Platinum Games' Anarchy Reigns (Max Anarchy in Japan) is a game with a lot of interesting and frustrating backstory around its production. It is a semi-sequel to 2009's MadWorld, featuring several returning characters including its main character, Jack Cayman. I didn't enjoy MadWorld at all; its gameplay got repetitive before I was finished with the first stage, its running commentary got repetitive in half that time, and I found its fixation on gory kills both gross and embarrassing. I wasn't expecting much from a follow-up, but Platinum smartly made Anarchy Reigns a sequel in spirit only, taking the elements of MadWorld that did work (its soundtrack for instance) and removing everything that didn't. Instead of a dull single player game, Anarchy Reigns is a multiplayer brawler that feels like a mix of Power Stone and a simplified God Hand.
