Bioware's New IP is Shared-World Action-RPG Anthem

[ffronw]

Bioware's New IP is Shared-World Action-RPG Anthem

The long-awaited new Bioware IP has been revealed, and it's a multiplayer, share-world action RPG named Anthem.

When it was announced last month that the new Bioware IP had been delayed to EA's 2019 fiscal year, some wondered when we'd finally get a look at the game. If your money was on E3 2017, then you're a winner. Bioware announced Anthem during EA's press conference yesterday.

Described as a "shared-world action-RPG," Anthem drops players into a world where they are Freelancers - the only ones brave enough to go "outside the wall" and explore the wilds.


You'll equip a variety of "Javelin" exosuits, each with a particular specialty. For example, the video above shows off the balanced Ranger suit and the tanking-focused Colossus suit. As you play, you can loot weapons and crafting materials to improve your suits.

Your friends will be able to join with you on your adventures seamlessly, and you can tackle in-game events like the Shaper Storm seen in the trailer above.

Anthem is planned to launch in Fall 2018, but Bioware has yet to confirm which platforms the game will release on.

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[TilMorrow]

Another way to describe the game is "Play as Iron Man in Halo whilst pretending to be a member of the Night's Watch with three other people. Explore your Destiny as you hunt for loot drops and use pre-set flight paths for your Jetpacks and yes we have loot boxes." They would have been better off calling it The Dirge with the lack of substance that reveal had.

 

[American Tanker]

Rest in peace, EAWare. You haven't been good since Mass Effect 2.

 

[pookie101]

seriously.. they pulled their main rpg team off of andromeda to make a multiplayer shooter?

 

[TilMorrow]

seriously.. they pulled their main rpg team off of andromeda to make a multiplayer shooter?

The real joke here is that not only did they take the rpg team off the rpg to work on a multiplayer game but they put their multiplayer team (Mass Effect 3) as the head on their rpg game. These Development issues just keep getting better and better.

 

[pookie101]

seriously.. they pulled their main rpg team off of andromeda to make a multiplayer shooter?

The real joke here is that not only did they take the rpg team off the rpg to work on a multiplayer game but they put their multiplayer team (Mass Effect 3) as the head on their rpg game. These Development issues just keep getting better and better.

im honestly stunned it turned out to be playable at all..

 

[Imre Csete]

No bangable scooby gang is gonna rustle some jimmies with the fans.

 

[Adam Jensen_v1legacy]

This looks so underwhelming. It's hard to describe in words the absolute lack of emotions that it evokes in me. Graphics and big open world aside, it just looks generic and dull. And just like ME: Andromeda, it reminds me of Crysis 3 for some reason. I can hardly believe that this is now the best that Bioware can come up with.

 

[Neonsilver]

The gameplay looks interesting, however it's questionable how it will be in the finished product. The paths look quite linear, makes me wonder how much actual exploring is possible.

 

[Ukomba]

Bioware has lost my trust at this point. I'll wait on it and see if it's worth while after a month or so of it live.

 

[SlumlordThanatos]

Why should I play this game when Warframe is a thing?

Whelp, I need to go dig a grave for Bioware. They've finally completely lost me.

 

[Cartographer]

So, EA does Horizon Zero Dawn, just with power armour.


And late.

 

[Ishigami]

Escapists BioWare hate still going strong. In other news: Water is wet.

I will agree that there is a certain lack of creative vision in that sense that Anthem seems to be a reskinned Destiny.
It is obviously designed to get a market share of whatever genre Destiny supposedly created and which was already picked up by The Division. Is it a genre? I don't know and I don't really care. Seems to go down the path of Soul games of which now have 3 or 4 different ones as well.
That said that doesn't automatically make it bad just as the Dark Soul copies seem to have turned out all right for the fans.
Then again The Division was just as mediocre as Destiny. Even worse I guess due to hackers, lacklustre gunplay and boring everyday aesthetics.

I was fooled into Destiny. Ultimately it fell flat on its ass. The only really positive thing in that game was the gunplay: Movement, aim, weapons handling etc. all felt very smooth and precise.
Everything else was not thought or developed to the end.

