Bioware's Anthem is an action-RPG shooter looking a fair bit like Destiny
It is your Destiny
BioWare's Anthem [official site], the mysterious new game they announced last night but forgot to say anything about, is a Destiny-lookin' action-RPG. It's a "shared-world" shooter with cooperative multiplayer, questing, levelling, looting, and all that. That's the news out of Microsoft's E3 press conference tonight, where BioWare showed the game off in a seven-minute gameplay trailer. Observe:
Electronic Arts note that the trailer shows pre-alpha footage, so the game could change for better and worse by the time it launches. And obviously E3 demos are all sorts of staged.
But I like that lush world and I like the big monsters and I do like jetpacks and I guess I like my friends just fine.
Electronic Arts explain Anthem with this blurb:
"In this shared-world action-RPG, you and your friends are Freelancers--the bold few with the courage to leave civilziation behind, explore a landscape of primeval beauty, and confort the dangers you find.
"Up to four players band together to take on whatever perils you discover as a heroic team. as your friends support you in your journey, so do your victories and rewards benefit your friends.
"Wield an aresenal of Javelin exosuits, each equipped with unique weapons and abilities. Customize them with gear you earn and craft, then use them to fly, leap, and climb through a contiguous open world.
"Experience massive, world-altering occurences like Shaper Storms. Fight savage beasts and ruthless marauders. Delve forgotten ruins as you seek to defeat the forces plotting to conquer humanity.
"Your power grows with every step into the unknown. Whether plunder, revenge, or glory lures you onward, your choices will irrevocably change you—and the world around you."
In short, you shoot things to make your numbers go up.
Anthem is due to launch in autumn 2018.
Destiny 2, the sequel to the game which seems to have been a big influence on Anthem, is due on September 8th this year - though its PC version may (or may not) be late. I won't go rhetorically asking which will win, as if one game must triumph and one must be beaten to a cyberpulp and ritually humiliated. No, I want to know: can Destiny's dad beat up Anthem's dad?