Exo-Politics

Dragon Age and Mass Effect are two of Biowares biggest franchises receiving worldwide success and for good reason, they both contain epic storytelling and gameplay so engaging they have caused many sleepless nights. Anthem is a new online multiplayer only action role-playing game which takes place on an unnamed planet. You play as a freelancer who is basically the protector of the world, freelancers have somewhat lost what good reputation they have due to catastrophic events in the story that unfolds. There is more to the story and enough cutscenes to read so I won’t dive into the story more than needs to be said.

While Anthems story doesn’t have the most depth it does have some moments where it progresses drastically. Most of Anthems direct conversations with people who become known to your character and for the most part these are just fillers for progressing quests although some feel just downright annoying or cringy, I really have to say that the voice acting in Anthem is not the greatest, the short but many attempts at jokes falls hard pretty fast, as far as storytelling goes Anthem has it; the main issue is that it isn’t as large scale as their other big games in both telling and execution.

As you delve into Athems world you will get used to how the game itself works. You begin by fighting and playing through a tutorial section. As a freelancer of the world, you use Exo-Skeleton suits also known as Javelins to tackle the harsh environment, these suits are your base of powers and are customisable from appearance and to which powers you take into battle with a variety of upgrades and slots that will become available at higher levels. Each Javelin has their own individual models and each can grant different powers. Ranger is the most versatile while the Colossus is larger but are more heavy hitting at close range. The Interceptor is the most agile and my personal favourite which is the Storm Javelin is capable of dealing elemental damage from a distance. Like any other game, a higher level means you will be able to take on more formidable foes, increase the damage you output plus allow more upgrades so performing at your highest and gaining the most experience will see you reach this quicker.

As you progress through Anthem so will your base of operations. NPC’s will appear to give you sometimes new useful information while sometimes not and just to engage you in general yappery, you will also customise your Javelin aswell as craft new weapons while salvaging the old for parts which can be used in crafting.

Anthem is very team focused as you are required to take down hard as nails bosses with the option to crank up the difficulty end game, even with the diversity of each Javelin, Strongholds can be very difficult and working together is crucial but rewarding. These offer the best gear in-game with some levels of upgrades. The heart of Anthem is its combat, it is fun and very engaging and flying around also offers a more open world of exploration and means of hiding although there are instances of being in a cave where you have to be a lot more careful.

My main gripe with Anthem is the long loading times, much like Destiny these are something most players are used to however looking at a loading screen with helpful text is less fun however they aren’t as long but still you have to wait and it a shame, seeing as the early part of Anthem things finish so quickly that for the most part, you are mostly looking at the same loading screen over and over.

It has to be said that Anthem does come with an in-game store allowing you to buy decals, and new Javelin designs and the like but I will say it is one of the fairest I have seen, while you are able to buy all items with shards by parting with real life money there is the option of using in-game coins which can be obtained by doing dailies challenges and weekly contracts which feels very rewarding. There is no pay to win with Anthem and the game is challenging so everything feels as though you are working towards something.

While Anthem can at most times feel void of content it does work but maybe not in the way people expected, free play always feels like there is nothing to do which is true as you enter into a map late you will just be catching up to your teammates, there is also some much-needed quality of life improvements that Anthem could improve such as the loot system as gear rarity matters not as stats are varied almost slightly between them, there is no way to tell if a member of your team is on the brink of death and in need of a revive and when end game strongholds are as hard as they are it makes for some difficult and frustrating gameplay, who knows maybe this is what Bioware was going for but still that remains to be seen.

A PlayStation 4 Review Code was provided by Electronic Arts