The new action RPG Anthem is playable in a headstart. Our author Schuhmann says: This is much better than I thought. It feels like I am playing a modern MMORPG where I only run instances.
This is my thesis: Unlike many testers who see Anthem as a “loot shooter” and compare it to games like Destiny, The Division, and Warframe, I see Anthem as a kind of “MMORPG light”. As an MMORPG where you constantly hit the “Looking for Group” button.
For me, Anthem is as if BioWare thought in 2012 about how MMORPGs could look in 2020 and then landed on Anthem.
They left out much that we associate with MMORPGs today, especially the “Massively” is gone, and there are no side activities either. But the central co-op experience, completing a mission with 4 players, is in the foreground.
This is what I’ve done in Anthem so far: According to Origin, I have spent 11 hours in Anthem. During that time, I reached level 18, completed numerous missions and side missions, and defeated the first stronghold.
However, I am stuck in the main story at the grind quest, which I cannot reconcile with my thesis at the moment. I still have to find 14 chests – and I haven’t felt like grinding that much so far. Everything else up to this point, I have already explored: In addition to the main quest, there are 3 quest lines for the factions.
I am about two-thirds through and have reached the end of the midgame. I can’t say anything about the endgame and the loot systems yet. I just take the items with the highest level – as I would in an MMORPG where I am currently leveling a character.
Unlike professional testers and streamers who have to work on Anthem, I have played for about 2 hours every day after work: So I have a much more relaxed gaming experience.
This is how I played Anthem: I was out solo with the Storm, a kind of “mage Javelin.” About 4 days later, I also read a guide to the Storm and found out that I should have been hovering the whole time, as I get a bonus shield and generally look much cooler. Oops.
The interesting thing is that “playing solo” in Anthem is basically like playing an MMORPG and just running instances with a “Looking for Group” tool. Before each mission, you are assigned 3 team members who accompany you.
While I quest solo in “normal” MMORPGs to work my way up, in Anthem I run 4-player missions, which are basically “instances,” but set up differently. You have a bit more freedom.
This is how I adjusted the difficulty: I played the first day of Anthem on “Normal” – in this setting, the missions are ridiculously easy for four players, and you zip through without really noticing what you are supposed to do.
So later I switched the missions to “Hard,” then the enemies do about 50% more damage and take 50% more damage – the game is significantly better then.
In Free Play, where you tend to go solo, and in the stronghold, I switch back to “Normal” – I’m not that tough yet.
This is what makes Anthem so good: In my mind, I don’t play Anthem as a “loot shooter” but as MMORPG light, where I am constantly pressing the “Sign Up for Instance” button.
Compared to the MMORPGs I know, Anthem has several advantages:
- the gameplay is really cool – the pure combat loop with skills, shooting, jumping, and flying has much more action than in a typical MMORPG
- the matchmaking is instant – there are hardly any wait times in the game when it starts. I am spared from the long loading screens thanks to SSD. But once a mission starts, it’s basically 15 minutes of action.
- it’s fun to fly to the next point – normally in MMORPGs, the time between two battles is boring; you just walk there. In Anthem, I fly like Iron Man to the next point
- less linear battles – in MMORPGs, instances are linear. You know exactly what the next enemy pack is and crush it. In Anthem, battles are fragmented; people do their thing. However, this may change in the endgame.
- the presentation is strong – the characters are voiced in German, the graphics are really good. Characters like Brin (she simply hates Skar) or Owen (a bit broken, but in a good mood) I find really well done.
This is how my approach worked in practice: The first 11 hours I played with the mindset, “Anthem is an MMORPG where I am always looking for groups” and had really good experiences.
I am curious how it is in the endgame. But the first week and the first 11 hours have provided excellent entertainment so far.
I haven’t tried the other Javelins yet – but from the demo, I know that they play completely differently than my Storm.
The €15 I paid for access are already easily covered in entertainment for me. How the game is after 30 hours remains to be seen. I am looking forward to it and will go look for treasure chests this evening.
