Can Bioware's latest match the pedigree of their past, or is it destined for failure

Gameplay loop; Playstyle variety

Storytelling; Bugs; Poor design decisions

This game has had many problems along the way and continues to do so. Yet despite all this I find it a fun refreshing game with a good entertaining grind and even more enjoyable with friends.

Anthem has been a good six years in the making, developed by the creators of iconic titles such as Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic , Jade Empire and the Mass Effect series. This time, the talented studio steps into new territory with the looter shooter, to take on the likes of Destiny and The...

shaken apart by its own identity crisis

Since EA absorbed it into its growing Katamari of game studios, Bioware has lost its identity. From the disaster that was Mass Effect 3 's ending, to the disappointment that was Mass Effect Andromeda , EA's heavy hand has been felt all around, as it has with each of the other studios it has...

Anthem is the first major title of 2019: A brand new IP from Bioware after Mass Effect Andromeda , and this one has hit the stores after much waiting to mixed feelings from reviewers but many players lapping it up like a cat that got the cream!

I know people are thinking "Whats he talking about Anthem sucks, its not a good game". Listen, I know people say its a bad game because of E3, people crashing, its repetitive, its not to me. I love this game, I've been playing it since release and i love it. The story, the gameplay, the graphics.

Anthem may never get the chance to live up to its potential due to a series of unfortunate game design decisions and issues. The first IP from BioWare in over ten years displays moments of grandeur with fun and unique gameplay that unfortunately is undermined by the game's current condition.

The truth is, we never felt compelled to play Anthem. In the sea of competing titles released in just the last few weeks alone, it falls short on almost everything, and there's rarely the temptation to stay up too late to have One More Go, finish off one more mission, or whizz about, idly collecting more stuff. It's weird because, again, it's not a bad game, and whilst we're in the grips of it - tackling a Stronghold, perhaps - it's not boring, either. But beyond the Javelins and pottering about in The Forge, obsessively tweaking your loadouts to boost your level, nothing in Anthem stands out. We're not sure what BioWare can do to inject a little more colour into the game's bland, underwhelming world (and it's possibly already too late to do so). It's not even that the studio - famed, quite rightly, as it is for its astonishing single-player stories and complex, compulsive world-building - doesn't have the chops to pull it all off. It simply feels like in its desperation to tick all the boxes and appeal to all players, Anthem, as mechanically solid as it is, has become nothing for no-one.

Javelins are unique and fun to tweak; Solid, enjoyable combat; A fantastic, character-driven tale;

Lack of stuff to do once the story's over; A lot of grinding for comparatively little reward; A cluttered and confusing UI and menu system;

Anthem is an immensely fun game wrapped up in a dull story and a repetitive end-game. It will no doubt get better as time goes on, but this isn’t a great starting point.

Great customization; Beautiful visuals; Great use of team interaction;

Definitely not a single-player game; Predictable story; Frequent bugs