BioWare made its appearance at E3 2017 by revealing a new game known as Anthem at the Xbox conference. While we got a bit of gameplay there, we’ll be getting some more Anthem gameplay at Gamescom 2017, later this year in August. There, we’ll likely learn a lot more about the game.
Anthem is a science-fantasy sort of game, where humanity hides behind the walls of a fortified city, living in fear of the hostile environment outside. The few brave people that wish to go out and explore the world do so inside high-tech armored suits known as Javelins, of which there are multiple different types for various situations.
While we don’t know much about the game for now, we’ll hopefully be getting some more information when we see more Anthem gameplay at Gamescom. Hopefully we’ll not only be able to get some information about the gameplay, including abilities, enemies, and more about the Javelin suits, but also more about the world. Worldbuilding is one of BioWare’s strong suits, so Anthem’s world will probably be just as interesting as Thedas in Dragon Age or the Milky Way galaxy in Mass Effect.
There’s no telling what sorts of wonders the world of Anthem has in store for us, and even with what we saw in the E3 demo, with the savage SCAR robot enemies, the world’s animals, and the powerful and destructive Shaper Storms, the setting looks intriguing.
However, with the “science fantasy” label that BioWare has given Anthem, a sort of genre that Bungie’s own shared-world RPG shooter Destiny already pioneered, BioWare will have to work hard to make Anthem distinct from Destiny.
We’ll just have to wait until Gamescom to see more Anthem gameplay, and more information from BioWare to see exactly how it differs from Destiny (especially in ways like the story, which is another strong suit of BioWare’s.)
