Anarchy Reigns

• Title — Anarchy Reigns • Developer — PlatinumGames • Publisher — Sega • Director — Masaki Yamanaka • Designer — Eiro Shirahama • Programmer — Masumi Tarukado • Producer — Atsushi Inaba • Composer — * Naoto Tanaka • Hiroshi Yamaguchi • Akira Takizawa • Platforms — PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 • Genre — Beat 'em up, hack and slash • Modes — Single-player, multiplayer

The player controls one of numerous fighters, each using their own unique moveset to defeat their opponents. The player can also fight other players online in Multiplayer Mode. The game includes separate story campaigns for two characters: the "Black Side" campaign featuring returning MadWorld protagonist Jack Cayman and the "White Side" campaign featuring new character Leonhardt "Leo" Victorion. The stories occur in parallel in an open world, intersecting at various points, before converging in a final "Red Side" campaign unlocked after clearing both.

The game features seventeen playable characters and one additional DLC character. Returning from MadWorld is protagonist Jack Cayman, an agent of the Chaser Guild, who is tasked to find escaped fugitive Maximillian Caxton. Competing with Jack to find and capture Max first is Max's former team, the Strike One unit, made up of villainous leader Nikolai Dmitri Bulygin, female agent Sasha Ivanoff, and reluctant agent Leonhardt "Leo" Victorion. Along with Jack, several other MadWorld characters appear, including former final boss the Blacker Baron and his assistant Mathilda, cyborg bull Big Bull Crocker, and Crimson Dragons clan member Rin Rin. Other playable characters include Rin Rin's sisters Fei Rin and Ai Rin, cyborg bounty-hunting partners Durga and Garuda, cybernetic ninja Zero, junk seller Edgar Oinkie, mutant hunter Douglas Williamsburg, and mass-produced combat mech the Gargoyle. The titular hero of PlatinumGames' Bayonetta is also playable via downloadable content. A back story is added for her: after Bayonetta was killed in the past in unrevealed circumstances (presumably after the events of Bayonetta 3) her soul managed to escape confinement and take possession of a perfect organic clone of herself created by an unknown party before chaos spread to Earth.

The game is set in a post-apocalyptic future in the fictional city of Altambra. Three months after being arrested for his wife's murder, former Bureau of Public Safety agent Maximillian Caxton stages a jailbreak, and his former team the Strike One Unit is dispatched to Altambra to find and kill Max. Agent Leonhardt Victorion splits off from the group to search on his own in hopes of bringing Max back alive, as he remains unconvinced that his former mentor could have turned into a violent killer. At the same time, Chaser Guild member Jack Cayman is met by Max's daughter Jeannie, who asks him to retrieve her father. Jack begrudgingly agrees, though he harbors a hatred of Max for accidentally shooting his adopted daughter Stela during a rescue mission. While searching, Jack encounters fellow bounty hunters the Blacker Baron and Mathilda, along with several drones that pursue and attempt to kill him. Meanwhile, Leo follows a trail of cyborg corpses with wounds identical to those of Ondine, Max's wife. Evidence suggests that Max's cyborg body is damaged, and Strike One determines he will head to Port Valenda to scavenge for parts. Leo runs into Jack, who fights him to try and draw Max out. The plan works, with Max briefly appearing before quickly leaving again, and Jack and Leo give chase. They track him to Hong Long, where they split up. Leo runs into Max, who suffers from varying degrees of amnesia due to prolonged substance abuse after Stela's death. He attacks Leo, not recognizing him, but fellow agent Sasha Ivanoff and team leader Nikolai Bulygin arrive to help. After fighting Max, Nikolai prepares to execute him, but Leo intervenes, demanding a fair trial for Max. While Nikolai and Leo argue, Max runs off, and Strike One begin tracking him. Later, Jack briefly teams up with the Baron, as the two find and fight Max, whose mental state is rapidly deteriorating due to the influence of his addictions. Jack nearly kills Max in revenge, but the Baron stops Jack, allowing Max to escape. The group follows him to Bari Shur, where they encounter Sasha. The Baron and Mathilda distract her, while Jack continues looking for Max. At the same time, Leo and Nikolai continue to argue over whether Max should be returned dead or alive, culminating in a battle between the two. After defeating Nikolai, Leo and a sympathetic Sasha resume the search on their own. Jack confronts Max, who admits one of his subordinates killed Stela, though he still takes responsibility. Jack subdues Max unconscious, before Leo arrives. Leo continues to insist that Max should be taken home to get a fair trial, but Jack would rather see Max dead. The two fight one another until the Baron, Mathilda, and Sasha stop them. Another squadron of drones appears, revealing Nikolai as the one behind them. Nikolai, implied to be the real murderer of Ondine, orders the drones to kill the other fighters and nearly executes Leo before he is saved by Jack. The two team up to defeat Nikolai, with Jack delivering the final blow. The group take Max home to Jeannie and prepare to have Nikolai put on trial for his abuse of power.

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