Unfinished: Anthem (01/24/2019)

Brad lives!

But does Brad die?

Nice to see Brad back !

Yeeeaaah Brad!

So many uploads today!

That might be a new record for Fastest Time To Brad, lol.

Glad to see you're back, Mr Shoemaker.

This Unfinished does not give me a lot of hope for the game. I have no loot lust whatsoever and the combat looks just OK, and the story and characters seem even less than "just OK".

Seeing that one dude basically talk like Mordin Solus made me go "... really?"

Truly, the best anthem to come out of the region since "O' Canada."

It really just looks like third person Destiny.

Andromeda 2.0 Lets Go !

Started watching this video, saw Jeff's sweatshirt.. and was like oh yeah... opened another tab went to Superdry website and started ordering stuff.. ha ha ha Thanks Jeff!

Then came back and started the video over... so funny how our brains work.

It's ticking all the wrong boxes for me when it comes to an MMO type game. I'll try it out, but don't think I'll last longer than a week.

How so?

The action looks fun and I'm interested in seeing how you can develop builds with the different classes, abilities, and loot, but I dunno about anything else in the game. Especially the stuff that I would normally come to a Bioware game for.

Movement looks fun, mission structure looks like it kills the entire game for me.

They might change it up but I have my doubts.

Combat looks fun but the rest looks severely disappointing to me so far. Struggling to find a reason why I'd buy this rather than just play Warframe... Thanks for getting the footage Brad, nice to see a bit more of the narrative stuff.

I'm also gonna need a lot more info on the MTX and bugs a month or so after launch before I consider buying it, god damn I hate modern game releases...

Looks way more interesting than destiny ever has imo, but it also looks very different from destiny which is the comparison I keep hearing. Idk, gameplay loop is sounding like its pretty open and fun so far. Weapons sound great too

I wonder where that sentinel is from

As a basic kind of person who has loved Bioware games in the past (I was even kind of okay with Mass Effect: Andromeda), I felt a real hollow sensation in my chest watching this. It doesn't seem like its a bad loot shooter necessarily, but the multiplayer aspect isn't really all that exciting to me and the seeming lack of personality bums me right out. The idea of playing a generic action protagonist who is fairly interchangeable with other players' characters aside from what suit they're wearing is chiefly what diminishes my interest.

There's already a Destiny, and there's already been a Diablo - and Borderlands, for its many foibles, at least gave its characters some flavor. If I was into that stuff I've got options - but what precisely does this bring to the table? Flying armor suits that ape the look and feel of Iron Man, some guns, and what feels like a pretty lifeless world.

I'm sure if my friends are into it I'll give it a stab, but I dunno if it'll draw me in.

Wow, this game looks just like what I've seen in previews: BOR-ING.

RIP Bioware storytelling.

Have they changed the player models alot, I thought it used to be kinda like big hulking machine types you were in control of, or did we just not see that class yet in the video ?

This looks like it's going to be a solid AAA-ass GAAS game. It'll serve as a fun, relaxing social space for people who have yet to get into Destiny or got turned off by it.

It has good visuals, it sounds like it plays well, and it seems to be following a tried and tested formula for a core gameplay loop.

It looks very safe, is what I'm saying. Won't light the world on fire unless it comes out broken.

This looks like exactly what I thought it would be. Totally serviceable gameplay but totally mediocre overall. Hard pass. I'll maybe pick up a GOTY edition in a few years with all of whatever the DLC is they plan.

Looks fun, definitely going to be a game the GB crew nitpicks to death tho, when they let that little stuff go on other games they are less biased on.

Um why is the video resolution only at 360p? Was that a requirement from EA to make Anthem as blurry as possible to hide possible spoilers?

Warframe

Looks... Pretty much like Destiny, but with less good combat, maybe? As someone who hasn't bought the latest Destiny 2 DLC yet, I'm wondering if I'd be better served just going back to that.

YUK, it is just warmed over Destiny. Destiny sucks, this looks like Destiny, so I think this will be an easy choice to skip.

Sure is Destiny in here

This appears to be a lot more Borderlands than Destiny or Warframe with respect to the combat principles, if Borderlands included flying. Aesthetically I'd say it's split 60/30 Warframe/Destiny.

As for the town not having NPCs doing anything, that seems very much on purpose because these people are all doing that MMO thing of being menus dressed up as people. It does look fake that they just stand there, but also it'd be annoying if the Weapon Guy kept strolling around the town and you had to find him. Also, I'm sure in the final game other players (maybe in your session) will be visible in that town talking to the NPCs.

