After Early Access, Anthem is now officially released. We summarize how this action RPG performs on Metacritic.
After some players on PC and Xbox One were able to start in Early Access while PS4 players had to wait, the official release of Anthem has finally arrived. However, the reviews on Metacritic are rather mixed:
- This is what the press says: The specialist press reacts cautiously to Anthem and awards an average Metascore of 61 based on 15 reviews (as of February 22, 9 AM). 14 of those reviews are “mixed”, one is even negative.
- This is what the players say: So far, there are no reviews from players yet. However, these are expected to arrive after today’s release on February 22.
An Overview of Metacritic Ratings
The following press ratings for Anthem are currently available on Metacritic (as of February 22 at 9 AM):
- The Digital Fix: 70
- Destructoid: 70
- CGMagazine: 70
- Gamersky: 70
- JeuxActu: 70
- GameStar: 67
- IGN: 65
- Jeuxvideo.com: 65
- Metro GameCentral: 60
- Windows Central: 60
- GameSpot: 60
- PC Gamer: 55
- PC Invasion: 55
- Fandom: 50
- Guardian: 40
Notable Opinions on the Game
Here are some sample ratings from the press regarding Anthem.
GameStar – “BioWare’s shooter experiment isn’t working yet”
The GameStar awards 67 points and compares Anthem to games like Destiny, Division, or Warframe. BioWare’s shooter currently cannot compete with these games.
The limited scope, the unremarkable story, and bugs that disrupt gameplay are criticized.
Beautiful loot shooter, but the unremarkable story, the (still) limited scope, and the many bugs cost Anthem many points.
GameStar.de, Michael Herold
IGN – “Anthem misses many opportunities to refresh its gameplay”
IGN awards 6.5 points and states that Anthem functions more as a co-op action RPG, than a story-driven game. However, it would only work after struggling through the repetitive main tasks.
I hope that BioWare will eventually capitalize on its strengths and turn Anthem into something worth investing time in. But all signs indicate that there is still much to do to reach that point.
IGN, James Duggan
PC Gamer – “Anthem is deeply flawed and often frustrating, but it’s truly charming”
PC Gamer awards 55 points and states that Anthem is impressive at first glance, but then reveals a flawed, often soulless world. BioWare’s unique storytelling is also hardly compatible with the co-op RPG shooter.
BioWare has already detailed what will be coming in the coming months. As a live-service game, one can expect that Anthem will change just like Destiny 2, The Division, and Warframe. BioWare certainly seems very interested in responding quickly to the promising feedback. But I won’t be holding my breath waiting for it.
PC Gamer, Steven Messner
Destructoid – “There can be some hard-to-ignore flaws, but the experience is fun”
Destructoid awards 7 out of 10 points and states that the NPCs in Anthem are full of life and the gameplay of the Javelins is striking and effective. The four different suits at launch allow for experimentation with team composition, while the highlight is that the Javelins each play differently.
Criticisms include long loading times, which BioWare addressed with the day-one patch, as well as bugs such as crashes or delays in gameplay.
BioWare needs to build quickly on its foundation to spark people’s interest. But those looking for a new neighborhood should perhaps give Anthem a try – either now or after fixes and updates.
Destructoid, Chris Carter
Kotaku – “After six hours, Anthem has a lot to love”
Kotaku has no rating for Anthem, but rather provides an outlook. The story is compared less to the political conflicts of Mass Effect and more to a good-versus-evil drama of Destiny.
The game is a lot of fun, the NPCs are well-animated and voiced, and flying feels good, with effects and sound also matching well.
The challenge for Anthem would be whether it remains as exciting after 100 hours as it is after six.
As I unlock more abilities and gear, I hope that the encounters in the game will change as well, aside from just having higher difficulty levels to revisit all old missions. I haven’t found a mission yet that I would like to play again. Right now, there are still many other things that bring me back to Anthem.
Kotaku, Ethan Gach
Polygon – “Anthem stumbles over itself in its attempt to merge two genres into one”
Polygon also does not provide a rating for Anthem. According to the reviewer’s opinion, the game is on the one hand a fast multiplayer action game, and on the other hand a slow, dialogue-heavy, quasi-interactive character drama. Occasionally, these two sides merge into something new, but too often they are also in conflict.
One would feel like in a Marvel game, like an unstoppable force, like Iron Man. However, the need for a BioWare-like story, presented in a controlled environment, prevents the player from experiencing the action of Anthem for an extended period.
For Anthem to survive, BioWare must clarify its identity and prioritize the right elements. I would love the story, the interface, and the experience of playing Anthem to meet this gameplay loop, rather than fight against it. I would love unique quests and activities that not only keep me occupied but also offer something to strive for. When I play Anthem, I can feel where this game is headed. I just worry about how long it will take to get there.
Porygon, Russ Frushtick
This is what the community is saying so far
Anthem has been in Early Access since February 15, and many players have already formed an initial impression.
This is what the MeinMMO community says: Many MeinMMO readers enjoy Anthem. They particularly praise the game world and the gameplay. Critical voices, on the other hand, are disappointed by the story and find it flat. The technical problems are also mentioned.
First player reviews for Anthem – This is what players like, these are the problems: Shortly after the Early Access release, we captured initial player opinions on MeinMMO. Generally, fans agree that the gameplay with the Javelins is fun and the game world is breathtaking. It also stands out that BioWare improved many aspects compared to the demo. This includes the controls.
The various technical issues, such as an annoying sound bug or long loading times, are criticized. The community is divided over the story. Some find it well-presented, while others do not think it reaches BioWare’s standard.
The day-one patch should fix several issues – This is what players say about the patch: The technical problems of Anthem are noticeable. The first major patch that came with the release of Anthem was supposed to fix some of these problems.
For many players, the patch indeed leads to improved loading times, which have been heavily criticized. However, others report that the patch introduced even more technical issues, causing the game to crash more often since then. However, there were also fixes for issues that annoyed players.
Players are already in the endgame – what do they say? Regarding the endgame, the community appears divided. While some complain there is too little to do or that the story is too short, others believe the opposite. Discussions are ongoing about rerolls, campaign length, and loot.
Participate in MeinMMO’s Anthem test: What do you think of the action RPG? You also have the opportunity to share your opinion about Anthem in our survey. The community survey runs for one week and will be evaluated at the end. We will include quotes from user comments in the article for the evaluation.
