Anthem - BioWare's first new IP in 10 Years

[Melbosa]

Early Access is tomorrow for: Origin Access Premier release date: February 14, 2019 3:30 PM MST

I'm actually doing an old school LAN at a buddy's place Friday for this game.  Haven't done that since Lazy used to live in Edmonton... we'll there was that one time at Mr. Analog's with Tom...

[Mr. Analog]

Wait you can play network only? That's awesome!

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

[Melbosa]

Wait you can play network only? That's awesome!

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

NO no, its Online only, we are just all going to play from the same House!

[Mr. Analog]

Wait you can play network only? That's awesome!

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

NO no, its Online only, we are just all going to play from the same House!

Ahh too bad

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

[Melbosa]

Well this game is scheduled for full release tomorrow, on all platforms, so I'm still holding my review until EA gets hit with their full complement of players. But I can tell you this, anyone whom is reading/watching the reviews and sees comparisons to this game to Destiny, Division, etc, and says its just a bunch of rehashing with flying... well they didn't spend much time in the game.  There is so much fun in here to be had, just have to want to play it to find it.

[Melbosa]

LOL this game is one of the most Hated in the industry by both those whom play it and those whom don't (I'm not one of them), just check out the reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/AnthemTheGame/

My Initial Review
So BioWare has released this game, and you basically get to be Iron Man in a world with a mysterious history.  There is this thing called the Anthem of Creation, and there are these people called Cyphers that can hear its call.  They are your Navigators, for you are a Freelancer, a keeper of the piece and a bringer of Justice, whom pilot a warrior's Armour called a Javelin (Iron Man suit).  At the start of the Game something happens that makes Freelancers out to be the rift-rafe and the main story/side stories, while tied to the start of the Game event, are basically you trying to restore the Freelancer's good name.

The Main Story, Side Stories, and NPCs are your typical, well done, well thought out BioWare staples. So you can guess that the story, cinematics, and such can really pull you into the world of Bastion, where your home base of Fort Tarsis.  You do things for different factions, upgrade the Fort as you complete missions, and basically improve your standing as a Freelancer.  Some nice touches here, and I would implore anyone playing to read through the many finds of lore the game offers, including the random emails you get from NPCs.

As you progress, you collect loot that you outfit your initial Javelin with.  You then unlock other Javelins as your Pilot level increases, as well as abilities and gear options.  The gear also has tiers like any looter game, starting with Commons (white), Uncommons (green), Rare (blue), Epic (Purple), Masterwork (Orange), and finally Legendary (Yellow).  At the time of this review you can pretty much level from 1 to 30 in probably 15h of game play.  You do this through Main Story Missions, Side Story Missions, Contracts, Freeplay, Strongholds, and Quickplay.  You always do these in a 4 man squad (unless you mark your session as private), so you end up playing with Randoms, but at least in Freeplay you aren't locked to a set course of action (so you can solo it).  Other than the occasional guy that is under geared for a mission or you are ignored for help getting up when downed, I haven't really seen much of a problem with playing with Randoms.  The later issue has been resolved for the most part by BioWare already with a Respawn counter at 30s anyway.

Then there is the End Game.  There is some things to do here at level 30, although its is a bit limited at this time of content available.  This however isn't an MMORPG, but a Looter, so like Diablo, its more about the loot grind.  This game has a very unique combo system, with Primers and Detonators, so you are always on the hunter for at Epic, then Masterwork and finally Legendary build that works well together.  Like sites already for existing game's builds, I can see this becoming another game with Sites/Theoretic Crafters Guilds putting together these builds for everyone to try out.  This, plus the content release schedules, new Javelins, and other things on the horizon, there is a lot of potential here for the game to really shine over time.

And then there's...
So why the hate?  Well, like Diablo 3 when it came out, the Devs of this game have made some choice decisions around game dynamics that the fan base, reviewers, critics, and in the case of most Looters, the Mathematicians have issues with.  The reddit, reviews, etc are full of people calling out the Devs on loot tables, loot attributes and RNG (Random Number Generators) variables that is probably holding this game back.  There are discussions on additive calculations vs max additions, percentages vs compounding, etc with some people that are way more versed in complicated math than I, as well as other issues the game has been plagued with outside of loot.

People tend to forgot new IP woes into developer's unknown territories of the past; WoW had the error 52 (I think that was it) for almost 2 weeks after launch; Overwatch has the plagued disconnects during matchings at key points for almost a month after launch; lets not even go down the Bethesda rabbit whole either.  This is BioWare's first real dev into a online Co-Op Looter, and their competition have been at this a long time (Blizzard - Diablo, Digital Extremes - Warframe, Bungie - Destiny, Gearbox - Borderlands, Ubisoft - Division, etc), and most are on their 2nd if not 3rd or 4th version/expansion of their Looters, and each has seen their share of issues when their titles launched as well.

