No. And I'll explain why whilst containing my frustration with this developers apparent downfall no matter their claims that they'll be okay.
-The Good: Love the mechs. Love the concept. I appreciate all the game could've been. Fantastic looking combat and mobility. The premise of combining multiplayer and singleplayer aspects whilst containing a bioware style soul is a very fascinating idea. But...
Thats unfortunately only a dream.
-The Bad: Everything... else. And I'm not gonna bother crediting graphics btw because all games these days from Tripple A devs look good so who freaking cares anymore.... Gameplay > Graphics.
Anthem does not have the soul we were promised from a classic Bioware singleplayer RPG. Its generic, boring, lifeless. Bioware / EA LIED about how much you could do in the game as well. Head right on back and listen to the developer interviews on youtube. Meaningful decisions? Nope. Intereactive gameplay with friends? Nope. NPC's are as baseline as it gets and if you play with friends in this game wont wont progress the same way you do.
The main hub is dead and bland. You have zero impact on the story. You have zero impact on any characters. There is zero interesting RPG elements to explore such as dialog, branching paths, relationships, etc. We knew about the relationships ahead of time sure but does that make it any better? No. Its a dumb move and when the rest of the game is so lacking it just stings even more.
It's so unbelivably baseline that I can barely believe its a Bioware game. This is a game that ME Andromeda got canned for. Mid development of Andromeda many devs were pulled off that game in favour of Anthem. And while I pushed through Andromeda and loved it after patches and mods, (mega fan) I am absolutely disgusted with Anthem.
I'm infuriated that the game that got so much trouble, horrible release, lacking story, troubled writing and so much more was sacrificed in favour of a game that now launches in an even worse and downgraded state. I still recall the articles about how Bioware doubles down on Anthem.
What? How? The game has less than Andromeda had. It has LESS than Fallout 76 has. How is that even possible?
Anthem is the most basic looter shooter you can imagine. Its not an RPG either for reasons I've already explained. The game doesn't even have a stats menu for christs sake. What game about loot, stats, percentage managing doesn't have a stat menu...? Exactly. NONE. Because thats unthinkably bad to not let your player understand how much of X value you have and how to get more.
Anthem offers you jack other than 4 Javlin suits, lots of paint jobs, bare gun variety, zero cool loot on release.
Bioware is dead in my book until they release something that lives up to their reputation. I didn't believe that after ME 3. I didn't believe that after Inquisition. I DIDN'T believe that after Andromeda. Because I'm a bloody mega fan ever since Dragon Age Origins & Kotor.
My best childhood gaming memories come from Kotor Jedi training areas with this music that makes me nostalgic and emotional to this day.
And as much as I want to hope... to dream that Bioware that made this is still around its just not true. A game developer is first and foremost its individual men and women that work to make the product grand and memorable. If these fine men and women that dedicate their time, blood, sweat and tears. Hell, even sharing their very soul with this work of art... if these people leave the company, the company suffers for it.
We've heard time and time again for developer leave Bioware. Casey Hudson left. During Anthem's development of last year we heard the lead writer Drew also quit. Sure we were promised all was okay. But now that the game is released does that promise hold any value? Seeing how baseline and empty the story and world feels I'd argue "no"
I'm sad andI'm angry, by merely imagining that this might be Bioware's last big game. To think that we'll never see Dragon Age again... or Mass Effect since thats on ice now which is just adding insult to injury since they could've done everything in their power to prevent that from happening. EA literally killed their own game by moving devs mid development, and now they are doing it again with Anthem. ( Update, they were in pre-production for 6 years out of 7. Game was pieced together in just over 1 year and the E3 trailer was 100 % fake. None of it existed)
Its such a repulsing thought that I can't even fathom how a gaming world without Bioware might be as a mega fan of their games and themselves as a developer. (Old Bioware anyway) Maybe theyll come back strong and redeem themselves with Dragon Age 4!
But I'm not holding my breath, nor do I even expect that to happen anymore after seeing the developer, renown for its amazing RPG mechanics and incomparable stories, come up with a game like Anthem which's design decisions are the very antithesis of what what a Bioware game truly is.
