Anthem is EA's upcoming "Destiny killer" which puts players into a large connected world, full of strange monsters and alien flora. Since the game's reveal, BioWare has been fairly quiet about the game's features, until now.
At E3 2018, the team at BioWare described Anthem as "not quite an MMO" or a "typical" shared world shooter with story "bolted on." BioWare said that mixing multiplayer and story into the same situations often led to a diluting of the story, which isn't core to what BioWare fans have come to expect. In Anthem, the focus is your mission, in a living shared world. Weather effects, day and night cycles will be experiences shared by all the players. However, the home "base" is a single player experience, where you will discover the consequences of your actions, while interacting with the game's more cinematic elements.
BioWare is designing Anthem in a way where they can continue adding more story content to the game post-launch, for "years to come." Adding new moments with specific characters, adding extra lore, or entire new storylines and plots.
Anthem's world was left unfinished by the ancients. They also left behind their tools, and various ruined facilities, filled with all sorts of alien tech. The free people of Tarcus fight against an ancient threat called The Dominion, who are attempting to weaponize an unknowable force called the Anthem of creation.
Ranger, Interceptor, Storm, and Colossus. You are not your suit, you're a freelancer pilot. You can choose which suit you want to use, based on the situation. The Ranger is designed for up close personal combat. The Colossus is heavier and more specialized, with heavy weapons.
Players will be able to customize how their Javelins feel, able to change the style, geometry, and color of their suits.
Anthem will have cosmetic DLC without loot boxes, similar to Battlefield V. You won't be able to spend money for gameplay advantages either, something EA has been heavily criticized for in the past. EA showed off a story-based mission, where you and a team go in to take out a group of rogues building an acid-throwing superweapon. The trailer showed off how flying and verticality is core to the game world experience. The trailer showed off a huge array of RPG-style abilities, showing off how different abilities intersect and combo, for example, one player used an area-of-effect freezing grenade, while another shattered the frozen enemies with an explosive. The trailer also teased a giant plant, spider... thing, showcasing how boss battles will appear in the game.
Anthem simply looks stunning. If EA and BioWare nail Anthem, they could have a huge, huge hit on their hands.
Anthem will launch on February 22nd, 2019, for Xbox One, PS4, and PC.
Jez Corden is a Senior Editor for Windows Central, focusing primarily on all things Xbox and gaming. Jez is known for breaking exclusive news and analysis as relates to the Microsoft ecosystem while being powered by caffeine. Follow on Twitter @JezCorden and listen to his Xbox Two podcast, all about, you guessed it, Xbox!
