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ANTHEM

#41 User is offline   Cause 

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Posted 25 January 2019 - 11:56 AM

Gonna try play the dem this weekend. See if this is worth it
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#42 User is offline   Malankazooie 

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Posted 25 January 2019 - 05:53 PM

Awesome possum and cool beans.

Will be expecting a full accounting on what you feel about the game. Pull no punches.
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#43 User is offline   Morgoth 

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Posted 26 January 2019 - 07:58 AM

The giantbomb video was not promising
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#44 User is offline   Cause 

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Posted 28 January 2019 - 09:29 AM

The demo is a mess, hopefully not indicative of the final Product. In four hours of playing, maybe a bit more, I experienced an infinite loading screen bug 2 times, had the demo crash twice and was booted from the server twice. Both game sessions ended when my friends and I had felt like battling the bugs had taken away too much fun.

The demo is also a barebones experience. A lot of story has been cut. Which is a shame because I think if it wants to be better than destiny it needs a story, any story. Something to explain why I kill everything that is not me.

Gameplay wise the comparison to destiny is unavoidable. However I think it has a few pluses. The world is beautiful and very large and open and multi-tiered. But not seamless! Flying is awesome. You can double jump, hover or fly and you feel very free. Creates lots of dodging opportunities n fights and is often the only way to maneuver to an enemy weak point.

Another plus over destiny is you get two weapons, 2 special attacks, a support ability and an ultimate but the cool downs on all of these things is relatively quick. Can use them all multiple times in a fight. So the action seems more intense than destiny which often devolved into just a shooter as your ability cool downs were minutes long.

The demo leaves me where I started. Cautiously optimistic but worried it will go the same way as deetiny. Worth playing but perhaps not the amazing Experience we have been promised.

This post has been edited by Cause: 28 January 2019 - 09:49 AM

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#45 User is offline   Morgoth 

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Posted 28 January 2019 - 09:35 AM

I think maybe Anthem caused Cause to have a stroke.
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#46 User is offline   Cause 

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Posted 28 January 2019 - 09:50 AM

View PostMorgoth, on 28 January 2019 - 09:35 AM, said:

I think maybe Anthem caused Cause to have a stroke.


Sorry typed on my phone.

I think the game is like destiny in one very important aspect. Looks like the profit driven publisher may push the studio to launch a game that is not ready if the demo was anything to go by.
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#47 User is offline   Silencer 

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Posted 28 January 2019 - 09:57 AM

View PostCause, on 28 January 2019 - 09:50 AM, said:

View PostMorgoth, on 28 January 2019 - 09:35 AM, said:

I think maybe Anthem caused Cause to have a stroke.


Sorry typed on my phone.

I think the game is like destiny in one very important aspect. Looks like the profit driven publisher may push the studio to launch a game that is not ready if the demo was anything to go by.


Yeah, as of seeing some of the cookie cutter gameplay, Anthem is no longer on my radar. It's clearly been built to be a loot treadmill, probably with microtransactions in mind.
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#48 User is offline   Khellendros 

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Posted 28 January 2019 - 10:15 AM

View PostCause, on 28 January 2019 - 09:29 AM, said:

The demo is a mess, hopefully not indicative of the final Product. In four hours of playing, maybe a bit more, I experienced an infinite loading screen bug 2 times, had the demo crash twice and was booted from the server twice. Both game sessions ended when my friends and I had felt like battling the bugs had taken away too much fun.

The demo is also a barebones experience. A lot of story has been cut. Which is a shame because I think if it wants to be better than destiny it needs a story, any story. Something to explain why I kill everything that is not me.

Gameplay wise the comparison to destiny is unavoidable. However I think it has a few pluses. The world is beautiful and very large and open and multi-tiered. But not seamless! Flying is awesome. You can double jump, hover or fly and you feel very free. Creates lots of dodging opportunities n fights and is often the only way to maneuver to an enemy weak point.

