Review for Anthem. Game for PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, the video game was released on 22/02/2019
Being able to meet the great expectations of the eve, especially when it comes to a particular type of product, is an arduous undertaking, which only a few can cope with. Likewise, it was difficult for the writer to be able to evaluate in the most correct and impartial way possible a delicate and tremendously controversial product such as Anthem, new effort of the boys of BioWare which - on balance - have only partially achieved the titanic objective.
After all, the expectations around the shared world shooter created by no less than the creators of one of the icons of the videogame world, the brand Mass Effect, they could only be skyrocketing and imagine such an ending unfortunately, sadly it was quite predictable, almost a certainty.
It must be said, however, that Anthem is by no means a product to be rejected indeed, and perhaps even more "ready" than its direct competitors - on several aspects - compared to the release period of the various Destiny or The Division but, unlike of the latter, it leaves more room for a feeling halfway between the sorrow for the wasted opportunity and the anger for not being able to treasure the successes and above all the failures of others.
Wanting to make a romantic allegory, we could say that Anthem revealed itself in front of our eyeballs just like the undisputed protagonists of the production - the arrows - taking off a striking flight, staying in the air for some time, enough to let us keep dreaming, to then crash inexorably on the ground, under the weight of gaps as serious as they were unexpected.
The rebirth of civilization
BioWare's undisputed storytelling skills are revealed immediately: although not very original, the plot that accompanies the fluttering deeds of the specialists, sentries and various arcanists, is well thought out and above all not superfluous. Without going into detail again (we refer you to the first part of the review), what emerges over the hours is a story full of details and notions to be assimilated, to better learn everything that the game world and its encyclopedic wealth of information have to offer. Wandering around the Forte Tarsis or simply reading the various notes of the Cortex, it is possible to rediscover one of the most complex and stratified narrative universes in the videogame world, however much higher than the direct competition. In truth, the "basic plot" - which will be expanded already in the next update - does not live in acute details whatsoever, but is always and in any case coherent and dynamic enough, capable of accompanying in any case, and in the best way, the playful counterpart of production.
To play a fundamental role, in this respect, is also the nature of the protagonist, not "mute" and passive as unfortunately happens with the products of the competition but rather, with a tongue that is far too long and often and willingly sharp. In fact, by communicating with the various NPCs present at the Fort, you will also have the opportunity to respond (not always), in a different way to the various dialogues, which will give you even more that feeling of immersion and direct contact with the surrounding environment. An incredibly hostile environment, which was the scene of numerous clashes and catastrophes, including the rebirth of an evil believed to be buried, is the fulcrum of the narrative, complex and varied, but which proves incomplete, precisely in anticipation of the next additions. If the good morning starts in the morning, and if the next contents are able to make the most of the lore generated around the title, we will surely see some good ones.
I believe I can fly
What represents, in addition to the solid narrative sector, the beating heart of the BioWare production is certainly the gameplay. Analyzing the playful sector of the production, one cannot fail to start by starting from the real “piece of ninety” of the work: the flight. S.flying around the region, while exterminating hordes of metamorphic or bloodthirsty soldiers of the Domain, returns a priceless feeling, both pad in hand and on a purely visual level, and represents an essential strength for the entire economy of the title. The eccentric and dynamic Iron Man-style movement system, however, collides in an almost equally important way with a very approximate shooting system, mainly due to an almost non-existent weapon feedback. In truth, even in terms of variety, both visually and in actual use, the guns appear all too similar to each other, thus showing the side of an important lack and which, in the long run, can be fatal in such a title.
In any case, adding the two things together, the result is more than successful: every clash is a chromatic and motion epiphany, in which the daring dodges, the thunderous explosions and the numerous creatures to be defeated represent the flagship of a job. , from this point of view, truly commendable. To make everything even more dynamic and - above all - fun is the yield, once on the pitch, of the four arrows, all very different from each other and which, for this reason, always make every single fire fight fresh and satisfying. Take part in an expedition with granite Colossus, equipped, for example, with a resistance to damage higher than all the others and a shield capable of reflecting many hits, it will make the gaming experience completely different, as well as completely different the approach to the various missions compared to the agile and snappy - but at the same time "weak" to enemy blows - Interceptor. We have mentioned those that are practically the two opposites but at the center are placed, with the necessary premises and differentiations, the two intermediate arrows: Storm e guardian. If the Storm is still a sort of "wizard", who therefore relies more on elemental attacks from distance comparable to spells of sorts, the same cannot be said of the Guardian, who in the end is the most balanced javelin to use.
Is an Javelin forever? Not necessarily!
It goes without saying that, being a title designed for the multiplayer, the strong diversification of the four "classes" present is fundamental to approaching every single battle in the best possible way, especially in the more advanced stages or, better said, at the higher difficulty levels. The choice of equipment that each single javelin has available is also of great importance: each of the four exoskeletons is equipped with exclusive tools (some are in common) that guarantee different bonuses to the most disparate parameters, such as health, armor, damage, elemental damage and even the damage of every single type of weapon, thus making the role-playing component of the title even more marked and layered. This component is enhanced by the successful dynamics of the combos: each character, by equipping a particular elemental catalyst in the appropriate slots, can give life to devastating fights by skilfully combining the attacks in sequence, giving rise to a trail of blows with exorbitant and decisive damage, especially against the most difficult enemies.
