During E3 2018, new information about the online shooter Anthem was revealed. The focus is supposed to be heavily on PvE, and initially, they want to avoid PvP.
Coop is at the forefront: BioWare’s Lead Producer Mike Gamble and Game Director Jon Warner talked with GamePro about Anthem. Here, they revealed that while Anthem can be played solo, the core of the shared-world shooter lies in the coop experience. The interview also yielded more interesting information.
Dedicated Servers and Drop-In/Drop-Out
Anthem is supposed to be a great experience with friends: The developers place great importance on providing players with an awesome multiplayer experience with friends. One of the problems in multiplayer is figuring out with whom to play, whom to invite, and which invitation to accept. The developers have been addressing this.
Dedicated servers and Drop-In/Drop-Out are supposed to make the experience “seamless”: Anthem’s coop system is designed to make everything as seamless as possible. Dedicated servers are meant to ensure that freelancers can explore the world together with up to four players. To provide players with temporal flexibility, there is also a Drop-In/Drop-Out feature.
No PvP in Anthem at Launch
It’s about cooperation, not competition: Mike Gamble and Jon Warner assured that there would be no player-versus-player in Anthem. While the developers do not completely rule it out, they definitely want to focus on the cooperative experience. This also excludes a battle royale mode for Anthem.
Anthem Will Not Have BioWare-Typical Romance
There will be relationships, but they are platonic: BioWare is known for players being able to form relationships with other characters in the game. This will not be the case for Anthem.
In Anthem, there will also be deep relationships between characters, but these will be purely platonic. The relationships are meant to be impactful due to the fates that these characters bring with them.
The relationship with Garrus in Mass Effect, which was a romance option for female Shepherds, is a good example of this. For many players, he remained Commander Shepard’s best friend in memory. These friendships are also intended to exist in Anthem.
No Loot Boxes in Anthem
There will be microtransactions in Anthem, but loot boxes are not part of it. Lead Producer Mike Gamble and Game Director Jon Warner confirmed: “No loot boxes in Anthem! We are very happy to say that. We want to provide an experience that is satisfying and enjoyable right from the start. We are not selling power, we are not selling progress, so no loot boxes.”
What is Anthem? Anthem is a shared-world shooter often compared to Destiny. You take on the role of a “Freelancer,” who protects humanity with special combat suits called Javelins. You live in a lonely outpost that separates civilization from a hostile environment filled with monsters. The large, vibrant world can be explored either alone or with up to three other players. The third-person shooter also emphasizes cooperation.
Anthem will be released on February 22 for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