Another plus over destiny is you get two weapons, 2 special attacks, a support ability and an ultimate but the cool downs on all of these things is relatively quick. Can use them all multiple times in a fight. So the action seems more intense than destiny which often devolved into just a shooter as your ability cool downs were minutes long.

The demo leaves me where I started. Cautiously optimistic but worried it will go the same way as deetiny. Worth playing but perhaps not the amazing Experience we have been promised.



RE Story: From what I understand the game demo throws you in at a random point in the campaign and deliberately does not include much story so that more of the demo can be spent on the main gameplay. So the demo may not be indicative of the depth of story.

And then again it may be.
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#49 User is offline   Malankazooie 

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Posted 28 January 2019 - 12:07 PM

Also sort of lost in all the "shiny new toy" aspect of Anthem is that it's a 3rd person shooter. I've not a problem with that and have read positive reviews that they do a great job (and doesn't rely heavily on duck and cover that is lazy design for 3rd person). However, if your jam is the FPS game style, 3rd person may not necessarily be for you. Just something to keep in mind.

I also read there's a shit ton of customization / cosmetic options, so that throws up a red flag warning for microtransactions, pay walls and loot boxes (a la vanilla Destiny launch/early DLC). On a positive note, I did read that the loadouts for the various classes are quite varied and fun to customize for various play styles.
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#50 User is offline   Mentalist 

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Posted 28 January 2019 - 03:05 PM

Comments on PC gamer aren't especially flattering.

Most beta impressions I've seen on YouTube agree the game isn't terrible, but no one's saying it's amazing.
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View PostJump Around, on 23 October 2011 - 11:04 AM, said:

And I want to state that Ment has out-weaseled me by far in this game.
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#51 User is offline   Aptorian 

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Posted 02 February 2019 - 11:20 AM

Played 30-60 minutes or so of the beta yesterday.


I can't tell if the demo is terrible or Anthem is very barebones and awkward.

The one mission I played was flavorless and weird since I was lobbed in with a bunch of other people who didn't know what they were doing. The puzzle to unlock the manifold had no clues or explanation.

We were just stuck in a room for 5 minutes untill I googled a walkthrough.
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#52 User is offline   Morgoth 

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Posted 02 February 2019 - 11:33 AM

The Bombcast was one long rant agains Anthem it felt like. I’ve lost all interest.

This post has been edited by Morgoth: 02 February 2019 - 11:33 AM

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#53 User is offline   Maark Abbott 

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Posted 02 February 2019 - 12:44 PM

Called it
Debut novel 'Incarnate' now available on Kindle
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#54 User is offline   Galactic Council 

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Posted 02 February 2019 - 01:08 PM

I’ve just downloaded the demo and will try it out later today.

- Khell
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#55 User is offline   Aptorian 

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Posted 02 February 2019 - 03:17 PM

I plan on playing a some more today or tomorrow. I want to play with one of the big javalins.
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#56 User is offline   Galactic Council 

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Posted 02 February 2019 - 07:32 PM

View PostAlternative Goose, on 02 February 2019 - 11:20 AM, said:

Played 30-60 minutes or so of the beta yesterday.


I can't tell if the demo is terrible or Anthem is very barebones and awkward.

The one mission I played was flavorless and weird since I was lobbed in with a bunch of other people who didn't know what they were doing. The puzzle to unlock the manifold had no clues or explanation.

We were just stuck in a room for 5 minutes untill I googled a walkthrough.


I’ve played the demo missions - solo - and they were alright, but would definitely be more fun in a party (and the puzzle was simple, there were clues, you just didn’t look hard enough :) ). I really enjoy the flying, though the Ranger javelin seems kinda boring and overheats too quickly, but maybe you can upgrade that. I’d like to try out the Storm as that seems to fly almost indefinitely. Gonna try it with some friends too. Definitely haven’t formed a concrete conclusion yet - basically there’s both good and bad so far.