The Bad
While the game is great, and I will end this review with the good, I can't ignore the fact that BioWare has had a bumpy road, with many a mile still to go before they will have a very solid game here!  It does surprise me that they didn't investigate deeper into the Looter genre to really see what drives the players there; which is very evident in the loot system math choices they have been making.  I think this is because the went on their strengths first, which was story, npc, and game play, but this is definitely an oversight that time is going to fix or bust the game.

The other technical issues that the game was/is plagued with are slowly patched in the second/third and more weeks to come, so while it has been a rocky start for them from stability point, it is getting fixed.

I worry that then end game content portion and loot plagues are going to negatively affect the game's success, especially with Division 2's release Friday.  The player base my die down, just as D3 had happen in their first month.  I just hope it doesn't take BioWare a year to fix the Loot system, like it too Blizzard over a year to get Loot 2.0 out for D3.

Enemies count is also very limited at this point, only 3 factions oppose you, and then there are only a handful of "animals" in the game to hunt, and about the same handfuls of "bosses" to fight. I use quotations has neither term for these enemies is exactly right, but I don't want to spoil it for anyone looking to play the game.

The good
My gawd is the game mechanics of over game play so well done.  You feel like you are powerful, suited hero in the world with these Javelins.  And each plays distinctly different from each other, and the gear possibilities makes that even more diverse in each Javelin class as well.  And flying in the BioWare beautifully built, designed, and colourful Bastion region really adds to that feeling of freedom and power when  in your Javelin.

Fight mechanics are smooth, well thought out, and functional.  The Primer and Detonator system is a nice touch, allowing you and your 3 other Javelins to work together with some high damage outputs when you do combo.  There is also the Ultimates for each Javelin, which are distinct and unique, allowing for some devastation that can engulf the whole screen at times.  And the idea of rezing up your fallen Javelin mid fight so they can get back in it is a nice touch as well, allowing for ups and downs in that large battle or big bad fight, and those epic rez moments when only one is left.

As I said above the NPC, Story, and World building is top notch from BioWare, and very nice on the eyes with all the game candy they put in.  The added Crafting system, which most Looters have, is simple enough that I don't find myself against its use, or loathing it for its requirement like other Looters.  And then there is the paint job options, the cosmetics; man how you can make yourself very unique looking.  While not to the level of COH/COV, this is by far one of the most involved and customization systems for your look I've seen in a Looter ever, never mind an MMO or the like. 

The Verdict
This will be interesting to see what this game looks like in 3 months, 5 months, etc as it continues to evolved and stumble.  Here is how I would rate it, but multiple times:
VIP Demo: 4/10 - They weren't ready for the load, Game Play solid
Open Demo: 5/10 - They fixed lots of issues, others came about, Game Play still solid
1st Week (Initial Release/Preorder Release): 6/10 - They waited to see what the game would look like, Micro patches, Game Play hindered by issues, but quickly fixed
2nd Week: 7/10 - Progression through story, getting to end game, having lots of fund.  Still plagued by stability issues.
3rd Week: 6/10 - Stability issues become more bothersome as you try to complete end game content, grind loot.  Game Play hindered by stability issues.  Loot tables seemed flawed, loot traits terrible.
5th Week (Today): 7/10 - 300+ issue patch released for stability and quality of life.  Loot tables modified, but still not great.  Game Play is solid once again, and looking forward to a lot of game play with friends.

Let see what we have in April/May.  I would recommend this game today to anyone whom like BioWare styles, but can live with issues of a new IP release for a dev studio's first attempt.  If not I would wait, hope the negativity doesn't sink this ship before it fully sets sale.  I for one will still be playing... even if I am also playing Division 2 at the same time lol!

[Mr. Analog]

I see a lot of people bitching about Anthem but I haven't gotten a whole picture kinda deal. I know it had a pretty rough launch - which you'd think given all the experience it would have been smoother. I've heard things about the story and the combat being just "meh". I've also heard wild stories of the game bricking consoles (whether that's true or not I never got into) would love to see some video sharing some of the good aspects you brought up, honestly you are the only one I know who has anything positive to say about the experience so far - which is refreshing

[Melbosa]

The facebook group here is mostly positive, other than the loot complaints, with Vids and Javelin designs: https://www.facebook.com/groups/anthemgaming/

[Melbosa]

So looks like Kotaku got a lot of insider info on the Anthem development from remaining anonymous sources: https://kotaku.com/how-biowares-anthem-went-wrong-1833731964, although I have contacts in BioWare than can confirm the BioWare magic is a real statement that is a relic of development of old.

While EA and BioWare feel that the article is skewed and a bit slanderous (that is my inferred anyway): http://blog.bioware.com/2019/04/02/anthem-game-development/

After reading both, and playing the game I can see some truth to the story presented by Kotaku.  The game is still wondrous in my eyes, and it is my hope it will get to that D3 or Destiny V2 build.  If they can fix the Loot system and fix some of the other quality of life stuff, this game could have a second launch like those two games did.

It is my opinion, even today with the issues the game has, the $20 CDN/month subscription model from Origin Access is well worth it for this game.  I wouldn't say a $100 retail sale price is, but to play and experience its game, I'd recommend dropping the $20.