Anthem game Review - Two Halves
Difficult not to associate Bioware with its prestigious past. KOTOR, Mass Effect, Dragon Age: Origins or Baldur's Gate are all solo RPGs that have marked their generation. This year, the studio is launching into the very competitive pool of multiplayer shooters in cooperation and trying in its own way to marry the "BioWare label" with an all-online formula, the principle of which is reminiscent of a certain Destiny. Successful bet ?
Update on the technique of the various console versions of Anthem
The console versions of Anthem now available, we looked at the performance of the different machines during a series of missions in free and scripted mode. Here are our feedback on the state of the game on PS4, PS4 Pro, Xbox One and Xbox One X.
In general, the Day One patch does a lot of good for the gaming experience and fixes most of the big framerate issues encountered during the demo. Note that none of the console versions offer a display at 60 frames per second, BioWare having preferred to favor the visual rendering of its game by counting on a minimum of 30 fps on all platforms. A bug related to the patch does not currently enable the HDR option on PS4 and Xbox One.
PS4: The title here rotates at 30 frames per second without much slowdown during the sequences in free exploration. However, we note some drops in framerate during our visits to the most detailed areas of Fort Tarsis or during certain clashes particularly loaded with enemies and indeed. Everything is very pleasing to the eye despite a lag in the full resolution display of certain textures. The loading times, numerous and real bane of the players, have been greatly reduced since the arrival of the day one patch, they are quick when accessing the forge or the main HUB and always a little long when accessing missions in the different areas of the Bastion world.
PS4 Pro: The PS4 Pro version of Anthem does not display native 4k, the console uses classic upscale and checkboard rendering techniques to simulate this resolution. The result on the screen, in 1080p or in non-native 4K remains however very convincing with an image better detailed than that displayed on the classic model of PS4. The game is more beautiful and its framerate is more stable than on classic PS4 with very rare drops below 30 fps during the most intense fights. Browsing Fort Tarsis still reveals the same observation of late display of certain textures in their full resolution. This PS4 Pro version also exceeds as soon as it can the bar of 35 fps in order to grant a better comfort to the player. The loading times show the same improvements as on classic PS4, they are still numerous, but largely shortened thanks to the patch day one.
Xbox One: Based also on a display at 30 frames per second, the Xbox One version has chosen to lower its resolution to 900p in order to maintain its promise of framerate. The result pays off with an almost constant display at 30fps which, however, too, like its counterpart on classic PS4, experiences some slight slowdowns during the most overloaded game sequences. The loading times show the same observation as on PS4, many, but now much better optimized than during the demo. The title displays a convincing rendering, perfectly playable and rather well optimized.
Xbox One X: The One X version is the only version to offer a native display in 4K on compatible screens. In this resolution, it displays the most advanced level of detail of all the consoles on the market. In 4K or 1080p, the Xbox One X also relies on minimum 30 fps and gets very little use. In 4K, it has a little less leeway than the PS4 Pro to boost its framerate above 35 fps. The version, like its counterpart PS4 Pro, does not allow you to choose its display mode in the menus and opt for a performance mode reducing the graphic quality in favor of fluidity. Anyway, it remains very pleasant to use and displays a very convincing rendering.
A little captivating story
Anthem immerses you in the heart of Bastion, a region shaped by Demiurges through the manipulation of the Anthem of Creation, a kind of relic allowing those who use it to create the world in their image. While humanity lives almost peacefully in the green lands of the game, the belligerent faction Dominion seeks to seize the relic to establish its domination over the world. Unfortunately the manipulation of the artifact is not an easy thing and started a Maelstrom, cataclysm invoking Dantesque creatures and upsetting the physical and meteorological rules of the environment. To counter this attack, a team of freelancers, of which you are part, takes up arms, but fails to repel the opponent completely. The flight from the threat erodes the hero status of these defenders among the surviving humans, now entrenched in Fort Tarsis, the last true haven of civilization in a world left in ruins. Two years later, a similar threat hangs over the universe and will ask you to resume service, in order to go into battle at the controls of your javelin, boosted and versatile exoskeleton.If, after reading these few lines, you feel that the scenario is nothing agreed, do not be surprised, it is. By immediately propelling you into a period of crisis, which does not allow the player to become aware of the issues hanging over his shoulders, Anthem precipitates his narration and forces the player to take refuge in the codex to understand the context in which he is square. If we really feel that a real work has been done by the teams in charge of writing to give thickness to the (magnificent) universe of the game, difficult to feel really concerned by the torments of the local population. Most of the protagonists, if they benefit from excellent dubbing (VF as VO), and sometimes glaring facial expressions of truth, are not however particularly endearing or interesting to listen to. Admittedly, the relationship between your freelancer and a handful of main characters manages to work after a few hours of play, but overall, most of the interactions with the population of Fort Tarsis, in which you will spend a lot of time, is anecdotal and the main quest sewn with white thread.
Fort Tarsis, however, is full of lines of dialogue. Most of the characters who live there have things to tell and teach you more about the situation they find themselves in. But, with a few exceptions, the personality of the speakers is brushed with a generous dose of clichés or torments nothing artificial that seem to be there only to give substance to a universe that ultimately sounds hollow. There will be here or there a few choices of dialogue which will simply give rise to different replicas of your character, but do not expect in any case a poignant and involving narration. Worse, it will not be uncommon to be put off in advance at the idea of going to converse with the occupants of Fort Tarsis, in the simple hope of starting a new quest, which will ensure your progression in the universe of 'Anthem, which creates a rather damaging break in rhythm.
