Anthem puts you in a cool suit to blast aliens away and explore a vast planet
ANTHEM
PS4, XBox One, PC
MORPG lootshooters are a common category now in games so the challenge is to make something different that stands out from the rest. Anthem, upon being announced, seemed to be just that. But did it deliver?
THE STORY
Anthem is set on an unnamed planet where you take the role of a Freelancer, the name given to the pilots of exosuits called Javelins. Once hailed as heroes, people lost faith in Freelancers when a faction called The Dominion attacked the city of Freemark, the Freelancers' HQ, in an attempt to steal a relic hidden beneath the city called the Cenotaph. Relics in the story are not just mere artifacts but house an energy known as "The Anthem of Creation". The Dominion hoped the Cenotaph would grant them control over the Anthem of Creation but it only sets off an explosion that killed most Freelancers. Years later, the player's character finds themselves surviving off odd jobs but a new threat forces them to go back to their past.
THE GAMEPLAY AND GRAPHICS
It's hard not to make comparisons to Destiny what with the classes you can choose for your Javelin, being in space, the absolute mayhem of shooting up aliens, oh and aliens. One thing that sets Anthem apart is the exosuits or the Javelin. As of right now, it's the closest thing we'll get to feeling like Iron Man. Whichever suit you choose to go for, flying around and controlling it is just so dang fun. Plus, when you've pimped it out cosmetically and then loaded it up with the right arsenal, you'll feel like a certified badass as you launch missiles from the sky or just charge into a horde of Scars. Being in the thick of battle is chaotic as you try to figure out where the enemy's coming from or where exactly you're going next but it's good chaotic fun and it's also the reason why playing with friends is a whole different experience as you can strategise. Even if you don't, you'll still squad up with people doing the same mission as you are as long as you keep your session public. On top of that, the graphics are pretty great and truly immerse you into the world of the game.
That being said, I can't help but feel that Anthem feels incomplete. For example, the game has an expansive map which it encourages you to explore because it's littered with events, loot and treasure, but exploration is difficult because you can't place markers on the map and all you have to guide you is the scrolling compass on top of your screen -- and it doesn't even show the legend markers unless you're a certain distance from it. Another thing that may or may not have been intentionally left out is the ability to share loot. But while these things are small, the biggest drawback for me is the problem it seems to have with its servers. There were many sessions in which I kept getting disconnected despite my Wi-Fi connection being okay and there was one instance when I was close to completing a mission but had to do it all over again because of a disconnect.
Finally, the gameplay is fun and you get your fill of shooting up aliens and making them explode, but it does get repetitive and tedious. These days, developers make a big deal about the endgame and reserve the best loot and hardest challenges. While Anthem does have that, it takes a lot of work and grind to get there and gets frustrating in the process.
THE VERDICT
Anthem has the potential to be a unique lootshooter, which can be explored in updates and patches, but it does bum me out that it's just potential as of now and that they didn't fully flesh it out so that we got the full gist of the game once it was released. Then again, patches and updates seem to be the way games go now. All in all, it's a fun game if you don't mind the grind.
