If you were to look into the impressive back-library of long-storied developer BioWare, you?d find a legacy of genre-defining experiences that have left an indelible mark on the industry. However, in recent years, this shine has begun to lose its luster a bit. For this reason, it seemed that the studio needed for Anthem to be a gigantic win, and it was pulling out all of the stops in order to bring the sky-high ambitions to fruition. However, when a game designer?s head is always up in the clouds, the team making the game may tend to lose sight of what is happening down on the ground.
Narrative Nuisances
Even though I?ve been a fan of damn near everything that BioWare has created since the Baldur?s Gate era, I?m more than willing to concede that combat has never truly been the studio?s strong suit. This was a team that knew how to tell amazing, immersive stories, allowing players to feel like they had a hand in crafting the universe around them. While the story of Anthem is certainly massive and sprawling, the lack of true agency ultimately makes the player feel like a stationary statue that the narrative essentially revolves around.
While there are dialog choices that seemingly steer conversations, it?s hard to shake the feeling that these decisions are superficial at best. The exposition very much felt like it was going through the same loop you would encounter in a Telltale game. There were slight deviations in the script depending upon the where the player steered the ...