State of Anarchy: Master of Mayhem

 Xbox One
Metascore
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No score yet - based on 2 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1 out of 2
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 2
  3. Negative: 0 out of 2
  1. TheXboxHub
    Aug 13, 2018
    80
    State of Anarchy is a wonderfully charming and unique game that does an incredible job of evoking teenage fantasies with a brilliant art and sound direction. It may occasionally be marred by a lack of variety of challenge, but will most definitely give you more enjoyment than the cheap asking price implies.
  2. Generación Xbox
    Aug 14, 2018
    70
    The shoot'em up and run and gun enthusiasts will fall in love with the aesthetics of the game. Fun and simple.

User Reviews

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No user score yet- Awaiting 1 more rating

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2 out of 3
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 3
  3. Negative: 0 out of 3
  1. Xbox_Alive
    Aug 1, 2018
    7
    If played for long periods then this game does get repetetive quite quickly so I would recommend that you play this game for shortIf played for long periods then this game does get repetetive quite quickly so I would recommend that you play this game for short periods.There are a decent array of weapons for you to get to grips with unfortunately they all feel a little samey and lack in terms of variety. Despite the game being very fun at times there are better game’s in the genre that will probably satisfy you quite a bit more. Does State of Anarchy: Master of Mayhem do enough to get a recommendation from me? State of Anarchy: Master of Mayhem is perfect for those who love to shoot things whilst also wreaking havoc and delivering lots of destruction. It isn’t a game though that has appeal for a very long time because it can get repetetive quite quickly. That being said though when played for short periods this game is very fun to say the least and considering the price is pretty low you definitely get great value for your money.… Full Review »
  2. LoneWolf-01776
    Sep 16, 2018
    8
    First may i say i feel in love with this game. It has variety of weapons and lots of ways to improve your character the more you play. TheFirst may i say i feel in love with this game. It has variety of weapons and lots of ways to improve your character the more you play. The music was a perfect choice to go with the game style. Some people are going to say the graphics are not up to standards, but that's what makes Sate of Anarchy what it is. I enjoyed going into the banks learning all the bosses mechanics. The controls are easy to get used to and the game it self runs very smooth. It is very repetitive, but don't let that stop you from really enjoying this game. I really do wish they had a Coop to this game it would make the game even better. I recommend getting this game.… Full Review »
  3. GBG_Jason
    Aug 2, 2018
    8
    The first thing you’ll notice about the game is the distinct minimalist visual style. Every asset and character appears like they were rippedThe first thing you’ll notice about the game is the distinct minimalist visual style. Every asset and character appears like they were ripped from the doodles of an angst ridden teenager, with most items being a single color and many depicted in a black and white style. Some might call this lazy, as the background is almost entirely white on a good chunk of the levels, but I feel like this was a conscious design choice. It makes the pickups and the enemies you’ve already dispatched easier to decipher, since the game rains enemies down on you like you’re the best looking dancer at a rural strip club in the middle of the week. The one questionable choice in regards to aesthetics is that many of the items shoot bullets the size of a single pixel, making it extremely difficult to avoid a barrage of bullets at times.

    The game plays as a strange hybrid of an open world game in the vein of the original GTA with wave based top-down shooter mechanics. You can take as much or as little time as you want, progressing from point A to point B through the game’s 48 levels, but the longer you stay in a single area, the more enemies the game throws at you. Each level is going to include one or more objectives or it will pit you against a boss. These are repeated throughout the game’s length, which makes the game suffer from getting repetitive fairly early on. You’ll either be making your way through an increasingly destroyed city, attacking a boss character in a bank, chasing down a rogue UFO, taking down a bigger UFO that is summoned after the first is defeated, attacking the aliens on a strange otherworldly planet, or battling it out in space while piloting a spaceship and then repeating the same sequence of events over and over until reaching the game’s final boss. Along the way, you will unlock new abilities and guns as well as face new enemy types, but the majority of the changes are minor and rarely impacts the game in any meaningful way.

    Starting out you’ll have a slow firing pistol as your only method of defense. As the game progresses, you’ll unlock the ability to go into a rage mode, dealing major damage with an increased fire rate for a short period of time, as well as a secondary firing option. Both the primary and secondary weapons will be swapped out regularly after defeating one of the many bank room baddies. Most of the weapons are pretty effective, but in the event you find one that is kind of lackluster (such as anything with “blades” in the name, which there are a few), you’re stuck with it until the next upgrade comes along as you cannot change your equipped items at any point. Killing enemies will result in XP and cash, which is necessary to upgrade your guns and character. I’m not sure if I simply got ahead of the curve, but often it felt that I was over-leveled for many of the game’s challenges, even after bumping up the difficulty to hard.

    The game runs extremely well, even in the face of the massive hordes of enemies on the screen at the same time. Mechanically, the biggest issue I have with the game is the constant freezing during the load screens, which happened to me each and every time I would pull up the Xbox One menu mid-game, requiring the software to be rebooted. Making matters worse, I have encountered a few situations where my progress was not saved, requiring me to complete a few chunks of the already repetitive game multiple times.

    If you can get past the repetitiveness of the game, it is a decent shooter that controls extremely well, with its vehicular controls being the only area that could use some improvement. In the city based areas, you can and will need to borrow cars that were left carelessly in the streets to make it to your destinations quickly. Not only are the cars bullet proof, they can run over large waves of enemies and allow you to clear large groups in seconds. This is not a skill that is learned easily, since the vehicular controls are tank like and very reminiscent of the original GTA that I mentioned previously.

    As proof that more is not always better, the game tends to drag around the midpoint. Once finished, you’ll be able to revisit the levels with your current level and upgrades intact (unless the game forgets to save) or play again in New Game+, with the only replay value being grinding out the additional levels or upgrades. With no co-op option being in place, there is little to no reason to revisit this once you’ve completed it.

    While far from being perfect, State of Anarchy: Master of Mayhem is a fun title that offers hours of enjoyment, even if a few of them will be retreading the same ground over and over again.    … Full Review »