Anthem Reviews
Anthem's technical shortcomings, dull combat and pretty but messy environments combine poorly with a narrative that uses pointless binary conversation choices, a thoroughly typical, snarky protagonist and worn out tropes to fuel it's characterization and plot. These elements come together to make Anthem a chore of a game that's highly unlikely to satisfy anyone but the most desperate groups of loot motivated gamers in it's current state.
When everything clicks, Anthem is great. But it is a game with major flaws, and how much you enjoy it will depend on both your ability to tolerate them and BioWare's ability to fix them.
Right now, though, Anthem is in a bad state –- and no patches or performance improvements are going to be a quick enough fix to solve the fundamental problems that make it such an unfulfilling game
It’s a shame then that everything surrounding this core feels so disjointed. A story that lacks momentum outside of a few moments, mission design that reveals all its nuance in a matter of minutes, and a cumbersome progression system interrupted by walls
Anthem is a game that tries to be an answer to Destiny’s popularity and even seeks to answer some of the issues people have with that game. At the same time, it ends up feeling derivative, and any fatigue you have with Destiny is likely to carry over
Anthem is an MMO-lite looter-shooter with potential sadly unrealized. Most of its design decisions feel woefully underdeveloped, despite how it excels in its frankly addicting gameplay. The interjection of a freemium forced economy as well as the simultaneous extension of and lack of any traditional end-game or development beyond the main story screams of publisher intervention. Anthem's systems are absolutely wonderful, but they feel crippled by its other design decisions.
Anthem is a tremendously fun base for a game, but is significantly lacking as a game right now. We know for sure that BioWare is making that game and it's coming soon, but it sure as heck didn't launch with it. The Anthem gameplay is incredible as an Iron Man simulator, with some great abilities, and the sense of flight is wonderful. The world and story is potentially interesting too.
Anthem is a fun game that has some weird oversights built into it. On the upside, BioWare has been quick to respond to issues and especially bugs in game which is hopeful for the future longevity of the game. Currently, if you play with the mindset of just wanting experience the game and take your time with it, it’ll likely be a fun experience. However, if you tend to have the mindset of needing to be max level NOW and have all the best gear NOW it will probably not be fun.
Anthem offers a solid multiplayer PvE action-shooter experience and exo suit power fantasy dampened by fundamental design problems and loot system inconsistencies.
Bugs, crashes, bad optimization, repetitive objectives, horrible load times and lots more, unfortunately, overshadow the game's great flight and combat system.
Anthem is an excellent Iron Man simulator bogged down with poor mission design set in a fascinating world with a lack-luster story. Coupled with a critical lack of end-game content, this is by far the weakest offering from BioWare. Enjoyment of this game will fully rest on how much you enjoy the combat.
BioWare really dropped the ball with Anthem. It has a fairly average story, is rife with terrible design and problems, laden with as many bugs as a Bethesda game and the endgame is incredibly unenticing
That said, great combat and traversal alone don't do enough to warrant playing Anthem right now. Poorly thought out progression, grating characters, and inconsistent performance make EA's answer to Destiny and The Division one to skip until after a major update or two hits.
I’d be remiss not to mention that I personally really enjoy looter shooters, way back to Borderlands in 2009, and I actually adore Destiny (fight me). There was a part of me that really hoped this would be Bioware’s comeback, but that just wasn’t meant to be. Anthem doesn’t just not reach the bar set by others, it doesn’t even attempt to reach for it.
Anthem has a great potential. But right now, it has a few problems.
Review in Turkish | Read full review
BioWare put a lot of effort into Anthem but every single brilliant idea is overshadowed with something boring or shallow.
Review in Slovak | Read full review
At this point in time, Anthem feels like a title that needs more work. I want to like it, but damn does it make it hard. Like the games that came before it in this genre, I’ve no doubt that Anthem will get better and bulkier with updates over time, but if Bioware takes too long in getting there, I fear most of the player base will have moved on.
I will review the game again after a year of new content and patches, with the hope that Bioware still exists. And I can only hope that they return to do what they know best, and that is adventures with great characters and engaging stories.
Despite the fact that the gameplay and the graphics are high quality and the game has its own share of fun and memorable moments, for now the game remains a unrealized potential. Anthem needs improvement in many departments: story, level design, boss fights, looting and more content in general. As of this piece, the game doesn't have much to entertain a gamer for hundreds of hours. There seems to be a long time schedule for supporting Anthem and evolving the game. It remains to be seen wether Bioware will fill the world with new contents and items, cause right now Anthem has the markings of a great shooter looter.
Review in Persian | Read full review
