BioWare held an hour-long panel at this year’s PAX West to discuss a bunch of details about their upcoming Action Co-op RPG Anthem
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This article assumes you have some knowledge about the game Anthem already. If not, I recommend you read/watch these stories first to get yourself familiar with some of the basics:
- ANTHEM Factions Overview and Brief History
- ANTHEM Lore, Origins of the World and Early Concepts
- ANTHEM Devs Explain How Suits, Leveling and Customizations Work
- ANTHEM Has Official Launch Date, No Lootboxes Confirmed, New Gameplay Co-op Demo
- ANTHEM Demo Coming on 1st of February 2019
What follows is a resume of the panel, not an actual transcription of the dialogue and Q&A. If you want to watch the full panel, check the bottom of this article.
Host of the panel was Nick Tarabay, who you should remember from the TV Show Spartacus (he played his role fantasticly there, by the way). He was a bit too emotional and went over board selling up Anthem, but that’s ok with me. The BioWare devs, who attended the panel, were Mark Darrah (executive producer), Cathleen Rootsaert (co-lead writer), Victor Krengel (level design director), Sabine Rosgren (level designer), Mike Gamble (lead producer)
Who are the Freelancers
You play as a Freelancer. This is a special group of people, who take the most dangerous jobs and missions that nobody else would in the wild world of Anthem. When outside, you were an exosuit called Javelin. This is more of a ragtag group rather than a military organization. It follows the tradition started by General Tarsis some 500 years ago. As a Freelancer, you have access to four types of Javelin suits – Ranger, Colossus, Storm and Interceptor.
Freelancers maintain a constant connection with the leaders of the different friendly factions in the base of operations called Fort Tarsis. Some times you will get your missions from Cyphers, other times there might be a character that will accompany you out in the wilderness, but all meaningful and roleplay-related communications between you and the NPCs inside Fort Tarsis and/or the Strider (your forward base).
When you come into the story, the Freelancers are a bit down on their luck and you help them get back on their feet and regain their strength.
What can you do in Fort Tarsis
You can speak to many characters. You can spend as much time as you wish getting to know your crew and the rest of the NPCs that populate it. Tarsis is the main hub for many factions and here is also where you will pick up a lot of your missions.
Tarsis is where most of the meta game is happening. This is the place where you get to upgrade your Javelins, change gear and visit vendors or merchants.
Tarsis is a new type of hub for BioWare games. Going forward you should expect this type of hubs in other games from the studio, such as new and upcoming Dragon Age and Mass Effect titles. Here two types of gameplay are meshed together – the single player classic BioWare story experience and the multiplayer gameplay.
It is inside Fort Tarsis where you can make your important and personal decisions, interact with other NPCs on a deeper level and get to know more of their backgrounds, their stories. Tarsis is the solo experience in Anthem.
From Anthem’s official page:
The history of Fort Tarsis traces back to its namesake, Legion of Dawn leader General Helena Tarsis. It was her tireless efforts that lead humanity to a place of strength and security, where they could build a fortified city that would withstand the nightmarish threats that roam the lands. As this beacon of hope ascended, humanity took its own strides forward, developing the resources and technology to thrive in some of the most hostile environments imaginable. Both the Freelancers and the Sentinels had a significant presence here, along with the shadowy agents of Corvus and the researcher-monks of the Arcanists.
Fort Tarsis brings these disparate groups together in an alliance of survival, a living tribute to the heroes who made it possible.
The Characters in Anthem
Owen is the cypher for the team. As you develop your relationship while you play, you will learn a lot more interesting things about Owen’s background and personal story. Faye is the female in the middle. She is also a cypher, but her and Owen are very different characters. Owen is more of a rough and self-taught man, while Faye is very highly educated in the cypher profession. Halek is a legendary Freelancer. You will team up with him early in the game.
The agents serve
different factions
and provide you with missions
Based on which agent you get your mission from, the goals and tasks before you will be more or less different and unique. Going with the Freelancers, your main job will be to restore the Freelancer’s glory days, doing a mission for the Arcanists would send you on a quest to explore the deepest secrets of the earth and learn more about the lore of this world, for example.
BioWare released a special page on the Anthem website, dedicated to some of the main characters you will interact with in the game – your crew. Here’s all the info about them:
Haluk
Birth year: 423 LV
Birth Location: Mirelands
Height/Weight: 5’8”; 235 pounds
Role: Strider driver
Faction: Freelancer
Quote: “The gears of this world are tuned for a quick death. Good thing I carry a wrench.”
Haluk is a legendary Freelancer, all-around badass, and mentor to younger freelancers. He also drives the strider.
Faye Navine
Birth year: 437 LV
Birth Location: Antium
Height/Weight: 5’7” 120 pounds
Role: Cypher
Faction: Freelancer
Quote: “The world is filled with mysteries. Chasing the solutions, that’s where the fun is.”
As a cypher with the rare gift of mental communication, Faye has always been intrigued by the Anthem of Creation.
Owen Corley
Birth year: 444 LV
Birth Location: Heliost
Height/Weight: 5’10”; 148 pounds
Role: Cypher
Faction: Freelancer
Quote: “Life’s what you make it. You gotta buy into your own idealism, mate.”
The newest member, Owen is also a promising cypher whose ambition and enthusiasm have made him vital to your success as a team.
Your Choices and Relationships with Characters
There are choices during dialogues. These will determine different outcomes in certain situations and based on how you respond to the NPCs, your relationship with them will evolve and change. The roleplaying conversations are optional. If you are the type of player, who desires to get to the next action scene as soon as possible, you can skip these deeper conversations – just pick up your mission and head back out. The missions are also different in terms of what kind of activity they offer. Some are fast-paced action-packed, while others are more about learning bits and pieces of the lore of Anthem.
Even though there are no romantic options in the game (at launch), there are other ways for you to get to know your companions and crew. BioWare insists on not having romances in Anthem because that opens limitless possibilities for the developers to craft new stories post launch.
Development after launch
The studio is planning to support Anthem for years. After you beat the main story if the game, you will still have plenty of missions to do (if you want to). The end-game or as they call it – Elder Game – is what is meant to keep you playing for long times. Strongholds are four-player gameplay experience with unique rewards, which is meant to be played and replayed for better loot and fun. The world is filled with side quests and lore objects that you can discover on your own in the so called “Free Play” if you want to. This way you can make up your own missions by encountering and defeating different enemies and obstacles.
Remember, Anthem’s world is constantly changing. The developers have built tools, allowing them to change the environment whenever they please and this will reflect on the whole server population. For example, you can be in the middle of a mission, when a storm hits you and your team or a faction would suddenly take over a region of the world, which you explored just yesterday, and create a whole new possibilities and experiences for you as a player.
The Story post-launch
will NOT be locked
behind a pay-wall!
Mark Darrah confirmed that the continuation of the story post launch (DLCs) will not be locked behind a pay-wall. This means all players will be on equal grounds when they get together to do a mission.
Anthem launches on 22nd February 2019. It is available for Pre-Order now. A Demo of the game will be available on 1st February 2019 and Early Access will begin on 15th February.
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