EA’s multiplayer action RPGAnthemis a game with problems that run deep. Critics, players, and its own development studio BioWare itself have all recognized that the troubled game had the potential to stand alongside similarly designed games likeDestinyandThe Division, but the final execution of the game fell flat when it released last February.
Just before the game’s first anniversary, BioWare confirmed long-standing rumors thatan overhaul is on the way forAnthem, with hopes of repairing players' faith in the game with a new gameplay loop and straightforward ways to make character progress. If BioWare’s plans hold true,Anthemmay be able to pull off an incredible comeback by looking at earlier successes and setting its own trajectory back to the skies.
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BioWare general manager Casey Hudson stated that the primary goals ofthe studio’s rework forAnthemwill be “a more satisfying loot experience, better long-term progression, and a more fulfilling endgame,” all in hopes of delivering a more meaningful experience for players. Looking at how those parts of the game are in its current form exist today is the best way to see what steps the studio will need to take to deliver the experience fans crave.
What Parts Of Anthem Did BioWare Get Right?
Early marketing forAnthemfocused on the Javelin armor players use to fight off threats from the Dominion and Scar enemy forces, and rightfully so, theRanger, Colossus, Interceptor and Storm suitsare its strongest asset. Being able to use all four Javelins and switch between them at will is one ofAnthem’s best features, giving players more freedom than a traditional class-based system. The game’s armor customization is also nothing to sneeze at, though the best Javelin looks are gated behind a microtransaction-focused storefront.
Flying inAnthemis also as thrilling as ever. Parts ofthe visually impressive open worldthat emphasize deft movement with tunnels and cliff faces are still fun to maneuver through. BioWare also managed to capture the differences between using the bulky Colossus in the air and a lighter suit like the Interceptor in the ways both react to player input. Future updates toAnthemwouldn’t need to do much to the game’s movement mechanics. BioWare could perhaps even expand on them down the line, but the studio shouldn’t make it an immediate priority.
Fixing Anthem’s Lackluster Loot Grind
The time-honored tradition of the loot-based RPG is strong. Games likeDiablo,Destiny, The Division,andBorderlandshave cultivated huge audiences over time thanks to their shared ability to entice players with shiny weapons and armor to build their ideal characters. Players' collections in these games start small, but end up growing over time withtop-of-the-line exotic gear. Fans expect games in the genre to be able to deliver a consistent experience.
Anthemis in an odd position: it’s a looter shooter without meaningful loot. BioWare’s early updates for the game were characterized by addressing fan complaints aboutmasterwork and legendary gear drops running scarce, and for players lucky enough to even get the game’s best guns and Javelin gear, the functional difference between high and low-end gear in combat situations can often be trivial. Tuning Javelin augmentations and weapons to grow in power with their rarity and giving players a greater number of options to unlock better gear will be imperative forAnthem’s future.
If BioWare givesAnthem’s loot the design pass it needs, the overhauled version should never run into situations likea common assault rifle outperforming the game’s fanciest gear. With good random loot drops already being in short supply, the game’s design needs to respect the time it demands players put into it to get legendary and masterworked items.
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A Future for Anthem’s Freelancers
Players love building characters that feel unique and tuned to the ways they like to play RPGs.Destiny 2uses itsHunter, Titan and Warlock classesand their respective subclasses to let players choose the abilities their characters specialize in.Warframelets players define the capabilities of their weapons, armor, companions and more with its expansive mod upgrade card system. BioWare’s ownMass EffectandDragon Ageseries both had Talent and Ability trees with similar goals in mind.
The studio’s experience with building these systems makesAnthem’s decision to drop the approach a confusing one. Freelancers in the game level up and gain access to more difficult content like Strongholds, and while it was still around,the Cataclysm endgame event. Yet, players aren’t given much reason to play and rank themselves up after the campaign credits roll. Allowing players to rank their Freelancer up with a separate set of perks and abilities from their Javelin suits could be a strong hook to enhanceAnthem’s progression system.
Fans ofthe Storm javelincould choose to buff their cooldown timers on certain types of gear, or players that like to use the Colossus might choose to focus on flight time and mobility. Freelancers that enjoy using certain weapon classes could specialize skills like fire rate or reload speed with them, and giving players a chance to experiment with a skill tree-like system would foster a sense of fan investment that the game just doesn’t have yet.
BioWare Has To Give Fans Reasons To Return To Fort Tarsis
On February 22,Anthemwill have been out for a year. The game’s original content release strategy planned for its first year to feature three acts with a rotating calendar of updates, including the Cataclysm and other unspecified in-game events. The game’s original plans would later be shelved in favor of “seasonal updates,” andthe Cataclysm update didn’t drop until late July, leaving players disappointed again.
In the same amount of time,Destiny 2has had four major seasons of content, with periodic releases of exotic quests, holiday events like the Dawning and Festival of the Lost, and theShadowkeepexpansion launching alongside the game’s free-to-play debut. Bungie hasn’t always hit it out of the park withDestiny 2’s seasonal content, but even small updates likethis week’s Crimson Days eventgo a long way with giving players motivation to return to its world.
Anthem’s Christmas lightsare still up in February, and the Icetide event only brought small variations on existing content. It’s on BioWare to set the right pace for their game. That said, for a game hoping to reestablish itself as a potential rival to the other big loot shooters on the market, it’s going to have to be more often in the future than it was in year one.
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EA isn’t a stranger to taking the time out to build its games into the experiences that fans want.Star Wars Battlefront 2turned its fortunes around to become a crowd-pleasing shooter that did theStar Warsuniverse justice, but it started off as a game that had good ideas that were hampered by bad or confusing decisions from developer DICE.
Anthemdoesn’t have the weight of a Disney license on its shoulders. But fans of BioWare’s previous games know what the studio is capable of at its best; theMass EffectandDragon Agefranchises are still held in high regard.Mass Effect: Andromedaleft players underwhelmed a few years beforeAnthem’s release, and for similar reasons: both games had elements that felt unfinished and odd design choices kept both from reaching their full potential.
BioWare intends to fix the loot grind, improve players' relationships with their Freelancer characters, and refreshAnthem’s endgame experience. There are smaller parts of the game that could also stand to get a second look, like the in-game store, the user interface, and the stilllong loading times. Overall, the studio’s primary focus areas aren’t a bad place to start, and for the first time in a long time, fans with a soft spot for the scrappy looter shooter can have hope for its future.
Anthemis out now for PC, PS4 and Xbox One.
