Anthem Reviews
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.
Bioware's new live service shooter, Anthem, may be off to a rough start, but the core gameplay is still fantastic, and there is definitely hope for the future.
Anthem is a game that didn't use a lot of its great potential. On one hand, some of the gameplay mechanics like flying is very well implemented and it also has very beautiful visuals, but on the other hand, the singleplayer and multiplayer aspects of the game contradict each other. Both are well implemented separately, but when they are put together, they just don't work well. The story also didn't come up to the expectations we have from BioWare. At all, Anthem in its current state is just simply a normal good game and nothing more.
Review in Persian | Read full review
My hope is that BioWare, too, will be able to overcome the ways that their game is broken. Since that demo, Anthem has steadily grown more stable. Some issues, though—like the repetitive mission structure—run deeper than glitchiness. But, Anthem’s core mechanics are satisfying, its world is enticing and its characters, by and large, are charming. With this review done, I will continue to play it. I want Anthem to get better, and I only hope that EA will give BioWare the time and resources to make this game as good as it can be. As it stands, it’s still worth a shot.
The future of this legendary developer remains a question for another day, but its followers shouldn’t be so quick to write off this new franchise. This Anthem may not be a perfect song, but it has a lot of promise.
Anthem is the worst game I’ve ever been addicted to.
Comparison aside, Anthem can be a fairly chilled game to play with friends, despite explosions big enough to fill screens, and this is 100% the way to play the game. The constant challenges to defend areas or collects things are made less of a chore with a competent ally. Also, having a friend to cooperatively combo with helps push all of the over the top fun to the surface. The niggles are still there and present but it is much easier to forgive when not solo. With all the glorious map there to fly around, the vast ways to cause explosions and cooperative play, Anthem is well worth playing, especially once the roadmapped content starts to come online.
Anthem is a painfully average RPG from a developer that is capable of so much more.
BioWare's first foray into the looter-shooter genre absolutely nails high-flying action, but drops the ball in all other aspects. A disappointment at launch, Anthem nevertheless contains plenty of untapped potential that will hopefully survive being buried under a tidal wave of negativity. BioWare sorely needs to turn things around for this game, but whether or not they will succeed remains to be seen.
Anthem is a hymn to laziness, where a great potential is held back by strong repetitiveness, the absence of some basic features and the artificially increased level of difficulty. Moreover, BioWare and Electronic Arts made an incomplete product, a mere idea of a full game with the promise that each patch will bring us closer to what we might call a final product. Still, is it possible to have fun with a group of friends and spend some pleasant time exploring or fighting? Sure, but the experience will quickly turn into an infinite loop devoid of any goal.
Review in Italian | Read full review
n his current state, Anthem is a nice action game in the beginning, that loses its momentum very fast due to strong flaws in game- and missiondesign, a slow RPG part, a weak story, uninspired mechanics and many technical issues. We currently don`t recommend a buy and only a round in the play first trial with EA or Origin Access after a potential healing in a couple of months.
Review in German | Read full review
Anthem isn't a terrible game. The core mechanics alone make it something worth at least trying, with the fluid Javelin control movement system and combat options offering up an interesting take on the modern shooter. The problem is that Anthem just isn't a complete package. It's buggy, boring and feels unfinished. It had potential to be another Bioware triumph, and it still could with updates and DLC, but for now, it's a bit like a shiny collectable that looks pretty but really doesn't really do much.
Anthem has energetic combat but it saves too much of what precious little content it has for the endgame, making playing through its mismatched story a tediously repetitive grind.
It is frustrating to rate Anthem. The game looks great, plays even better and has an intriguing setting to boot. However, the fragmented world design, overabundance of loading screens and severe lack of content considerably drag down the experience, at least for the time being. Still, this is a live service game after all and the folks at BioWare have the chance to right this ship by adding enough content in the upcoming months, though it won't be easy.
Six months or a year from now, Anthem, like many of the other games before it, may be a wholly improved experience and complete its redemption arc, but right now it may as well be AAA Early Access.
The basic structure of the Bioware shooter is fun, but story and mission design disappoint. Anthem still has a long way to go.
Review in German | Read full review
I have no doubt that Anthem will dramatically improve over time, but right now, this flight should remain grounded.
Anthem is a constant emotional see-saw. There is a lot of fun from flying, shooting and admiring this beautiful world, and almost as much frustration due to a surprising amount of bad ideas and issues. Some won't be bothered by them and keep flying, and others will go somewhere else. Anthem is a game to both love and to hate at the same time.
Review in Polish | Read full review
Anthem is not “for me”, yet Anthem is trying desperately to be “for everyone.” It is a slow, sometimes terribly frustrating game with nonetheless incredible flying mechanics and adequate shooting. It is the future of videogames, built to be played forever and yet somehow forgettable—the sustenance meal of the online shooter-looter genre, inexplicably buoyed by a company known for legendarily good writing forced to hide its own characters behind mission talk-overs and loot notifications.