‘Anthem’ treads a similar path to ‘Destiny,’ ‘Division’

Shared world games almost never come out perfectly. They launch as works in progress with the aim of refining the project as developers add more content. That means the experience that players discover at launch won’t be the same one a year later. The games evolve and become better as the community and developers tackle the shortcomings together. The success of “Destiny” and “Tom Clancy’s The Division” is a testament to that. It’s a road that BioWare’s “Anthem” is headed down. With gameplay built around powerful javelin armor, the shooter has a solid foundation to build on. Imagine donning an Iron Man suit and taking it to the “Avatar” planet of Pandora. That scratches the game’s surface. The campaign begins and ends with the Heart of Rage, a powerful force of nature that erupted after the Dominion, a militaristic nation, attacked the city of Freemark. The Dominion wanted to activate a relic called the Cenotaph. The assault destroyed the city and devastated the Freelancers, an independent faction of javelin pilots. As the hero known as the Freelancer, players become the central character in this sci-fi drama. Two years after the incident, the protagonist ekes out a living doing odd jobs defending an outpost called Fort Tarsis. Through the campaign, they befriend the town’s inhabitants and battle against the Dominion leader, the Monitor, who has plans to return to the Heart of Rage and finish his original mission. Being a shared world game, “Anthem” takes the social elements of games such as “World of Warcraft” and fits it into the addictive gameplay of loot-and-shoot projects like “Borderlands.” Players will team up to tackle missions and they can also explore the region of Bastion and run across other random online gamers who need help. It’s a formula that has found success in other titles, but what separates BioWare’s effort is the openness of combat. That’s mostly due to the javelin armor, which lets players fly around like Iron Man. They can zip across the battlefield and find new angles of attack. They can hover in midair and rain lightning and fire on enemy hordes or they can whip around a battlefield mincing up waves of enemies. It’s a gameplay mechanic that’s easy to pick up and feels just right. Players have to harness that ability and apply it to the four classes of javelin armor: Colossus, Storm, Ranger and Interceptor. Each suit has a role in combat with Colossus being the heavy defender and Storm dealing damage and setting the combo table for other players. The Ranger is an all-around character that specializes in ranged combat, while the Interceptor does heavy one-on-one melee damage similar to a rogue. Part of the joy in the genre is the option to customize the character with loot that players earn on each mission. The gear allows some of the roles to bleed into each other, and the fun lies in experimenting with different builds and figuring out which load-out fits a play style. Initially, “Anthem’s” campaign starts with short bite-sized missions as newcomers gain their sea legs and BioWare introduces them to an enormous open world. It’s a place that takes advantage of flight and is built vertically with towering mesas and deep ravines. It’s a world that feels both big and dense with tunnels and doorways to dungeons. The beginning missions won’t challenge players and some tasks, such as the Legionnaires challenges, are tedious. They act as unnecessary tutorials before players fall into a second act filled with longer and more elaborate quests. They’re harder and require more coordinated teamwork between classes as players battle titans and tougher adversaries. By the time the campaign’s third act rolls around, players have a grasp of the deeper combat and hopefully, better gear. With that said, the endgame still needs to be worked out, but like its peers, “Anthem” has a roadmap for future improvements that make grinding for better gear easier. As of now though, the endgame content is thin and has some technical issues. Thankfully, that’s being being addressed and BioWare has already responded to complaints about the loot. These problems would hamstring most games, but BioWare’s world building and characters bolster shortcomings. The Fort Tarsis residents are memorable with their quirks and story arcs, and in true BioWare fashion, players have to make choices as little dramas unfurl between quests. The decisions have an impact on the residents, and players see that over the course of the campaign. One player’s Fort Tarsis will be different from another’s. Sure, “Anthem” has its flaws, but the sharedworld game is on track to become a distinct and welcome addition to the genre. It’s good now, but given enough time, it may find itself on a path to greatness.

ELECTRONIC ARTS The Monitor, who leads the Dominion, is the major foe that players will battle against in “Anthem.”