The more and more of Outriders that get shown, the easier and easier it is to draw comparisons between it and Anthem. But no, not the Anthem that launched, the Anthem that was promised. Of course, the obvious caveat here is that Anthem has launched, that Anthem is getting a re-work, and that Outriders won’t see the light of day until February 2021, but it is remarkable nonetheless.
Outriders and Anthem 2.0 are both loot-based Sci-Fi RPG shooters. Both revolve around the exploration of a deadly planet, although the story of Outriders is more comparable to Mass Effect Andromeda, yet the environment of both Outriders and Anthem revolve around a deadly mysterious force.
In Outriders, that’s the Anomaly; in Anthem, that’s the Cataclysm. It all remains to be seen, but as Anthem 2.0 looks to take the game to the next level, Outriders may have stolen that thunder in another way.
In a looter game, there’s two clearly important things: loot, and endgame content to acquire even better loot. This is something that Anthem famously dropped the ball on, as not only did its loot do less than impress, its endgame content were its “Strongholds.” However, there were only three of them, one of which was a repeat of the final story mission. In other words, Anthem had a lot going for it with the flying Javelins, but it didn’t make the landing.
Outriders‘ landing does remain to be unseen, but what it promises is something unique, mostly, in the looter-shooter genre: a complete day-one package. Outriders will have Expeditions, its endgame content, but it will have 15 of them available upon beating the main campaign. What’s more, beating them will require some challenge but will unlock a special mission called Eye of the Storm, a subtle nod at the environmental effects of the Anomaly but also reminiscent of Anthem‘s Cataclysm.
While some Anthem 2.0 details have been shown, it’s really not a whole lot go on in terms of what the game will look like afterward. However, BioWare seems dedicated to bringing it back from the brink, whatever it takes. But perhaps the biggest folly was how a famously single-player RPG studio attempted a games-as-a-service looter-shooter RPG. Indeed, adopting Outriders’ complete day-one package approach may have cured a lot of what ailed Anthem and could be a huge boon to Anthem 2.0.
The question becomes what BioWare intends: is Anthem 2.0 simply the games-as-a-service title that it was meant to be, or is it something that’s meant to make up for what was? It all remains to be seen of course, but Outriders is serious competition for Anthem 2.0. Time may eventually distance the two enough that they aren’t, but Outriders shows all the promise that Anthem didn’t deliver upon. It may help if Anthem 2.0 looks to Outriders as the leader of the Sci-Fi RPG pack, but still, a lot is in the air.
Outriders releases February 2, 2021, for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X, with a Stadia version coming later in 2021. Anthem 2.o is in development.
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