Well, it’s finally here. Anthem. Here we go.

The opening mission is honestly rather great. You start in the badass force of “Freelancers” on their way to kick down some beasts as you do to that Pride Demon at the start of Dragon Age: Inquisition. Except that “Pride Demon” fucks your shit beyond belief. Right after getting your shit pushed in by the Titan Gang from Disney’s Hercules, it was time for a time skip. Hard cut to two years later and you’re on a solo mission with a new voice in your ear. An ever-present British sounding boy named Owen (Voiced by the awesome T.J. Ramini AKA Del Meeko from EA and Dice’s Star Wars Battlefront 2). Owen is your Cypher, the companion who links with you from back at base and acts in a way like an AI component to your Javelin. Using the rundown Javelin frame the game starts you with you navigate your first mission learning more basics of objectives, flight, combat, and other general gameplay.

Speaking of gameplay, it is interesting. Nothing new and remarkable, but interesting. It reminds me of other well-known titles that I have particularly enjoyed, Destiny, Warframe, with hints of BioWare’s other titles, Mass Effect, and Dragon Age. The best part of the gameplay? Movement and mobility hands down. Never have I felt such control over the battlefield through pure maneuverability. My first Javelin, the Interceptor, gave me multiple dodges to chain and extra jumps as well. It was listed as the most agile Javelin and in a game, with so much possible exploration I saw no downside. Now, there are four Javelins in total. After your first mission, you are allowed to select your first choice; The Heavy Boi: Colossus, The Elementalist: Storm, The Soldier: Ranger, and The Fleet: Interceptor. Each one fits a distinct and interesting playstyle with weapons and gadget options adding to this level of choice. Even better as you play you’re able to unlock the remaining at levels 8, 16, and 26. Being able to hit and run is a surprisingly great tactic for solo play, moving in killing a handful of enemies with a mix of gear, guns, and melee then quickly dodging out or flying to safety to reload, rearm, and go again. My second was Storm. Storm, in my opinion, is not majorly suited for solo play early on as they are a control and damage Javelin who requires a Tank like Colossus for long term survival. Once you’re skilled and have high-level gear though he is a force to be reckoned with. Next, I took the Soldier. The Ranger is likely the safest bet for players looking for the mix between mobility and being able to take a hit. The Colossus falls outside of my normal playstyle like Storm but is an invaluable asset in Co-Op play. Boasting a massive damage Ultimate and the highest armor values it does its job of tanking damage perfectly. If you’re new to the genre and need something that can take a hit and still hit back, look no further.

The next most important point is guns and gunplay. A shooter without good gunplay loses a lot in long term playability. While gunning down your enemies with a number of high damage or high cap mag weapons is very aesthetically pleasing, the most I can say for Anthem’s selection and gunplay is it’s unremarkable. The game offers various weapon classes, LMGs, Semi-Auto Pistols, ARs, Snipers, and the works. The issue though lies in diversity. Each weapon class consists of only a handful (I believe three) weapons. The first being your high rate of fire, large magazine, lower damage. The second is your average sam, a literal middle ground. The last is your handful of rounds that will put holes in whatever they hit. And while I am a complete sucker for any game that gives me a sniper rifle with explosive rounds (I called the Devastator my “GTFO of my way gun” and I loved it) it still was just like so many other games. When you are mixing into the looter shooter genre it’s important that the loot stays interesting. Granted I’ve only gathered up to Epic Tier gear so the Masterwork gear could blow me away, but I’ve gone 24 hours of gameplay and want to get my review out for more of the casual player who can’t decide if they want the game or not.

Now in the realm of game time, yes I have played for 24 hours so far. I am level 20 and I’ve completed the base storyline, which took about 20 hours of my playtime while also doing side quests. The story is interesting and though some dialogue seems rushed or inconsistent at times, BioWare somewhat succeeded to set up a world of lore to speculate on. Beating the game answered a number of questions raised during the story, but also raised so many more when the endgame began. I’ve made my way four hours into the endgame and all I have to say so far is that is a GRIND. My first quest would take me likely a few days straight play to complete which I just can’t commit to right now. A lot of it is helping other people or doing world events and when it comes to missions they are all instance based. You choose to leave the fort, you start an expedition, load in, do a three-stage mission, and then you’re done. You have to load into the fort or the Launch Bay hub area and go again. It can be very time consuming not being able to immediately move into another mission queue especially when working on the same thing consistently. For a casual player, or someone who is very interested in all of the conversations the game has to offer in its primary solo hub, Fort Tarsis, this is not that much of an issue, but that player tirelessly trying to reach that next landmark will find it ever so tedious.

This game really has its pros and cons. Overall I enjoyed it. I also hope it gets additional content and if so I look forward to what that content turns out to be. They’ve taken a leap and are trying to set a foundation. If it sets well, they just have to build on it.

SurelyNotAScore: 7/10

SurelyNotNoah