I'm interested, but very cautious as to the overall progression and those things only knowable in the fullness of time. But on first blush, I'm good with what it has -- a serviceable story and some pretty loot-shooter gameplay.

I feel like this game would be so much better off if it wasn't gun-focused. More InFamous-style magic abilities and OTT elemental attacks might've given it more of an identity. As it is, it looks mechanically sound, but entirely uninspiring.

Also the world seems utterly lifeless, just like Jeff mentions.

Boy, I hope this is good. Not really for myself, but just for Bioware. Bioware needs a break.

They also need to make some actually good video games, but.. I think it's undeniable that there's a shit-ton of talent there that would likely go wasted if the studio didn't survive.

Far as I see it, they did good when they actually made role-playing games... So maybe.. Go back to making roleplaying games? Seems to work for Obsidian, the darker half of the Black Isle split.

It kinda' amazes me actually, in hindsight, that throughout these turbulent years, they didn't consider going back to what made they great in the first place, maybe even with a smaller project just to test the waters.. Instead they're sinking absurd amounts of money into another "inventive" Destiny or WoW clone. Them might make for great games ultimately, but it's not what brought 'em to the dance..

God, I just hope the new Dragon Age doesn't feel clunky with a mouse and keyboard like Inquisition (still a great game) and 2 (very much not a great game) did.

A few minutes into the video and.. this looks exactly like Destiny to me. You could tell me I was watching Destiny footage and I'd believe you.

And I don't have any real interest in Destiny. Generic-y sci-fi shooters. Who knows, maybe it'll be amazing. But a lot of people seem to like Destiny and, playing through the campaign of 2, I thought it was completely unremarkable if not a bit bad.

I can't tell what this game is trying to do.

i am just so choked Bioware is making this, i love their rpgs and i'm not interested in Destiny, or Anthem, or any other shooter like this.

I think I'm tired of bullet sponges with numbers flying off of them. Its super boring now.

Well, this certainly looks like I'll get a solid month out an Origin Access Premier sub...and that's it.

this makes it sound like it's been a while since they put out something good. 8 of *Bioware's last 9 games are generally considered to be very good (3 good mass effects, 3 dragon age games, kotor, jade empire, and mass effect andromeda).

i think your comment is either misleading or you're unaware of what game they've made.

*Bioware proper, in Edmonton

I dunno seems kinda rote.

Shooting from the hip here, but it looks like they somehow made more rote, by the numbers amalgamation of Destiny 2, Warframe, and Borderlands.

Seems like an MMO with decent combat. Not for me, moving right along.

This looks very Destiny, but one thing stood out during the combat portions of the video- the muzzle flash on Brad's gun especially while aiming down sights seems really excessive. It's video captured on an incredibly beefy rig at maximum settings I'm sure, but that part alone would make the game uncomfortable to play for me. Hopefully that can be turned down or off on PC.

Yeah, nothing grabbing me with this game at all.

@nick: Were they, though? Cause I'm thinking back on the looong lineage of Bioware games and I see a clear split in quality after Mass Effect 2, which was 9 years ago.

How many hits have they had since? Now look back on the decade predecessing ME2; they made some of the biggest games of all time, one massive hit after another. Each a behemoth in terms of story-telling, world-building and above all, character-building. And yeah, that sounds like a darn big exaggeration, but there was just so much to the Old Republic, Dragon Age as well as Jade Empire in terms of lore and detail.. And let's not even begin to get into Baldurs Gate 2, which I think miiiight be the best game of all time? To me it's definitely up there.

(predecess also not a verb the GB data base recognizes. Why do I gotta find one of these in every paragraph I write? It's because I'm dandy ol' chap, is why.)

Yikes, I predict this game will go on sale fairly soon.

Can't beat Warframe or Destiny, then what are you?

Oh so the main character is just another one of those generic puckish rogues who wisecracks all the time? The most overused protagonist archetype in gaming? :\

The contrast between the general vibe of comments of people watching all the myriad of released Anthem footage on the general internet (where there is much more information) and this footage/commentary on GB, is kind of staggering.

PS: It was a great thought by Brad to show off more of the NPC interaction side of things of Anthem, something that has been mostly absent from other pre release footage. Not that that is my primary concern with the game, as clearly its a persistent looter shooter and not an RPG, but it was still interesting to see.

@do_the_manta_ray: yeah that's a fair point, if you're speaking in terms of storytelling; i have extreme doubts that the story in Anthem will live up to their past work. those older games where definitely story before gameplay, Anthem seems like gameplay before story.