You are minding your own business when you turn your TV and see in the news flash that Aliens have invaded the world! Anarchy reigns in the street is every man for himself now, so you do what anyone in your position will do: shoot your way through and become the Master of Mayhem.
S.A.M.M is a twin stick shooter that has RPG-like elements like leveling up and skills upgrades. With a top down perspective, you cruise through this cartoonish world shooting everything on sight, picking money and different weapons, all while fighting all kinds of different enemies, that like you just want to see the world burn. From the beginning, you can see that the story for state of anarchy shouldn’t be taken seriously, and that is not a bad thing, since this crazy bullet hell shooter has a lot of charm. Its wacky story and aliens will have you laughing when you least expect it.
S.A.M.M gameplay is pretty straightforward: you move with the Left Stick, shoot with Right Stick (or R button), interact with A (to open doors and get inside cars), and L to use your special weapon. The objective in each of the 48 levels is to survive the hordes of enemies, collecting guns and money (used for upgrades), all while avoiding the tons of bullets your many enemies attack you with.
Now with State of Anarchy, you have the option to play the game how you want, since at the beginning of each stage there is an arrow, with a meter counter that decreases as you get close to your objective. Some of the objectives are getting to the bank, following and shooting down a UFO, or even get to determined place or boss fights. However, you can also choose to ignore the arrow for a while and kill all enemies you can. That way, you can rack up the experience points and money, all while leveling up and getting enough money so you can gain more perks that will give you a fighting edge against enemies. When you level up, you get a skill point that you can use to activate skills, like a faster running speed (NEEDED) or more HP, or even regaining health while killing enemies. The money-based skills affect your gun. You can increase your rate of fire, the critical hit percentage, damage and bullet speed, and even make the rage skill (pressing Y when the yellow gauge bellow your hp gauge is full) more effective, so going out of your way to do as much damage as needed is welcomed. However, if you want to just follow the arrow and get to your destination killing enemies as you go, that works as well.
The enemies are varied and range from humans to aliens. The grey enemies can be killed quickly, but there are red ones (like the sub bosses and bosses) that take a couple of hits to bring down. There are also a lot of weapons that you find in banks (I thought that you could only get money there, or loans). Typically, they can be upgraded, and there are even totally cool weapons like the sawblade gun or the landmine gun special weapon. However, I think that the lack of being able to change guns on the go can make some bosses almost unfair. One example is the spider-like boss you encounter. At that time, during the game you are equipped with the sawblade gun and landminegun special weapon. My issue with this setup is that while it is powerful, the range is so bad that you need to be up close and personal to deal the most damage. This boss, like you, has land mines, so it can be a test of patience and trial and error to find the correct way to defeat it with your limited range guns.
Graphically, State of Anarchy looks like a ten year old’s doodle book. The art style fits the overall nonsensical story, and even if there is blood and deaths everywhere, it’s still just a game and nothing to graphic for kids (as a parent I take special care in what is my kid playing).
The music is really good. I like how mellow and calm some of the tunes are, but as you get in a car, it turns into an upbeat, no holds barred tune. It goes well with all the action going on the screen.
Bottom Line – State of Anarchy: Master of Mayhem is a fun and simple twin stick shooter with bullet hell game play, tons of weapons and lots of enemies, and a hilarious story. I give it a solid recommendation. If you like single player insane and fun games, you cannot miss it. While the price is higher than the steam version, I still think is worth it, since you get a lot of bang for your buck.
Disclaimer: A review code was provided