Anthem 2.0 Development Seems Concerning | Game Rant
BioWare’s looter-shooter endeavor Anthem was one of the most anticipated games of 2019, but its launch sent its Javelin suits crashing back down to the ground. Anthem was messy from the moment players got it, whether it was from the downsized graphics to the lackluster story to the fact that it would crash consoles during use. After a year of patches and trying out a post-launch “Cataclysm,” later replaced by seasonal updates, Anthem’s developer finally announced that it would be revisiting and changing the game’s core aspects to make for more in-depth gameplay.
Since the announcement, there have been a few different updates on BioWare’s blog, mostly from the former director Christian Dailey, about the different changes that the team has been making to the game. More unique Javelin builds and loot worth working for have been chief focuses so far, but there’s reason to believe that Anthem 2.0’s development may be in trouble. Other than a few blog posts, players haven’t seen much else about what is supposed to be a massive reboot of the entire game. A few key reasons may mean Anthem 2.0 is a lot further away than fans may realize.
The incubation team of Anthem 2.0 was already small, about 30 people, and became even smaller now that Christian Dailey has taken over as director for Dragon Age 4. Inconsistent leadership and vision have led to the ill-reception of many different BioWare games, including Mass Effect: Andromeda. It’s not impossible for small teams to get things done, of course, but having the leader step down to take on a different role can have dire consequences for the overall vision Anthem 2.0 may be trying to achieve.
It’s obvious that Anthem 2.0 is trying to avoid the mistakes of its past, which definitely means no longer relying on “BioWare Magic” during crunch time to start and finish an entire game. Rebooting Anthem may be slightly easier because the foundation of the game is already there, but it’s still not a small task by anyone’s standards. On the BioWare blog, Dailey discussed how the loot system is being restructured to be more meaningful, along with revamping Javelin gameplay, builds, and skill trees. However, not much has been discussed outside of those aspects.
Among the decision to reboot and release Anthem 2.0 is the COVID-19 pandemic, too. Lots of video game development took a hit during the last year of battling the virus, leading to many major titles, like the infamous Cyberpunk 2077, continually delaying game releases. The Sims 4’s developer managed to complete the Nifty Knitting stuff pack while in quarantine, but that’s definitely not the standard for every game team. Working from home is hard, especially as a video game developer, and a game like Anthem needs proper play-testing, which cannot be done to its fullest extent in a pandemic.
It’s obvious that a lot of time and energy went into the original development of Anthem—it just missed the mark when it finally landed in players’ hands. If the developer didn’t think there was something worth saving, it would have abandoned Anthem 2.0 a long time ago. It hasn’t, though. Anthem 2.0 may take a lot longer than players initially realized, but that doesn’t mean it won’t be worth the wait when it finally releases.
Though the E3 trailer made it seem a lot more polished and put together than it was, the graphics in Anthem’s end result were still absolutely stunning. It’s a beautiful game, though it wasn’t rendered the same way the gameplay trailer made it seem like it would be. Hope is not lost for Anthem 2.0, because even though it’s a small team, many developers have gotten used to working from home amid the pandemic, and in some places working in the studio is permitted. As long as Anthem 2.0 has a clear vision of what it needs to change, fix, or do away with entirely, the end result could make up for its disastrous launch, even if it takes longer to get to players.
Anthem is available now for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.
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