Let me preface this with explaining why I may be a bit biased/not willing to give it a proper shake:
Maybe I didn't read the ninety million pop-ups to their fullest and maybe I got really fucking confused on how to launch the manifold mission (evidently double clicking the mission doesn't do it) and accidentally entered into matchmaking. Optimally I would have done this solo so I could learn to play the game, but I didn't.
And said matchmaking put me in a game with "AHUGECOCK". Now, I am by no means a prude. But when you are constantly trying to find mission markers to fly to and just see "AHUGECOCK" in giant font on your screen constantly, it kind of puts you in a bad mood. And it is pretty hilarious that the social screen was so broken that it took me probably five minutes to figure out how to report that user for an offensive name (evidently you hit escape, find the social tab, wait for the expedition page to finally load, click them, hold G, and then find the dropdown for report next to "add as friend"...)
Whinging aside: I really didn't like it. The social area was way too frigging slow but I've been told that is going to be fixed. The interface to get into a mission was equally cryptic and felt like "let's be different for the sake of being different", but I concede that might be the new normal and I play old ass games.
I would have preferred the option to pick which javelin I wanted to play as, but it was probably smart to give me the boring ass one to learn the controls. I DO find it hilarious that I got about forty popups to help me find Solas but nothing to explain the controls. But I was also swapping from m+k to gamepad pretty regularly as I tried to figure out what felt right. I THINK I figured out how to fly but I might have just been sprinting everywhere because I think I overheated and lawn darted a few times. Or I got shot. Not entirely sure.
And the moment the gunplay started the game REALLY felt bad. Maybe it has to do with being given a generic plinky AR when I tend to use DMRs in games like this, but I could never really tell if I was doing meaningful damage to anything. Part of that had to do with matchmaking with three people who actually liked the demo and had maxed out their frames, so my screen was fairly regularly exploding with particle effects that I had no hand in. Which is a great way to let you know what kind of game this is.
Similarly: Load times are shit. I was on an SSD but I think it had the problem of needing to wait for the entire fireteam to load? So having a 30-40 second load to go activate a terminal before another 30-40 second load to go back to the open world was "fun". I know it is lame to compare everything to Destiny, but I would think unloading the other players for instances would be a pretty standard tech.
And between hating my gun, not really getting the frame's powers, and having "AHUGECOCK" plastered across my screen, I ended up alt-f4'ing the fuck out once I found out there were at least two covenant bases to destroy (?).
Maybe Anthem will be fine when the full launch happens, but this demo made me transition from "That looks kind of cool and I'll probably buy it because I like the genre" to "Fuck this shit and I hope Bioware lasts long enough to make a game I care about again"
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And, just because we are gamers, let's compare everything.
Destiny is still, and probably "always" will be, the king of the genre when it comes to guns that feel fucking GOOD. Its Bungie, they know how to make a shooter, even if they don't understand loot or progression
Warframe is my personal jam because I find it to have the best movement and most interesting loot system (Borderlands only works in SP). And the powers are great in a way that I don't mind launching with an AoE rave that kills everything because I am still able to murder a lot of shit and the missions themselves tend to be fast enough
Anthem has MUCH worse shooting than Destiny. I was hoping the movement would beat Warframe (it is a frigging Iron Man suit) but it really doesn't. Hell, I think Anthem even has worse gunplay than Warframe, but I would need to get a proper DMR to really compare them.
In a lot of ways, Anthem feels like Plains of Eidolon (Warframe). I mostly just sprint from place to place (maybe Anthem will add archwings and hoverboards eventually) and then it is any other shooter. Except that Anthem somehow has even worse gunplay and camp design.
All in all: I guess I just saved 60 bucks. I guess I'll go spend that on more Warframe RMTs?
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And just to be more constructive (and save this if EA/Bioware send out a survey email), most of this is fixable
Gunplay? Whatever, that is as subjective as it gets. I hate it, I am sure some people love it.
Social and matchmaking: I understand that policing names is hell on earth (I am in the Warframe community...). But just don't put the randos I matchmake with front and center. Give me an icon with no username. And put on a VERY simple filter that can track stuff like "AHUGECOCK". I don't care if they aren't allowed to play or not. Just don't put them in the general hopper.
But also, don't force me to matchmake for a story mission. Maybe I would have liked the story. I don't know because by the time I got my bearings someone had already triggered the next bit of dialogue.
Load screens: Maybe it is the tech. I don't even mind having a loading screen before I enter an instanced area (even if "nobody" else does it...). But don't make me enter an instanced area for two lines of dialogue and no actual gameplay.
Most of this is VERY fixable. And the fact that this was chosen for the demo for a game launching in order weeks is really concerning. It either means Bioware have no idea what makes these kinds of games fun OR that this is the only mission that was "ready" a few weeks ago.
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And one last bit: HA HA. I got an email notification with "AHUGECOCK" right in the subject line. That is more on EA/Origin but I find that one to be hilarious. Can't wait until we start getting the REALLY fun usernames.
And the fact that I got more amusement out of seeing that in my inbox than anything to do with the demo is pretty fucked up.
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