Returning from MadWorld is protagonist Jack Cayman, an agent of the Chaser Guild, who is tasked to find escaped fugitive Maximillian Caxton.

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.

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.

[22][23] Richard Mitchell of Joystiq praised the Xbox 360 version's good vocal performances, well-designed characters and well-performed story, but criticized the limited combat, irritating matchmaking problem and lack of competitiveness in the multiplayer modes.

[7] Mitch Dyer of IGN praised the concept of the multiplayer, but criticized the frustrating mission design which leads to repetition, disappointing and weak story, inconsistent tone, empty world, as well as numerous technical issues, such as framerate problems and fuzzy visuals.

[3] Rich Stanton of Eurogamer praised the satisfying gameplay and the multiplayer, but criticized the camera and the fighting styles that despite being various share the same visual foundations.

"[24] Sean Bell of The Daily Telegraph gave the same console version four stars out of five and called it "an inventive, compelling online brawler, the likes of which you won't have experienced before.

The mediocre single-player experience lacks the impact of Platinum's better works, but it's just a long and simple by-product of the richer multi-character clashes that await online.

"[25] Mike Splechta of GameZone gave the Xbox 360 version 7.5 out of 10 and said it was "fun, frantic and filled with ridiculous characters and some awesomely bad dialogue, but this 'spiritual successor' to MadWorld comes up short when compared to other Platinum Games' hits like Bayonetta.

"[27] Paul Goodman of The Escapist gave the same console version three-and-a-half stars out of five and said that it "may not have an incredibly in-depth story and also has some nagging flaws that detract from its otherwise entertaining gameplay, but it's enjoyable enough to warrant a playthrough.

Playing solo is a necessity for honing your skills and unlocking new options before you take the fight online, but those tight controls and enjoyable combat feel wasted during the hollow and repetitive single-player campaign.

"[21] Jose Otero of 1Up.com gave the game a B− noting: "Understandably, some may find a lot of the content excessive and repetitive, thusly, Anarchy Reigns might not appeal to everyone, but its solid combat and multiplayer offering mark a promising restart for a genre many folks forgot about.