Posted in: Games, Video Games | Tagged: anthem, bioware, EA, ea games, game review

Bioware's Anthem Uneven, Squanders Much Potential

Published Fri, 22 Feb 2019 21:10:17 -0600

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Anthem, one of the most anticipated titles of 2019, excels in some areas, but expectations fall flat in its execution.

The PC experience may vary depending on the specs of your system, but for anything resembling a quality experience, it's definitely recommended for a dedicated higher-end gaming rig. Initially, many who played the pre-released experienced numerous technical issues with the game, particularly the loading. Despite playing the game with the day one patch BioWare promised to fix the load times, it created a slew of other problems. My system, which consists of 24 GB of RAM, A8 AMD Processor, and GeForce GT710 Graphics, suffered significant framerate drops and gameplay was clunky even on the lowest graphical settings. I feel I shouldn't have to expect to get Intel's i9 or AMD's Threadripper series processors for a quality experience.

The galaxy of Anthem is as immense as the worlds you traveled to in BioWare's successful Mass Effect series, but more colorful and immense. When starting the game, you're thrusted into a bare minimum tutorial that targets veterans of third party co-op shooters like Destiny. Despite the tutorial's crude rudimentary nature, the player does get into the main game after the first mission is complete before you have any idea what any of the other features and controls do. One thing you may notice is how gorgeous the game is with its lush backgrounds and dynamic terrain.

In the game, you play as a "freelancer" tasked in carrying out missions throughout the galaxy in a robotic suit called "The Javelin." You can customize the type you pilot to the stereotypical archtypes for most RPGs like the burly warrior with high strength called the colossus, balanced attacker called the ranger, the most agile in the interceptor, and the ranged specialist the storm. Similar to Mass Effect, you can customize and micromanage the individual parts.

After the joy of roaming around in complete freedom strafing, running, jumping and flying, you get to the "hub" town in first person view at a much slower pace. You have numerous NPCs to interact with, accept missions, etc. Your usual RPG rinse and repeat, but to the same town. BioWare, at least, distributed the missions more creatively throughout the Mass Effect and Dragon Age series.

It's almost embarrassingly bland. Speaking of which, the enemy AI is atrocious with their linear and predictable patterns, but the javelins' abilities and FX in combat are crisp and visually pleasing.

While you can be sufficient on keyboard and mouse, the control may feel more organic for the controller. You can transition from flight and ground easily. The sensitivity for aiming and flight require little to no tweaking. The single player mode leaves more to be desired especially due to the transitioning, loading, and monotony of the campaign, even for a BioWare game. You may find a it a more enjoyable multiplayer experience.

It's a shame for a game with so much promise with its stunning graphics, mechanics, and reliable RPG customization that's worked for BioWare through their two most successful franchises. The ideas and intentions come alive, but it just feels incomplete.

You may have a chance at a better experience going with a console version for now depending on how quickly BioWare address the major technical issues on PC.

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