To be lacking under the aspect of its role in the role of the title, is the meager and only sketchy crafting system, in which the few achievable things are easily found simply by playing, thus resulting in a feature that is anything but relevant for the purposes of correct progression. . A progression divided in half, a bit as happens in other exponents of the genre, between the advancement of a general level (or the "pilot") and that of the power of the equipment, the real cornerstone of production. Leveling up will allow you to face challenges at higher levels (Grand Master 1 and later), resulting in higher quality drop-rate. However, it will be precisely the power of the equipment used to be fundamental to be able to successfully complete the very complicated missions, especially those faced at the highest difficulty levels.
The deafening echo of emptiness
The first painful notes, of those that really hurt, can be found - as it was in the forecasts of the most skeptical and pessimistic - in the variety of missions and game activities in general, which is magnified once you reach the much feared endgame. Once the "main story" is completed and the maximum level is reached, the doors of what is in fact the endgame of Anthem will open wide: an ending poor in activity and at times confusing and unsettling. Also due to the lack of clarity of the game menu, in particular the one that keeps track of the activities to be carried out, understanding how to progress will certainly not be easy and immediate, but the real problems are quite different. The variety of activities is the first, true, weak link of the production, which offers the player a handful of contents that are too similar to each other, which risk throwing in boredom in a short time. Excluding the contracts, the activities assigned by the various factions present at Fort Tarsis, in truth they are also not very dissimilar from each other, and the various tasks to be performed are very few and all inextricably linked to an almost identical ludic core.
Excluding the Free Play which, thanks to a good presence of Global Events, as well as a decent quality in exploration in search of materials and consumables works very well, the rest of the title fails to offer real reasons to entice you to continue playing, except for the simple fun offered by the gameplay. The Strongholds, a sort of dungeon with a lot of final bosses (repeatable), are few and are not very different from each other, especially as regards what the player will actually have to do once the mission has started. The whole game structure, therefore, is afflicted by an impressive background monotony, at times unsettling, which goes well with the bare nature of the settings, in which activities take place practically always in the same points. Whether it is a recovery or extermination mission, the alternation of locations will almost always be limited to an underground cave or an encampment of sorts, thus offering a feeling of constant and deleterious déjà-vu.
Strong alone, invincible together
Anthem's real strength lies in the multiplayer component, and it couldn't be otherwise. Given the spectacular nature and depth of the gameplay, playing alongside an organized team can make BioWare's shared world shooter one of the most succulent products on the market. In all honesty, the title is absolutely usable even in solo, unlike, for example, its direct rivals in which, in some cases, the need to carry out activities in company is a little too present. Great credit for all this goes to matchmaking, well structured and that works properly. It has never happened to us, during the more than fifty hours of play spent in the company of Anthem, to find ourselves carrying out activities that are too difficult alone or to be paired with significantly stronger or weaker players. An excellent job, in this respect, which clashes, once again, with a somewhat lacking server stability, especially if we analyze some activities.
We have happened, numerous times, to witness sudden disconnections, completely "buggy" and impossible to complete missions and strange freezes of the screen during the loading sequences. To be fair it must be said that the developers have already released a corrective patch (which helped to polish some defects), succeeding, with mixed fortunes, in its intent. Despite everything, however, we remain confident for the near future, in which, being a game with continuous support, BioWare, we are sure, will try to put a patch on the various problems listed.
Downgrade yes, downgrade no
The problems, fortunately, do not concern the technical / audiovisual aspect of the production, where Anthem really flexes its muscles. Leaving aside the thorny question of the much-rumored graphic downgrade, the title is truly excellent from a graphic and technical point of view, one of the real strengths of the new BioWare effort. According to at least the version we tested, the one for Xbox One X, Anthem manages to offer sensational glimpses, supported by a native resolution in 4K and an overall stable frame-rate, fixed however on 30 fps. To be picky, however, especially during the execution of some skills, the more "pyrotechnic" ones to be clear, we happened to witness some drops, however not particularly conspicuous. Precisely the beauty of the skills of the arrows, combined with the aesthetic customization of the aforementioned exoskeletons, makes Anthem a beautiful product to look at, also embellished by a splendid realization of the settings in which the local fauna and flora stand out immediately. We didn't really like the lack of variety of monsters or the minimal environmental interaction, but the overall yield of elements such as seabed, draw distance and so on is all in all more than positive.
Nothing to say, however, on the dubbing, excellently performed, which makes every single dialogue enjoyable, and on the overall quality of the sounds, thundering and marked, to underline once again the obvious overall spectacularity of the BioWare boys' title. An applause must also be made to the soundtrack: slaughtering hordes of hostile creatures on the notes of the epic music of the game is really a panacea, which, to be honest, raises Anthem, in this respect, to new qualitative heights of the gaming market in general.
Anthem is the perfect interpretation behind the exclamation: "What a pity!". An incredible product from a narrative point of view (being a shared world shooter) embellished with a fun and pyrotechnic gameplay but that incredibly manages to frustrate most of the aforementioned qualities. How? Bringing to the stage a monotonous and repetitive mission structure until exhaustion, as well as a lack of activity once in the endgame, almost incomprehensible. This aspect demonstrates how the software house has clearly demonstrated that it has not been able to learn from the mistakes of others, bringing to the market an immature and incomplete product, supported by numerous problems but all in all with an important potential. The excruciating sensation of a wasted opportunity is partly dampened by the guarantee of continuous support, which in the coming months will already gorge the jaws of the most ravenous gamers, with the hope that the open construction site called Anthem will become - over time - a real and its architectural masterpiece to be truly proud of.
► Anthem is an Action-RPG type game developed by BioWare and published by Electronic Arts for PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, the video game was released on 22/02/2019
