Despite plenty of excitement for BioWare's looter-shooter leading up to its launch, Anthem failed to live up to the hype. The reveals of Anthem promised big things, but the execution, in the end, left much to be desired. BioWare, undeterred by the poor reviews, promised to improve the game in Anthem 2.0, which was intended to fix a lot of the issues and complaints fans had with the game, but this has now been canceled.
Anthem 2.0's cancellation comes as unfortunate news for fans, as despite the game's glaring shortcomings, it had the makings of something quite special. Fans looking for an improved version of Anthem's impressive gameplay will now be hoping other games pick up where it left off, but this may not be all that unlikely.
What Anthem Did Right
Since its fairly turbulent launch in early 2019, much of the focus has been on what went wrong with Anthem, but this approach ignores the elements that Anthem got so right. Traveling around Anthem's stunning landscape is an experience not to be missed, in spite of the possibility that its servers could be shut down in the future. As things stand it's still possible to play Anthem and a lot of care and attention was put into making the traversal of the world of Anthem as fun as possible. Gamers should not be discouraged by the cancellation of Anthem 2.0, as there's still enough content in the game's current state to get a good amount of enjoyment from it.
The gameplay of Anthem is one of its stronger attributes, with much of the entertainment of the game coming from simply flying around the map. Before Anthem's grind kicks in, it's an enjoyable romp through the world, with the combat system and the combos in particular making for some great battles. The flight, however, steals the show. Anthem has a phenomenal movement system, which solves the issue that many games face of how to make exploration engaging. Flight mechanics in video games are far from a new thing, Breath of the Wild's paragliders for example proved to be a spectacular inclusion, but BioWare may have perfected flight in video games.
It may be an overstatement to call Anthem a great game, but what can be discerned by playing a small sample of Anthem is that it is not an idea that deserves to be abandoned. The fate of BioWare's project may well be sealed, however, this doesn't mean it's curtains for the features Anthem perfected. It's the way of the gaming industry to borrow popular features from games, and Anthem's movement system is a great candidate for imitation. While it will take the right type of game to pull off Anthem's jetpacks, there are certainly a broad range of candidates.
What Stray's Cross Could Learn From Anthem
Naughty Dog's all-new sci-fi project, codenamed Stray's Cross, is rumored to be in development and is looking like it could be the next big thing for the developer of The Last of Us. Stray's Cross is rumored to be a sci-fi game, which would be quite the departure from the big titles that have brought Naughty Dog so much success as of late. One way Naughty Dog could ensure Stray's Cross is as big of a success as The Last of Us and Uncharted could be to follow Anthem's lead.
The Last of Us 2 proved Naughty Dog's ability to both tell a compelling story and develop some great gameplay if either were ever in doubt. What will be interesting to see from this new Naughty Dog project is how it can evolve its story and, in particular, its gameplay to fit the new genre. With a new genre comes new demands, expectations, and opportunities, what works well for The Last of Us won't necessarily work for Stray's Cross.
This is where Naughty Dog could learn from BioWare's Anthem gameplay. The sci-fi genre is an excellent opportunity for Naughty Dog to explore its options, the typical Naughty Dog experience could work seamlessly with the implementation of the traversal abilities present in Anthem. Naughty Dog's The Last of Us 2 has some stunning environments, including skyscrapers that added great verticality to the mix. The ability to fly around these environments, exploring at the player's own leisure could massively enhance the experience, giving the player a feeling of freedom and a sense of wonderment present in the likes of Skyrim, as well as a number of open-world titles that have cropped up following TES 5's success.
Great Sci-Fi Games Similar To Anthem
Marvel's Avengers launched to similarly lukewarm reviews, however, it looks to be a game that Crystal Dynamic isn't going to be giving up on any time soon. For fans of Anthem, this could be good news as one Avengers character in Iron Man shares a very familiar flight mechanic. Iron Man's suit provides exactly the type of flying experience that Anthem handles so well. The game is slightly flawed as an Anthem replacement as the player can't play as Iron Man throughout, however, for the time the player can choose to suit up as Iron Man, it proves to be a great alternative.
Warframe is perhaps the most obvious direct comparison to Anthem, it often comes up in discussions about the title's failings, and for good reason as Warframe's success is a truly impressive feat. Like Anthem, Warframe is a third-person MMO action-roleplaying game that, after its release in 2013, went from strength to strength, ultimately ending up where it stands today as one of the foremost free-to-play titles on the market. Warframe is yet another game to implement flight mechanics, with the Warframe's Archwing Launcher allowing the player to take to the air, with gameplay very similar to that which can be found in Anthem.Â
Flight mechanics in video games are great, and the good news is there are plenty out there to be experienced. With the jetpacks in Anthem proving to be a shining light amid the contrasting darkness of the game's release, gamers could be set to see these implemented in a number of future titles. Certainly, with the trend of ever-expanding game worlds, there are a number of open-world titles out there that would greatly benefit from the protagonist having the ability to fly, and with the cancellation of Anthem, there is a void left to be filled.
Anthem is out for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