An exhilarating gameplay for redundant progress
Anthem: the imperfect bases of an enticing recipe
Failing to catch the player with his story, Anthem manages to involve him through incisive gameplay. It's very simple, whatever the javelin embodied, playing Anthem is a real pleasure. Fluid, precise and nervous, the gameplay allows you to chain the prowess with a fairly impressive handling economy. Hovering (limited in time), hand-to-hand combat, mid-distance combat, the techniques and approaches follow one another with frenzy for a spectacular rendering on the screen. Each javelin has ultimate abilities, two weapons and two powers, and when each member of the team triggers them simultaneously, the feeling of power of the characters is omnipresent. Borrowing and improving the already pleasant combat system of Mass Effect Andromeda, Anthem has boosted the damage inflicted by the complementarity of the spells. Thus, an opponent previously frozen may suffer additional damage if a spell of electricity strikes him. The result is explosive gameplay translated to the image by a generous amount of visual effects which, if they create some confusion, however, provide a lot of satisfaction. However, and this is quite regrettable, it is possible to equip yourself with spells capable of initiating and triggering combos, making teamplay nothing secondary. Note also that social interactions are rather limited, and the presence of a connected launch bay, which brings together the same proposals as Fort Tarsis but this time in the presence of other players, has only limited interest.
If it is indeed possible to play Anthem alone, by opting for a private party, it is however recommended to be tempted by the public parties, which will group you in squads that can accommodate 4 players. Each expedition will earn you a certain amount of experience until you reach the maximum level set at 30, but the distribution of rewards depends on your prowess in combat, and not on the number of enemies killed on the ground. In normal difficulty as well as in difficult, Anthem is generally a health course which requires almost no collaboration, each one being able to play in his corner without really fearing the failure. This is all the more regrettable, because a little forced cooperation would have made it possible to compensate for the great repetitiveness of the missions of the game. Most of your expeditions will boil down to going to a point A, interacting with an object, repelling a wave enemies and repeat the operation two or three times. During the big twenty hours that the game will ask you to see the end credits, you will have the feeling of chaining in loop the same objectives which we have the feeling that they are all interchangeable. The scheme is systematically the same: force yourself to speak at length to different PnJ in Fort Tarsis, retrieve an expedition, go to your javelin, be propelled into the open world with three players and start again. The enemies on their side, lack diversity and seem to be constantly waiting for your arrival, patiently grouped to shoot you once on the spot or appearing in waves through faults.
The great redundancy of the game is also associated with a rather impressive multiplication of loading times and mechanics which it is difficult to understand the presence. Indeed, if however, you are a little behind your group, a message will appear telling you that you have 30 seconds to join your partners. After this time, and even when you have your group in visual, a forced loading intervenes to bring you closer to your companions. This principle is quite frustrating and ends up making the player want to rush towards the objectives so as not to be left behind and inflict this new loading time.
TOO LITTLE AND REPETITIVE CONTENT
Once a mission is complete, the entire loot appears in a dedicated screen which is an opportunity to see the great uniformity of the weapons. The most keen on customization will pay the price, many models are identical except for a significantly different color. In addition to the lack of purely cosmetic appeal, it is also for the selection of equipment that this homogeneity is problematic, preventing us from seeing at a glance which weapon could join our arsenal. If we feel the efforts made by Bioware to allow to customize the equipment of our javelin, by means of weapons, support items or multiple passive bonuses, the sensation of playing a fairly identical character of the beginning to end of the game is omnipresent, if only visually. A skill tree per javelin, for example, would not have been too much.Uniform progress, fairly unattractive loot ... so many pitfalls that do not erode with the end game. Once at the maximum level, three difficulty modes are unlocked as well as 2 fortresses, one of which is actually the end mission of the main quest. You will therefore have the possibility, to improve your equipment, of carrying out repeatable expeditions, of making world events partly free in the open world, or of rubbing yourselves at the three levels of the difficulty "great master". We would have hoped that this difficulty would impose a real team game and bring new enemies or strategy, but this is unfortunately not the case. If the difficulty is real, it exists only because of the heavy damage inflicted by the least enemy and its astronomical amount of points of life. Note that this masks the nonexistent artificial intelligence of opponents, who are more to be seen as poles with powerful weapons.
It is not pleasant for anyone to have to empty three or four magazines to put a trash on the ground and yet this is what Anthem offers to make the challenge more difficult. Certainly, to triumph over adversaries, it will be necessary to concentrate the group's shots on the same target, centralize the attacks on the few weak points of the monsters and promote combos. But the cooperation will stop there and finally, the distribution of the loot being quite obscure, we obtained more equipment in normal mode than in maximum difficulty, while taking more pleasure in playing. However, the legendary items will only fall at the maximum difficulty which boosts up to 3100% of the life and the damage of the opponents. The feeling of power of the javelin is therefore no longer present in the high difficulty modes, and the impression of not doing damage to the opponents is frustrating. It's a shame that Anthem has opted for this high-level approach and we hope that the future will rectify this.
The end-of-game content is therefore quite meager for the moment and it is not the few challenges, which allow to unlock bosses of weapons or equipment, which enhance the flavor of the game. Even the open-world , however splendid, has more of the appearance of an empty shell that we do not particularly want to explore. So let's hope that the future will allow Bioware to expand its content and give a little more diversity to its game, which has real fun potential.
The notes
+ Positive points
Superb open world
Nervous, immediate and intuitive gameplay
Javelins and their specificities
The combos and the feeling of power that comes from them
Some endearing characters
Quality VF and VO dubbing
Solid foundations for a promising development
-Negative points
Far too repetitive overall
Universe under exploited by an agreed scenario
Enemy AI to review
Little varied bestiary and too few unique bosses
Unattractive and too uniform loot
Fort Tarsis, a painful hub to travel
Too many and too long loading times
Automatic teleporting on mission if you don't follow your squad
A difficulty focused solely on the hit points and damage of monsters
Too thin in end game content at the moment
Quite secondary teamplay
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