EA’s E3 presentation is over and here are 8 NEW important and interesting things you need to know about Bioware’s upcoming game – Anthem.
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Anthem is a game I am excited for, there is no doubt about that. Extremely interesting and appealing wild world, giant mech-like suits, Bioware’s storytelling. What’s not to like? Oh, did I mention there will be NO Lootboxes? I will mention it, don’t worry! It’s in the list!
Let’s get to it!
Anthem is not an MMO Game
When it was originally announced, the game looked and sounded like it would be some form of an MMO with possible RPG elements. Bioware developers have done their absolute best to disprove this by announcing and confirming everywhere they can that Anthem does not want to be a traditional MMO. It doesn’t even want to be a multiplayer game.
Anthem will be a unique Action Game played from 3rd person with a ton of personal story and co-op opportunities. There will be choices and serious consequences.
The main goal with Anthem, according to the general manager of the project – Casey Hudson, is for the studio to create a brand whole new dynamic living and breathing world for people to discover. Something unseen in any other game before. This world will be shared between all players and it will be constantly changing based on player actions and world-wide events.
Anthem’s World is constantly changing
In a lot of multiplayer games the personal story of the player and your interactions with the various characters you meet and interact with are diluted. Bioware has gone a step further by building a solution of this problem by integrating all of the story with the core of the game.
Everything in the world is shared, including the weather, the changing day time, the world-shaping and altering events. What you see in Anthem’s world, is the same as what everyone else sees.
There will be, of course, the personal element – your personal story. It will be developed via dialogues and cut-scenes, which mostly occur inside the forts – private areas that are just for you, your Javelins and the characters that you interact with during the story progression.
Anthem has a Class System
Speaking of Javelins, there are four different exosuits in the game at launch. Obviously, more will be developed later on, but there is no official information on what, when and how yet.
The suits are made on purpose to look like they are built from materials of the world. There are four standard classes of Javelins.
The four distinctive classes in the game are represented by the four Javelin exosuits you will own. Which one you will decide to wear today into the wilderness, is up to you. Just don’t forget to get in it before you head out the door. The world outside is not friendly at all!
The Javelins have their names too. The Ranger is the all-around balanced role, tweaked for close-range and one-on-one combat. The one that looks (and behaves) like a tank is called Colossus. It will protect the rest of your party, but will also be able to carry heavy weaponry and deal devastating damage. The Interceptor and the Storm are the other two classes, but not much has been revealed officially for them for now. By the looks of it they will split between themselves the supporting role in the group mixed with some crowd-controlling abilities, defensive shields for the group and more.
You will be able to switch your Javelin while in your private area, but once you get out into the shared world, you are stuck with it. So, choose carefully which suit you want to wear for the upcoming mission. Think about the possible combos with other players you may be grouping with.
Ah, the combos! You most likely know how a Combo works from Bioware’s Mass Effect video games. If not, head to my Mass Effect: Andromeda Beginners Guide. When you are teamed with other players in a co-op mode, you will be able to mix and match combo abilities between yourselves.
Character and Javelin Customizations
The character creator will allow for personal customizations. It’s way too early for Bioware to talk or show how this part of the game will work. What is known, though, is that there will be some level of Customization for your character, as in the person inside the Javelin.
The more interesting part is the customizations that can be made to the exosuits. You will be able to modify them in both appearance and performance by changing a lot of things to even change the shape of the Javelin as well as make it blue, black, yellow etc.
Anthem has a Release Date
Yes, finally! As expected, the game will launch in early 2019. The exact date is now confirmed to be 22nd February 2019. Pre-orders are already available. In general I would strongly advice you against pre-ordering a game from EA’s catalogue, but if you read the next paragraph, you might change your opinion.
Here’s what awaits in the “Standard Edition”, priced at €59,99
- VIP access to the pre-launch demo
- Founders player banner
- Ranger: Legion of Dawn legendary armour pack and weapon
Here’s what pre-ordering the “Legion of Dawn Edition”, priced at €79.99, will get you:
- VIP access to the pre-launch demo
- Founders player banner
- Ranger: Legion of Dawn legendary armour pack and weapon
- Ranger Javelin Exosuit legendary gear attachment
- Colossus: Legion of Dawn legendary armour pack and weapon
- Storm: Legion of Dawn armour pack
- Interceptor: Legion of Dawn legendary armour pack
- Anthem digital soundtrack
LEARN MORE ► ANTHEM Pre-Order Details: Editions Differences
Anthem will not have Lootboxes
Anthem will offer you a chance to purchase appearance-altering cosmetic items for real money (microtransactions). You will always know what you are paying for, though. That’s right! No lootboxes, treasure chests or any other form of gambling!
Casey Hudson confirmed that the game will not feature “buy to win” items or things that will affect your gameplay performance and improve or upgrade your exosuits in a way that will give you advantage over other players. His exact words were “No lootboxes, no ability to pay for power. No ability to spend money on gameplay advantage in Anthem”.
Anthem will not have Romance Options
Unfortunately this is the moment where a typical Bioware fan might think that the devs have “dropped the ball”. Pretty much all big and successful games of the studio allow you to have romantic relations with your companions. Here, though, it seems the focus will be elsewhere.
While the game will offer the branching option for your personal story, based on your choices and dialogue decisions, things in Anthem will be more simplified. Remember, this is one giant shared world and it would not be appropriate for you to romance a character that may, for example, be a part of a shared mission later. The devs have confirmed that what you see and feel in this world is the same as what everyone else sees and feels. It seems that for this to be possible, some personal features have to be sacrificed.
As far as I know, Bioware have not excluded romances completely. Just like they haven’t ruled out PvP… More on that below!
I don’t consider the absence of love and romance from the game to be a huge weakness. But… While I personally never cared too much for the romantic aspect of my relationship with my companions, I fully understand if you tell me to go **** myself for being indifferent to this announcement. It has been a major part of Bioware’s titles for many years.
As a matter of fact, companions will not follow you outside. This time the role of companions will be played by real people – your friends or random group members that you will team up with for specific missions.
Anthem will not have PvP “at launch”
It has been confirmed via a Twitter message that says:
No PvP “at launch”
Now, this could mean a few things, but it sure doesn’t rule out the possibility of PvP coming at a later point. It could be that “at launch” means “on 22nd February” and PvP will arrive with the first major update or… it may arrive a year later or… who knows.
If you have read my post from a few days ago: ANTHEM Teases a Unique Early Access Feature, you might agree with me on the following speculation: Anthem could launch with an extended open beta or test period (before 22nd February that is) and with the help of the players the developers will have the opportunity to properly test and balance the game for a PvP feature to be included.
One of the major differences, as I see it, for PvP to not be included “at launch” could be because the team is facing difficulties balancing the abilities of the four Javelin classes for both gameplay against the AI and in a player versus player environment. If you are familiar with Star Wars: The Old Republic (Bioware’s long-standing Star Wars MMORPG), you would probably know that the game has a constant struggle to balance the classes’ performance against each other in PvP and against the environment (PvE).
There’s so much more for you to find out! Jump on the next post with new updates and info and keep reading!
To learn more about the game, head over to the ANTHEM NEWS category here on VULKK.com and check out the other updates with new information, especially the EA Play 2018 Anthem Event Coverage!
