Upon launch, EA and BioWare’s title Anthem was massively criticized by players, as those who had existing loyalty to BioWare felt the game lacked the in-depth storytelling that was found in previous hits like Mass Effect and Dragon Age. Other players who were fans of the looter-shooter, action-adventure category Anthem falls into were also underwhelmed by the game.
The premise of Anthem sounded promising, which is why it had intrigued both BioWare fans and action-adventure fans alike. However, when the game released, it failed to deliver on its previous promises and left many players unhappy. At release, the game was riddled with bugs, to the point that those who played on PlayStation 4 had their consoles brick during gameplay.
BioWare has heard fans’ criticisms and critiques loud and clear, leading to a few different things. It has stopped doing “seasonal updates” to patch the game and instead started completely revamping and overhauling Anthem to fix and improve the issues gamers saw. This isn’t necessarily unheard of for BioWare, who famously patched in a third ending to Mass Effect 3 after an outcry from fans, but it is definitely the biggest “retcon” in the company’s history. However, with no release date in sight for the improved Anthem 2.0 or Anthem Next, there’s a good possibility the Anthem reboot has a future on next-gen consoles.
BioWare first announced the revamp back in February of this year, with the game having been out for a full year since its launch in February 2019. With over six months gone by and Anthem 2.0 still in the incubation phase of its development, there seems little reason to rush any further development.
For many players, the main complaint they gave about Anthem was feeling like they purchased an already broken game. This is easy to understand given the numerous bugs found in the game at launch, not to mention how subsequent patches seemed to do more harm than good at first. It’s entirely possible that the Anthem‘s initial rush in development in 2017 to meet an extended 2019 deadline led to many of the issues players described at launch.
If the development team focuses on taming the engine beast that is Frostbite 3, Anthem will undoubtedly be better off for it. The issues with the Frostbite 3 engine aren’t to say that it’s a bad engine—it’s not. It is, however, cumbersome to work with and not ideal for games like Anthem. Even during development, the team had to scrap previous ideas they wanted to utilize in the game, like crafting, because the Frostbite engine wasn’t equipped to handle it.
Taking this extra time to perfect the re-launch of Anthem will be crucial to its success. Figuring out what will and will not work while using the Frostbite 3 engine will make sure Anthem is the best it can be when “re-launch” day comes. Also, making sure the aspects chosen for the game run flawlessly (or nearly flawless, as some bugs are pretty much unavoidable) will no doubt redeem the bad launch Anthem originally had.
Besides bug fixes and making sure consoles don’t brick up while playing, Anthem needs a complete overhaul of its story and variety in its missions. Changing Anthem‘s existing missions to make them feel less repetitive will enhance gamers’ overall experience with the game, and hopefully, add more in-depth story telling that the game has ultimately lacked. That would likely satisfy a portion of BioWare fans, while those hoping for better loot also need to be a high priority.
Expectations were high when Anthem was initially announcee, and it’s a shame the game didn’t exceed its full potential at launch. However, Anthem isn’t the first game to do a complete overhaul and re-release, and this process could ultimately save the game from its lackluster reviews. The PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X are only a few months away from release, so with proper consideration and time, Anthem could be a massive success for next-gen consoles. Only time will tell.
Anthem is available now for PC, PlayStation, and Xbox One.
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