Anthem review – a great starting point

BioWare has decided to enter the world of Shared World Shooter with Anthem, a title as promising as it is fun. As always, however, not all that glitters is gold- the latest work of the American software house is not without flaws. Which? I will explain it to you in this review.

Among the walls of Fort Tarsis

Anthem wastes no time- you only need a few minutes to find yourself catapulted into the dangerous world of Bastion, a world where Specialists, brave warriors endowed with a peculiar armor technology called strale, face missions of every kind every day. In fact, there are huge animals waiting for you, the numerous metamorphic and troops of the Dominion, interspersed with the inevitable search for materials and people.

Your reference point in this wild and indomitable land will be only one: Fort Tarsis, a central hub where you can upgrade, arm yourself and deposit whatever you don’t need. To differentiate it from the Bungie Tower for Destiny there are a couple of important differences. The fort is first of all complex and populated by people with extremely human needs and needs, people with whom you can interact and talk. In fact, Anthem does not just treat you as a passive listener but offers you choices of dialogue that define your personality and measure fidelity to the cause. The inhabitants of Tarsis will also give you secondary missions, which will help you gain resources and experience, and then rejoice with you whenever you get a new success.

Obviously, not everything is perfect. Getting lost in the alleys of the fort is very simple and moving from one side to the other is almost difficult, because of the slow pace of our character, a gait that contrasts with the freedom of movement that Anthem gives us during the missions.

This slowness, often frustrating, brings with it an undeniable advantage- your walks will allow you to observe every single element and not let you miss the numerous clues that will then enrich your Cortex. Contrary to the main plot, which is not very original, the lore is indeed surprisingly vast and fascinating.

In the blue painted blue

The 4 branches of Anthem. From left- Colossus, Interceptor, Guardian and Storm

The strong point of the new BioWare videogame is undoubtedly the movement system. Anthem allows you to speed through the sky, dive into the forest and cool your track through the numerous waterfalls in the area. Moving around in this world, counting on a level design that focuses heavily on verticality, is really fun and balances gunplay that is not the most rewarding. In fact, the feeling of weapons is not what other giants of this kind have accustomed us to, but the possibility of dodging, hovering in the air and getting around enemies quickly makes everything surprisingly pleasant.

The four exoskeletons available to us further animate the fighting. For tank lovers, there is the enormous Colossus, equipped with an extremely resistant shield, while for those who love close combat there is the Interceptor, agile and with very sharp blades. More like traditional magicians, Tempesta is ideal for ranged attacks, while Guardian is the most balanced of the four and is perfect for those who don’t want to give up anything. Each of these can count not only on two slots dedicated to classic firearms but also on skills and on a flood of different components.

All of this, of course, you will earn and find by participating in the various quests or giving you free play. In short, play, accumulate and then carefully select your equipment, eliminating what you do not need and leaving room for what is best combined with your style and with the selected tool.

Finally, I would like to point out the presence of a crafting system that is not too satisfying. In fact, after the first few hours of play, you will find traditional research much more useful than the more elaborate creation of weapons.

The drama of repetitiveness

Quantity is certainly not a problem for Anthem- the endgame, in fact, includes a large number of public events and the most complex raids in the three Fortresses, all activities that will keep you busy for several hours. The problem is the non-existent variety of tasks, all boringly similar to each other. A huge flaw for a “Game as a service”, a game created to attract players not only for the few days necessary to complete the campaign, but for several months, or even years. Of course, continuing to play and relive the routine allows gamers to upgrade the arrow or bring new cosmetic items home, but can we really consider it a sufficient stimulus?

Obviously, not everything is lost. BioWare seems intent on inserting new content and making some interesting changes. Soon the first expansion should arrive, which could give us some other interesting hours of play.

An excellent work

Impossible not to appreciate the graphics rendering of Anthem. The illuminations, particle effects and animations are of an excellent level and make the gaming experience even more immersive. Appreciable also the dynamic weather, which not only gives variety to the game but also affects your ability to fly.

I also promoted the soundtrack, dubbing, and matchmaking, while the interface could benefit from some improvements.

Buy Anthem

I have mixed feelings about Anthem- on the one hand we have a promising and entertaining shooter, with a surprising narrative frame and exciting gameplay, on the other we find a somewhat frustrating and really unexpected repetition. In short, more could be done, but there is still room for improvement. What we have seen and experienced is a great foundation, but BioWare needs to build on it, perfect it and add that variety we need.

[amazon box=”B072K2KBBR” template=”list”] store=’ukTechVaz-21′ marketplace=’UK’ link_id=’427dbc54-4c06-4a7f-a9c4-bd2ba2800eca’]