BioWare recently announced its multiplayer looter-shooter, Anthem, will receive a complete overhaul, reworking the central gameplay loop to provide a more rewarding experience. With the Anthem “reboot,” BioWare will attempt to right the wrongs of Anthem’s release, making it into an essentially new experience. The developer has already fixed the bugs and other, more apparent issues that initially plagued the game at launch, but there are still some big areas that Anthem’s rework needs to get right.
Anthem’s relaunch follows in the footsteps of several live-service games, in what is now - whether planned or not - a somewhat tried-and-true process: Release bad game, then fix it later with a big expansion. Although its launch was not nearly as disastrous as Anthem’s, Bungie did this with the original Destiny’s Taken King expansion, adding a more compelling story, an interesting world area, and other major improvements to revitalize the game. The two most triumphant examples of this live-game rebirth are Final Fantasy 14: A Realm Reborn’s redemption and the No Man’s Sky Next update, both of which took widely-reviled games and made them some of the more compelling experiences around.
Anthem’s relaunch has the potential to do the same thing. The initial Anthem launch was full of problems for BioWare to fix, many of which were eventually solved, but the relaunch can more fundamentally change the core elements of Anthem that still need attention.
Anthem’s Relaunch Needs To Wait Until It’s Ready
Put simply, the most important thing about the relaunch is that BioWare not rush it out before it’s finished. Between Anthem’s bugs and gameplay issues, it’s extremely unlikely that BioWare and EA weren’t aware of the huge number of problems plaguing the game at release. But it was shipped anyway, leading to backlash from players who felt like they purchased a broken product, and subsequent patches just broke the game even more. BioWare needs to take its time with the rework, ensuring all of the new systems are ready to go before players get their hands on it.
Anthem’s Relaunch Needs A Loot System Overhaul
BioWare has released several Anthem loot system updates since the game launched, but players are still not satisfied with the state of loot. All of the game’s loot is randomly acquired, with no control over the gear’s quality or stats on drop. This would be fine if there was some kind of mod system that allowed players to buff stats or abilities on their gear, but loot is all RNG-based. That means there’s no way for players to aim for specific builds unless they get lucky with the loot they want. The overhaul should introduce either a way for players to control what kind of loot will drop or a way to adjust the stats of already-dropped gear.
An additional problem the loot system faces is a lack of variety. Legendary loot, the rarest and best-quality gear, doesn’t have the unique qualities of something like the Destiny series’ exotic loot, meaning there isn’t much excitement to be found in high-level gear. The rework should introduce more unique legendary gear to give players something to chase.
Anthem’s Relaunch Needs A Social Space
Anthem’s hub area, Fort Tarsis, was a letdown compared to the Anthem E3 2017 reveal trailer. Despite being a single-player space for players to experience a story supposedly centered around them and them alone, Fort Tarsis was full of life. But the final version ended up being dull and quiet. Anthem’s relaunch should allow players to gather in a dedicated social hub between missions, akin to Destiny 2’s Tower. This would solve the lifelessness issue, encourage people to play with their friends, and give players a more exciting place to manage their gear.
Anthem’s Relaunch Needs A Better Endgame
Anthem’s endgame currently centers around four Strongholds, instanced activities similar to Destiny 2’s dungeons. Three of these were in the game at launch, and the fourth was added all the way back in April 2019. The Anthem Cataclysm update in August then added more content, but players have largely been stuck with a relatively small pool of endgame activities to take part in since launch. Along with more Strongholds, true raids should be introduced in the relaunch, amping up the puzzles and enemies in Strongholds to create longer, more involved activities as the game’s endgame.
Being as fractured as it was at launch, Anthem needs even more fixes than these to be truly revived. BioWare has its hands full with other potential changes, such as a better progression system and better story. As long as it takes its time and ensures most of players’ biggest issues with the game are fixed, Anthem may join the ranks of live-service games’ other success stories.
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Anthem was released on PS4, Xbox One, and PC on February 22, 2019.
