When Anthem was initially shown off back in 2017, gamers lost their collective minds at the opportunity to live out their Iron Man-inspired fantasies in a giant open world crafted by one of the best developers in the business – skyrocketing it to the top of their 2019 wish lists.
Jump forward two years, however, and the launch has been… well, it’s been a little rocky.
In Anthem, you take control of a Freelancer – a futuristic mercenary rocking a stylish exosuit who takes up various contracts and, ultimately, tries to make the world a safer place from an assortment of dangerous creatures by blasting them into smithereens.
Learn more about Anthem’s backstory:
The elevator pitch is strong, but the big problem is that it’s just not always very fun to play. Anthem’s mission structure quickly becomes repetitive, as BioWare pads out basic tasks with bouts of pointless flying before immediately throwing a horde of enemies, and loading screens, your way. There’s a lot of extra lore and conversation on offer within the walls of Fort Tarsis (a large human settlement), for those who want to dive into it, but there’s not much incentive for such an effort outside of providing bonus context for some of the other characters you engage with throughout your journey.
When you’ve teamed up with some friends – and make no doubt about it, that is the ideal way to play – it’s easy to get caught up in the chaos and forget about the half-baked experience, but go it alone and you’ll likely grow weary at a much faster pace. Thankfully, your Javelins help offset some of these woes and are a joy to upgrade and use in combat.
Check out this Anthem Insider’s Guide
They’re capable of unleashing a wealth of destruction with only a few buttons, and depending on which class you choose, can be nicely tailored to suit your particular playstyle. They’re also incredibly pretty; as is the game as a whole if you have a 4K HDR setup.
At the end of the day, Anthem’s world is a fascinating one, and definitely rich with potential. It just needs some more time, polish and content for fans to sink their teeth into. The upcoming Cataclysm should hopefully change that (with new time-limited world events that present a much greater challenge), so fingers crossed BioWare is prepared to continue fuelling its engines.
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