I think a game like Destiny or the Division could work if done right. Does that mean Anthem will do it right? I don't know, not enough information available.
But I will not dismiss it right away. I expected Halo level of storytelling in Destiny, Bungie did not deliver. Now obviously I expect BioWare level of storytelling. That will pretty much make or break the deal for me.
I enjoy their way of telling stories. I enjoyed DA2 just as well as SWToR, DA:I and Andromeda.

As for the trailer: Very impressive visually. Warner in a Live Stream of Gameslice said that it is an open world. Then again when Destiny was revealed the designer threw a grenade into the distance saying you could go there if you wanted but in the end: NOPE.
So how big and open it will be has to be seen. I hope the utilize the underwater stuff, looks really cool.
Can't really judge the gunplay yet, not seen enough and then too much shotgun. Enemies seem very squishy in this trailer. Even the heavy does not survive the mortar.
What I like is 3rd person. In Destiny you get all that loot and gear and whatnot and you only ever see your character in the menu, during one of the ultra rare cut scenes, useless social animation or briefly during a super. In 3rd person seems much more important since you see it all the time.

 

[Darth Rosenberg]

BioWare are still, mostly by default, my favourite game creators (ME:A was excellent), but SP or GTFO. I didn't give a single shit about Destiny, and this clearly looks like The Hoped-For Competition. Then again there's clearly a market for that stuff, so they wouldn't care about an absence of my cash being nudged their way.

...and please, cut it with the fake gamer chatter. There are many things to loathe about gamer culture, and that's one of 'em.

 

[i64ever]

Everything they've shown makes this game look like a 100% Shooter. If there are any real RPG elements, they've kept them very well hidden. If the RPG elements are missing, it makes you wonder why they market the game as one. Is Bioware simply trying to string along their old fans while they abandon the genre completely?

 

[linkblade91]

If they won't confirm what platforms it'll play on, then there's no sense in me getting even remotely interested in it this early. For all we know Anthem will be an Xbox exclusive and I won't be able to play it.

 

[The Rogue Wolf]

So, EA does Horizon Zero Dawn, just with power armour.


And late.

I wanna call it "Horizon: Destiny Division".

 

[bladestorm91]

When I first heard dialogue in Anthem I thought it would be a very nice action story game... then it turned out that the dialogue was player voice acting. That completely ruined it for me, sure it has fucking awesome gameplay, but how long will it take before you get bored of it when it only has a shell of a story?

This will literally be: meet quest person, go do quest, come back, "GOOD JOB!", and repeat. Playing it with friends will only barely make it better, because this looks like a game where co-op is a nice, but unnecessary addition.

 

[Solkard]

I like the design and effects, but the combat looked unrealistically simple. Since it's OG BioWare working on it, I'll give them the benefit of a somewhat passable story and game world. BioWare isn't exactly known for their innovative combat mechanics, so I'm thinking that it'll be a clone of Destiny/Division/Defiance/Borderlands systems; that will mean much spongier enemies than were shown.

Worst of all, no MMO/Shared-World shooter has lived up to their initially promised potential. All have been downgraded or "restructured" after their initial announcement. EA is also well known for mucking with projects to try and squeeze more profit potential out of them. Looking at the audacity of F2P SWtOR to charge for UI elements, I can't decide if I'm more worried that the game itself will be good or bad. A bad game would be more potential for a good MMOshooter lost. A good game would leave us all at the mercy of EA's insatiable appetite.

 

[bastardofmelbourne]

Hahaha, okay. So my first thought was "Destiny," which it basically is, but there are jetpacks. Okay.

I'm keen. It looks like they took "inspiration" from a bunch of different places, but I'm interested in the result.

My major concerns would be a) the longevity of the story, because having an actual plot-driven MMO requires near-constant updates (see SW:TOR) and b) whether the "open-world" aspect is going to pay off. How large can they make the world? If I can fly around it like Iron Man, that's an important question. It needs to be big enough that I don't feel confined but detailed enough that I don't feel like I'm flying over a heap of nothing. I see there's underwater segments; that's promising.

I will note that while I thoroughly appreciate the intention behind it, having a bunch of voice actors roleplay a bunch of players playing a roleplaying game was...painful. "We should do this with Kim later!" "Ha, yeah. He needs the XP." *wince*

Seriously? Not one person dropped the n-bomb. That's just not realistic. If I'd obliterated a squad of dudes with a mortar I'd be shouting "Get fucked, my glip-glops! Woooo!"