The game is boring. Its generic. You run, you jump, you shoot, have a bit of fun only you dont even get good rewards for any of it.
There's no interesting story here. The cinematics are full of lies and PR. Huge grand battle which we dont ever come close to see an in-game version of. Walking mega mechs except they dont ever move in the actual game. And dont even get me started on the graphical downgrade. I mean good god the game doesn't have do god rays right, let alone simple sunshine which we have modded in to help improve games like skyrim. A game thats 8 years old.
And as if these things weren't meh enough then you better get ready. Because thisis to be followed up by boring loot, minimal variation, huge lack of meaningful stat upgrades + equip bonuses to guns. Not to mention horrible loading screens. And ofc... the thing good game needs that is about collecting loot.
A character menu of which to show inventory and equipment slots to allow the player to outfit him/herself with new gear.
Except thats not here either as such. You get loot and then head back to base through what feeels like a lifetime of loading screens, equip your stuff only to realize not much happened because the loot is very unoptimized to the extent Legendaries dont even blow you away as they should. We all remember Jarrah's Wrath. Heh. The representation of the gun in that E3 trailer isn't even how you get the stuff in the actual game. It was pure PR and lies.
So you equip your stuff, and then proceed to get back out in the world but first you gotta deal with a few more loading screens of course because Anthem needs to remind you of the fatal error you made buying this game by forcing you to get so mad you'll end up on the brink of smashing your keyboard due to this horrid way of waiting... and waiting. Which you'll do more of almost than playing the actual bloody game.
I hate writing this. Hate writing this massive negative review because I've never given up hope on this developer before. But after this I genuinely feel like I'm spent. Inquisition has issues but I reckoned I'd just play witcher 3 instead and let Bioware learn from that. I played Andromeda which I loved and hoped that Bioware would learn from the game, let alone EA and then do better next time since the ME fans are some of the most passionate fans in gaming.
3 out of 10.
Bioware... get a grip and if its not you but EA sabotaging you, then I'm genuinely sorry. Because it took Viceral LESS bad game design & lower sales to get sacked.
ME + Andromeda got iced for this, no matter promising DLC for this game.
Yet Andromeda was better. And while I love that game, that's an insane statement to make because of all the troubles ew heard about. All the devs pulled off the project and unto Anthem mid development of Andromeda which arguably sealed its fate and still you managed to come up with the most bare-boned trend hunting looter shooter which outright baffled people since we didn't think there would be more to do in games like Fallout 7s, over a longer period of time.
Dear Bioware. We know that you can do better because your track record is amazing. So please do, because this game's features and core emphasis is not why you have been such a beloved developer for years.
And thats my review. Hopefully fit for submission this time, because I dont know how much more tame I can be in my wording of how I feel towards this game.
Last time I did this was with Viceral. I was one of the guys pushing for Dead Space 3. We sent letters to EA, sent letters to the Viceral too and we hoped they'd listen. Let Viceral try again. Hell we even got a reply if memory serves from one of the marketing guys that spoke about how we shouldn't give up. Push through and let them know there's a demand. But we all know how that turned out.
Update: So thanks to Kotaku we finally know what really happened. The game spent almost half a decade in pre-prodution, with people waiting over a year to proceed with dev stuff because leads didn't know jack, GROTESQUELY incompetent management at Bioware (not just EA) and horrific crunch time after 6 years of doing CONCEPTS till Deadline was knocking on the door. "sigh"
Frostbyte engine was horrible to work with, EA delegated support teams unto Fifa, Bioware staff quit mid development, the game underwent sporadic "back and forth" which explains poor level design for flying gameplay.
Stress caused people to quit, cry at work, break down mentally and take months off. What the F... is wrong with you management people at Bioware? I hope you get sued or fired for creating a workplace like this.
A game dev... is its developers. And many of the old guard have quit. Thus Bioware is no longer Bioware. Its a toxic, disorganised mess of a studio with the name of a Legend.
But that Legend is firmly dead to me after hearing this. Prove me wrong, Bioware... I dare you because I love ME and Dragon Age.