- Khell
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#57 User is offline   Aptorian 

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Posted 02 February 2019 - 08:41 PM

Have you played the demo yet?
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#58 User is offline   Khellendros 

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Posted 04 February 2019 - 03:02 PM

My thoughts on Anthem after the demo:

Essentially, really undecided. There's some things I really like, and other things which make me wonder what they were thinking.

Pros:

- The flying/traversal is superb, really fun, really intuitive. Some difficulties with traversing underwater, but that's more a lack of light thing than the actual movement.
- Abilities look cool and feel good to use, I really like the very short cooldowns on abilities, clearly you're meant to focus on using those and chaining them together.
- Seems to bit a lot of customisation options with regards to what your javelin can actually do, abilities to swap in and out.
- Customising the design/look of your javelin is also fun and funny. There's tons of options and I had the chance to make my javelin look as garishly multi-coloured as I hoped I'd be able to.
- I played the Ranger and Storm, and was happy to see that they do feel and play noticeably differently from each other.
- I really like the verticality of the world, which lends itself to the flying mechanic and not something we see to much of in open world game design.
- The mythos/lore is also quite intriguing and I feel like I'd like to unravel some of the mysteries hinted at in the Cortex.
- The stronghold endgame activity was fun, there were no problems completing it with randoms in matchmaking. It's definitely much more like a Destiny strike than a raid.


Cons:

- The gunplay is rubbish. It sounds bad, it feels bad, the weapons all kinda look the same. Part of the problem may be that in the demo there was no access to legendary and higher weapons, only the standard stuff. Perhaps the more high-level gear looks and feels better, but I'm sceptical. Yes, the focus is on using abilities, but you still need to constantly use your guns as well, even with a javelin like the Storm, which is like a mage class.
- The divide between the open world and the hub area is just odd. Fort Tarsis itself feels kinda lifeless despite the NPCs wondering around, the dialogues and dialogue choices feel pointless.
- Perhaps unsurprising, but the game does not look anywhere near as good as it did in trailers and E3 demos, at least on the original Xbox One. It's still a nice-looking game, don't get me wrong, but everything feels muddied, lots of flat textures when you get close to objects...if you're into that, Destiny is definitely the better-looking game.
- More worringly, the game did not run all that amazingly. I encountered a number of bugs where my character would be teleported around, pushed by invisible barriers, get stuck in certain animations, etc. The loading screens between the open world and the small cave dungeons are also really disappointing to see.
- There's virtually no point to trying to play the game solo. Yes, you can do it (for campaign missions at least - if you freeplay in open world you get matchmade with others, but you're free to ignore where they go. For strongholds you have to be in a team), but the gameplay onus is on combining abilities with other javelins for big damage. Without that, enemies are incredibly bullet-spongy and it takes far too long to kill anything with a shield.
- Enemy AI is non-existent. They mostly just stand there and soak up damage. Perhaps this changes on higher difficulties, but I doubt it.


In the end, I think it was a demo I wanted to enjoy more than I actually enjoyed. The movement is excellent and the world is intriguing to explore, the abilities are cool...but the negatives include some pretty crucial things for an overall good experience. Maybe a few months after release this will all improve, but right now I'm certainly not convinced to buy it.
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#59 User is offline   Malankazooie 

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Posted 04 February 2019 - 06:34 PM

I'm out. Never was in to begin with tbh, but was hoping beyond hope there would be some stellar positive comments.

*shrugs Oh well, on to the next. On the plus side, don't have to burn $60 on a disappointment. That's what a cheap hooker is for, amirite? Heyoooooo! *badumtish Posted Image
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#60 User is offline   Mentalist 

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Posted 19 February 2019 - 03:57 PM

Consensus from the previews puts the extent of solo content at 20 hours, and the story's considered by most to be "not great".

My impression is that I'll keep an eye out for a 20 dollar Origin sale deal sometime in the future, but it certainly doesn't feel like a good investment right now.
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View PostJump Around, on 23 October 2011 - 11:04 AM, said:

And I want to state that Ment has out-weaseled me by far in this game.
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