D’Khari Boggess

Staff Reporter

Anthem, a newly released game in late February of, 2019 is an online multiplayer game which was released to the next generation consoles the Xbox One, Playstation 4, and PC & MAC.

This game was developed under the studio called Bioware and published by EA or Electronic Arts.

Anthem is set in a parallel universe oddly similar to the critically acclaimed Mass Effect Series with the latest entry being Mass Effect: Andromeda.

This latest entry to the series was not many people’s favorites and got EA titled America’s worst game publishing studio for the second year in a row back in 2018.

Anthem was actually in development for more than 3 years until it’s review at E3, a gamer convention in 2017.

The trailer did not show off much, just the flight mechanics and cheesy voice lines from actors.

After it’s short reveal, nothing much was said about Anthem until late 2018 when it was rumored to be near complete.

The official release date was announced toward early January, this game was actually a chance for EA to redeem themselves and the hype train for its release was full steam ahead.

EA being heavily involved with Microsoft the same people who make Xbox products and systems, gave those who pre ordered Anthem a full 10 hour early access to the full game a few days before it’s official release date to all other platforms.

This gave all fans on Xbox a taste of Anthem. It was not at all what many people expected the game was riddled with bugs and glitches that made the game for some almost unplayable.

EA being the responsible company they are, was quick to reply on twitter stating, “Anthem is still in development and is not complete so please excuse the bugs and glitches you may come across.”

Anthem took massive inspiration from games like Mass Effect with the ever so similar combat system was underwhelming to many and some fans completely lost faith in the game and refunded their game the same day it was released.

Many fans were flat out disappointed and said Anthem was nothing like it’s award winning predecessors, bringing shame to Bioware as well.

I had already had my pre order in place and personally I was hyped for this game hearing about it way back in 2017.

Upon playing I was amazed by it’s graphics and how smooth the combat was and how the game played overall it was a nice refreshment from games I had previously been playing.

I played for a full day and a half and the progression system was fantastic and you unlock more power suits at certain ranks.

There is only a handful of missions at the moment and only one stronghold available to play nonetheless.

I still love the game and I felt as if I was never actually alone being that you always match make with players unless you go solo or single player in free mode. In my opinion the worst things about the game would have to be how hard it can get to actually level up and the lack of Experience Points you receive at the end of a 30 minute or more mission. I also encountered a game breaking glitch that caused my character to glitch through the earth and I had to restart my whole game and there are way too many long and unnecessary loading screens for everything.

After having and playing Anthem for a week and a half i would rate this game in its current state a 7-½ out of 10. I still recommend it to those new to games like this or if you are a Mass Effect fan.