time, consider Platinum's latest a solid investment. Just be sure that you have a reliable posse to run with online, because those servers are already looking a little sparse. 

Score: 7/10

This game was reviewed on the Playstation 3