As most of you know I am a gamer, and a new game called Anthem has been released. There was a lot of hype surrounding this game when a video surfaced about 2 years ago, With the game finally being released there is a mixed bag of reviews out there ranging from terrible to fantastic.
The Bad:
As I play this game, I find myself wondering if the developer reviewed any of the problems associated with other online only role playing games and used those issues as an example of what not to do. I wonder this because it seems to me that they did not. The loading times are atrocious and you find yourself constantly waiting for the game to load all the time.
Why did I have to pick a character at the beginning of the game when you never get to see them or personalize them in any way? The city area is bland there is no commerce here, you can't buy, sell, or trade any equipment which can be a fun game in and of itself, but sadly is not present, and instead you are left with the only option of buying online cosmetics that change daily, you can use earned in game currency or gems that you use real money to purchase.
The world itself seems to hold wonders, but after flying from one location to the next it feels like you are in a museum walking through a statue display, while they are interesting to look at, that is all it is, there are no clues as to the what the ruins were used for or why they are even there. Bioware could have had etchings on the wall explaining different areas as well as clues of where to find hidden treasures, which would make you want to explore the areas. They do have a little bubbles in places with a pop up explaining what the area is, but you can see this bubble from far away and it's not all that interesting.
Playing with other people would be more enjoyable if the game didn't constantly tell me that I am out of the mission boundaries when another player races to the next area, there is a countdown timer that will automatically teleport you to the new mission area, so you are screwed if you wanted to collect that plant or search the area. When you are teleported, you get to enjoy yet another loading screen. This can happen three or four times during the same mission, it's very annoying.
The Good:
Despite the issues that plague this game I find myself still drawn to it, the different powers that you can equip are interesting when used in the field and have some different combo applications, using these class specific powers is incredibly easy and they recharge by themselves. The shooting is fun, you aim then shoot with you hitting the target, your gun doesn't fly off all aver the place with extreme recoil, even at long distances, which makes for some very satisfying gun battles.
You are in control of your character, there will be no excuses that you died because of lag infested controls and terrible reaction times. The control is tight and precise, fly, dodge shoot, or run at ant given time with no delay. There are some very interesting guns and suit perks that you can enjoy, and you can see the difference when using them on the field.
Matchmaking is quick and painless, I have seen no time difference when loading into the game by yourself or with three random people. You can go off by yourself if you like, which I enjoy, but if the mission is too difficult you can always retry it with a group of other people.
The art, graphics, animation, and characters are excellent, they put a lot of time into these systems and it shows, everything is seamless with next to no clipping or characters passing through each other.
The world itself is beautiful, water effects, leaves on trees, and even underground caves are well thought out and always show something new when visiting them, there are animals that are not a threat roaming about which gives the world more life.
I do like this game and I will continue to play it, There is nothing that I would have to buy with real money, there is no need for micro transactions unless you haven't made enough in game currency for your cosmetic upgrade.
It's fun and I enjoy it, who knows, maybe you will too.
Scott Goerz