But personally, I think this is the end of the line with this incompetent leadership.
-The Good: Love the mechs. Love the concept. I appreciate all the game could've been. Fantastic looking combat and mobility. The premise of combining multiplayer and singleplayer aspects whilst containing a bioware style soul is a very fascinating idea. But...
Thats unfortunately only a dream.
-The Bad: Everything... else. And I'm not gonna bother crediting graphics btw because all games these days from Tripple A devs look good so who freaking cares anymore.... Gameplay > Graphics.
Anthem does not have the soul we were promised from a classic Bioware singleplayer RPG. Its generic, boring, lifeless. Bioware / EA LIED about how much you could do in the game as well. Head right on back and listen to the developer interviews on youtube. Meaningful decisions? Nope. Intereactive gameplay with friends? Nope. NPC's are as baseline as it gets and if you play with friends in this game wont wont progress the same way you do.
The main hub is dead and bland. You have zero impact on the story. You have zero impact on any characters. There is zero interesting RPG elements to explore such as dialog, branching paths, relationships, etc. We knew about the relationships ahead of time sure but does that make it any better? No. Its a dumb move and when the rest of the game is so lacking it just stings even more.
It's so unbelivably baseline that I can barely believe its a Bioware game. This is a game that ME Andromeda got canned for. Mid development of Andromeda many devs were pulled off that game in favour of Anthem. And while I pushed through Andromeda and loved it after patches and mods, (mega fan) I am absolutely disgusted with Anthem.
I'm infuriated that the game that got so much trouble, horrible release, lacking story, troubled writing and so much more was sacrificed in favour of a game that now launches in an even worse and downgraded state. I still recall the articles about how Bioware doubles down on Anthem.
What? How? The game has less than Andromeda had. It has LESS than Fallout 76 has. How is that even possible?
Anthem is the most basic looter shooter you can imagine. Its not an RPG either for reasons I've already explained. The game doesn't even have a stats menu for christs sake. What game about loot, stats, percentage managing doesn't have a stat menu...? Exactly. NONE. Because thats unthinkably bad to not let your player understand how much of X value you have and how to get more.
Anthem offers you jack other than 4 Javlin suits, lots of paint jobs, bare gun variety, zero cool loot on release.
Bioware is dead in my book until they release something that lives up to their reputation. I didn't believe that after ME 3. I didn't believe that after Inquisition. I DIDN'T believe that after Andromeda. Because I'm a bloody mega fan ever since Dragon Age Origins & Kotor.
My best childhood gaming memories come from Kotor Jedi training areas with this music that makes me nostalgic and emotional to this day.
And as much as I want to hope... to dream that Bioware that made this is still around its just not true. A game developer is first and foremost its individual men and women that work to make the product grand and memorable. If these fine men and women that dedicate their time, blood, sweat and tears. Hell, even sharing their very soul with this work of art... if these people leave the company, the company suffers for it.
We've heard time and time again for developer leave Bioware. Casey Hudson left. During Anthem's development of last year we heard the lead writer Drew also quit. Sure we were promised all was okay. But now that the game is released does that promise hold any value? Seeing how baseline and empty the story and world feels I'd argue "no"
I'm sad andI'm angry, by merely imagining that this might be Bioware's last big game. To think that we'll never see Dragon Age again... or Mass Effect since thats on ice now which is just adding insult to injury since they could've done everything in their power to prevent that from happening. EA literally killed their own game by moving devs mid development, and now they are doing it again with Anthem. ( Update, they were in pre-production for 6 years out of 7. Game was pieced together in just over 1 year and the E3 trailer was 100 % fake. None of it existed)
Its such a repulsing thought that I can't even fathom how a gaming world without Bioware might be as a mega fan of their games and themselves as a developer. (Old Bioware anyway) Maybe theyll come back strong and redeem themselves with Dragon Age 4!
But I'm not holding my breath, nor do I even expect that to happen anymore after seeing the developer, renown for its amazing RPG mechanics and incomparable stories, come up with a game like Anthem which's design decisions are the very antithesis of what what a Bioware game truly is.
