Anthem has been out on early release for both the PC and Xbox One. It has been one of the more anticipated titles of 2019. Some early reviews have poured in concerning the game’s story and gameplay. Most of them say the same thing. Anthem is a game that shows a lot of promise, but it falls short in many important departments. Let’s take a look at these shining moments and unfortunate shortcomings.
Starting off with the positives, players get to fly around in powered jet suits. Many reviewers are comparing them to Iron Man’s suit, and they couldn’t be more correct. Honestly, just flying around the beautifully detailed levels is a great time. You can soar for hours and not feel the need to complete any missions.
The ability to swap between different classes has also received high praise. It keeps things fresh and lets gamers experience different styles of play. One of the classes takes an agile approach to combat, where quick movements are necessary to take out enemies. The class makes gamers cognizant of taking too much damage. You really have to stay aware of your surroundings. Then there’s the tank class. You can take a lot of damage and continue fighting. The hybrid class is balanced, featuring decent armor and combat abilities.
Where Anthem falls short is its story or lack thereof. The campaign doesn’t seem like a finished product. The generic missions don’t provide a sense of drama. As a result, Anthem falls way short of Bioware’s previous game campaigns. However, the story can be somewhat forgiven since a lot of the bosses provide thrilling, intense moments. This is particularly true when playing with a group of friends.
Another disappointment is Bioware’s decision to include pointless micro-transactions. You could spend upwards of $20 just for a simple cosmetic upgrade. Some of them don’t even look that impressive. If you don’t want to pay money for various in-game rewards, you can always use in-game currency. Unfortunately, it takes a lot of grinding to even get close of purchasing something noteworthy.
Despite these negatives, Anthem does show a lot of promise. The visuals are beautiful and the special attacks are fun to pull off time and time again. Hopefully, updates continue to come out for this title to give players some added value.
As it stands now, Anthem has many bright moments. However, they don’t justify the $60 sticker tag. At least not yet anyway.
