Anthem (code in box) previews

I have played 10–20 hours of the VIP demo (as of writing this), and the essential feedback is that it is a lot of fun. The graphics and world are gorgeous on Ultra settings, with a massive view distance and level of detail. I had smooth framerates of around 90 while roaming the world, with dips and peaks of +/- 20 fps (on an 8700k/1080Ti system).

Gameplay is action based with strategic elements, namely in how you deploy your weaponry and who you consider the priority threats. AI is not stupid… It will guard your “freelancer” Javelin exo-suit upon knock down to make it harder for a squad member to repair you, for example. It can be played solo, but is balanced for a full team of 4. If other players are soing the same expedition, you will be placed with them to build a full team.

Exo-suit customisation is very detailed and a lot of fun. The system is complex enough, but not too confusing . The game becomes more fun and addicting as you progress and grow in strength and skill.

Flying is enjoying and gives you a great sense of freedom. (Just turn down the sensitivity, default is very twitchy on MKB).

There are numerous NPC driven questlines, AAA voice acting, and BioWare pedigree.

The demo had stability and server issues, but I can see the potential for a 4–5 star title. The niggles that were present in the out of date demo build did not greatly detract from the overall experience. At times it worked perfectly, and was very enjoyable.

If you aren’t dedicated to protesting EA’s business model, you should consider Anthem if it does look appealing to you.

Disclaimer: I played both the VIP Demo and the Open Demo weekends though I haven't preordered until today. I'm a long-time BioWare fan (so consider that my bias), though my love for the developer has faded over the years and I've never had any love for their publisher.

So far, this game is a hecking good time! It's a fun 4-player online co-op game where you stomp around and fly big power suits and give bad guys a bad time, like a good ol' Iron Man. It's not high art (though it is disgustingly pretty) and the naysayers will love to tell us how derivative it is of the three other games in its genre, but its feeling of weight and inertia sets it apart from other games.

Some caveats though! Especially specifically for the PC version of the game, the demo didn't perform technically well by any stretch of the imagination. Lower-end PCs will miss out on a large amount of the game's visual pop, and keyboard-and-mouse controls were particularly clunky and awkward. Online stability was also very, very shaky, so for the more cautious buyers, it's 100% reasonable to skip the preorder and wait until after launch just to see how a lot of that pans out!

So my initial response with what I played with the Anthem demos (Alpha, BETA) were pretty damn good. I was excited for the game and hyped for the game. I could finally be iron man and lay waste to the opposition. It was going to be awesome.

I played through the games story on release (Origin Premiere) and absolutely loved it. The plot was good, the lore was solid, and the animations and character interactions were on point. I finally got to that level where the game was starting to feel familiar, I loved the way my Interceptor moved, with the help of using a game-pad over KB&M. I was unstoppable (Unless frozen).

It was my time to fly, and I was ready.

But I think I hit the end of the game, I'm not actually sure. I think where I am now is that sweet but cringy ‘end game grind’ where I have to complete a lot of small tasks for some rewards, or hit those raids (strongholds) to get the new stuff. But wheres the new armor I can find in game, where are all the cosmetics- I'm not sure if this is a early release wall, or if its part of their free DLC, but Anthem as a game is already feeling empty. I'm level 18 with a play time of 24 hours and feel like I've beat the game content wise.

Don't get me wrong, the game is absolutely amazing to play and I am loving it, but wheres the content-