February 22, 2019
BioWare

Anthem

All-in-all, Anthem feels like playing in a mud puddle. It’s a mess, but it’s a fun mess. It’s plagued by both poor design decisions and technical hiccups. The good news is that both of these can be fixed with time and some TLC. Despite all of that, when you’re flying around in the world, calling down lightning on a group of enemies, it’s fun. The game is beautiful, too. For folks dying for something to play, Anthem will get you through the lean times. Just know you may suffer death by a thousand papercuts. Those looking for a serious looter-shooter to play with friends may want to wait to see if The Division 2 is a better option, though.

60%Game Brain Score

gameplay, graphics

story, grinding

Critic Score 60%Based on 63 reviews

Platforms

Buy Nowfrom $5.65

Buy NowGet on Xbox Games Store

About Anthem

Anthem is a multiplayer role playing shooter game with a science fiction theme. It was developed by BioWare and was released on February 22, 2019. It received mostly positive reviews from critics.

Anthem is a shared-world action RPG, where players can delve into a vast landscape teeming with amazing technology and forgotten treasures. This is a world where Freelancers are called upon to defeat savage beasts, ruthless marauders, and forces plotting to conquer humanity.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

+17

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Reviews

gameplay12 positive mentions

story12 negative mentions

Anthem features exhilarating flight mechanics and satisfying combat, making it a thrilling experience.
The game boasts beautiful graphics and a richly designed world, enhancing the overall immersion.
There is a solid foundation for customization and character development, with enjoyable Javelin classes.

The game suffers from repetitive missions, a lack of meaningful endgame content, and a dull story.
Long loading screens and numerous technical issues detract from the overall experience.
Anthem feels unfinished and lacks variety in gameplay elements, leading to a sense of emptiness.

story
34 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
21% positive mentions, 44% neutral mentions, 35% negative mentions
The story in Anthem is widely criticized for being dull, convoluted, and forgettable, with many reviewers noting a lack of engaging characters and a disjointed narrative. Repetitive missions and poor mission design further detract from the overall experience, making the gameplay feel like a tedious grind. While some elements of the world and side characters show potential, the overarching story fails to deliver the depth and excitement expected from a Bioware title.
- “Flying is exhilarating, and the views are beautiful. Experimenting with new loadouts each mission keeps combat fun and satisfying. Some side characters and their stories are endearing and interesting.”
- “Addicting and exciting combat, robust customization features, surprisingly decent story.”
- “Anthem’s rich storytelling and engaging combat lays the foundation for Bioware’s newest adventure.”
- “Anthem's disjointed story, boring loot, repetitive missions, and shallow endgame are all disappointing.”
- “But an overly convoluted and forgettable story, underwhelming RPG elements, and outdated design choices make for a rough introduction to this brave new world.”
- “The story is dull, main characters are flawed, and the villain is boring; NPCs are uninteresting, missions feel grindy, and world events are uninspired.”
gameplay
19 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
63% positive mentions, 21% neutral mentions, 16% negative mentions
Anthem's gameplay features exhilarating fast-paced shooting and impressive flight mechanics, providing moments of fun and chaos. However, it is marred by long loading times, repetitive missions, and a lack of engaging content, leading to a mixed reception overall. While the core gameplay loop and customization options are enjoyable, many players feel the game falls short of its potential due to various design flaws and a dull narrative.
- “Anthem manages to offer up moments of fun, with occasionally chaotic action, javelin gameplay variety, and freeform traversal.”
- “Anthem's thrilling gameplay, quality presentation, and sound design redeem what is otherwise a puzzling mess of questionable design decisions.”
- “The gameplay is incredible as an Iron Man simulator, with some great abilities, and the sense of flight is wonderful.”
- “Painfully long loading screens, infuriating bugs and crashes, dull story, boring loot, poor gameplay mechanics, bland environments.”
- “Though the core gameplay loop of getting better loot will undoubtedly hook players in, Anthem currently doesn't offer enough original content to make the investment worth it.”
- “The story is dull, main characters are flawed and the villain is boring, NPCs are uninteresting, missions feel grindy, especially when they force open world gameplay, load screens are frequent, even post-patch, world events are uninspired, loadouts can only be accessed between missions, can't set waypoint markers, so it's easy to get lost, loot doesn't feel worthwhile, and the always-online game ultimately works against it.”
grinding
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
0% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 100% negative mentions
Players find the grinding aspect of Anthem to be a significant drawback, as the game features repetitive missions and a lack of engaging content, particularly in the endgame. The combination of a convoluted story, uninspired world events, and tedious gameplay mechanics contributes to a frustrating experience, especially when playing solo or with others. Overall, the grind feels excessive and detracts from the potential enjoyment of the game's combat and exploration.
- “Anthem has energetic combat, but it saves too much of what precious little content it has for the endgame, making playing through its mismatched story a tediously repetitive grind.”
- “The story is dull, main characters are flawed, and the villain is boring. Missions feel grindy, especially when they force open world gameplay. Load screens are frequent, even post-patch, and loot doesn't feel worthwhile.”
graphics
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 0% negative mentions
The graphics of the game are consistently praised for their beauty and visual appeal, enhancing the overall experience alongside engaging gameplay and sound design. Players appreciate the stunning visuals that complement the dynamic flight and combat mechanics, contributing to an immersive and rewarding atmosphere.
- “Amazing graphics, voice acting and soundtrack, excellent action through the marriage of flying and combat (powered by diverse javelin classes), intriguing setting/lore that's ripe to be explored.”
- “Gorgeous visuals, entertaining flight and combat, thunderous sound design.”
- “Graphically gorgeous with an amazing soundtrack, compelling storyline, flexible world platform with extensive roadmap, heavy developer engagement.”
music
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 0% negative mentions
The music in the game is consistently praised for its excellence, contributing significantly to the overall experience with an amazing soundtrack that enhances the engaging combat and visually stunning graphics. Reviewers highlight how the music complements the compelling storyline and immersive setting, making it a standout feature of the game.
- “The soundtrack is amazing, enhancing the overall experience with its captivating melodies.”
- “The music is graphically gorgeous and perfectly complements the action, making every moment feel epic.”
- “The combination of voice acting and soundtrack creates an immersive atmosphere that draws you into the game.”
stability
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
0% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 100% negative mentions
The game's stability has been criticized for feeling unfinished and unpolished, with numerous bugs indicating a lack of thorough testing prior to release. Reviewers suggest that it would have benefited from additional beta testing and development time.
- “The problem is, though, that the game has to be looked at now; at how it plays right now… and, right now, it feels unfinished, unpolished, and buggy. It deserved another round of beta testing and another six months.”
- “The game crashes frequently, making it nearly unplayable at times. Stability is a major issue that needs to be addressed.”
- “I encountered numerous bugs that disrupted my gameplay experience. The lack of stability really detracts from what could be a great game.”