The game is boring. Its generic. You run, you jump, you shoot, have a bit of fun only you dont even get good rewards for any of it.
There's no interesting story here. The cinematics are full of lies and PR. Huge grand battle which we dont ever come close to see an in-game version of. Walking mega mechs except they dont ever move in the actual game. And dont even get me started on the graphical downgrade. I mean good god the game doesn't have do god rays right, let alone simple sunshine which we have modded in to help improve games like skyrim. A game thats 8 years old.
And as if these things weren't meh enough then you better get ready. Because thisis to be followed up by boring loot, minimal variation, huge lack of meaningful stat upgrades + equip bonuses to guns. Not to mention horrible loading screens. And ofc... the thing good game needs that is about collecting loot.
A character menu of which to show inventory and equipment slots to allow the player to outfit him/herself with new gear.
Except thats not here either as such. You get loot and then head back to base through what feeels like a lifetime of loading screens, equip your stuff only to realize not much happened because the loot is very unoptimized to the extent Legendaries dont even blow you away as they should. We all remember Jarrah's Wrath. Heh. The representation of the gun in that E3 trailer isn't even how you get the stuff in the actual game. It was pure PR and lies.
So you equip your stuff, and then proceed to get back out in the world but first you gotta deal with a few more loading screens of course because Anthem needs to remind you of the fatal error you made buying this game by forcing you to get so mad you'll end up on the brink of smashing your keyboard due to this horrid way of waiting... and waiting. Which you'll do more of almost than playing the actual bloody game.
I hate writing this. Hate writing this massive negative review because I've never given up hope on this developer before. But after this I genuinely feel like I'm spent. Inquisition has issues but I reckoned I'd just play witcher 3 instead and let Bioware learn from that. I played Andromeda which I loved and hoped that Bioware would learn from the game, let alone EA and then do better next time since the ME fans are some of the most passionate fans in gaming.
3 out of 10.
Bioware... get a grip and if its not you but EA sabotaging you, then I'm genuinely sorry. Because it took Viceral LESS bad game design & lower sales to get sacked.
ME + Andromeda got iced for this, no matter promising DLC for this game.
Yet Andromeda was better. And while I love that game, that's an insane statement to make because of all the troubles ew heard about. All the devs pulled off the project and unto Anthem mid development of Andromeda which arguably sealed its fate and still you managed to come up with the most bare-boned trend hunting looter shooter which outright baffled people since we didn't think there would be more to do in games like Fallout 7s, over a longer period of time.
Dear Bioware. We know that you can do better because your track record is amazing. So please do, because this game's features and core emphasis is not why you have been such a beloved developer for years.
And thats my review. Hopefully fit for submission this time, because I dont know how much more tame I can be in my wording of how I feel towards this game.
Last time I did this was with Viceral. I was one of the guys pushing for Dead Space 3. We sent letters to EA, sent letters to the Viceral too and we hoped they'd listen. Let Viceral try again. Hell we even got a reply if memory serves from one of the marketing guys that spoke about how we shouldn't give up. Push through and let them know there's a demand. But we all know how that turned out.
Update: So thanks to Kotaku we finally know what really happened. The game spent almost half a decade in pre-prodution, with people waiting over a year to proceed with dev stuff because leads didn't know jack, GROTESQUELY incompetent management at Bioware (not just EA) and horrific crunch time after 6 years of doing CONCEPTS till Deadline was knocking on the door. "sigh"
Frostbyte engine was horrible to work with, EA delegated support teams unto Fifa, Bioware staff quit mid development, the game underwent sporadic "back and forth" which explains poor level design for flying gameplay.
Stress caused people to quit, cry at work, break down mentally and take months off. What the F... is wrong with you management people at Bioware? I hope you get sued or fired for creating a workplace like this.
A game dev... is its developers. And many of the old guard have quit. Thus Bioware is no longer Bioware. Its a toxic, disorganised mess of a studio with the name of a Legend.
But that Legend is firmly dead to me after hearing this. Prove me wrong, Bioware... I dare you because I love ME and Dragon Age.
But personally, I think this is the end of the line with this incompetent leadership.