UPDATE WITH DATES AND INFO FOR UPCOMING DEMOS:
The VIP Demo from January 25 to 27 is open to anyone with an Anthem pre-order, and is also open to Xbox One players with EA Access and PC players with Origin Basic or Origin Premier. The Open Demo from February 1 to 3 is open to all players on PS4, Xbox One, and PC.
So far, we have the following facts about the demo:
----------------------- Original Post -----------------------
Anthem discussion seems to be drastically lacking on the forum, but I have noticed that there is still a smattering of people who are really interested in the game. I thought I would put together this thread to be a central location for discussion of the game's marketing, development, mechanics, livestreams, and more.
What is Anthem?
Anthem is an upcoming online "loot shooter" developed by Bioware. In the game, you play as a exosuit pilot living in a human settlement on an alien planet. The planet is also home to a variety of creatures, enemy human factions, hostile alien races, as well as larger, more mysterious forces. The planet was abandoned by its "gods", the Shapers, some sort of higher beings that were using massive machinery and advanced technology to terraform the world, but then disappeared for unknown reasons with the job only half-done. Their technology still remains scattered across the landscape, wreaking havoc, causing earthquakes and cyclones, and providing a tantalizing source of power for those factions who dare to attempt to harness it.
Within this world, you take the role of a freelancer, donning a power suit to take on missions and tasks beyond the walls of your settlement, Fort Tarsis. There are four types of powersuits, or Javelins, available, the Ranger, Colossus, Storm, and Interceptor. Each suit has slots for different types of gear, weapons, and abilities. Your play style can vary greatly depending on the Javelin and gear loadout that you choose.
How do gear and loot work?
This seems to be a commonly occurring question, so I'll foreground some info here on how loot works in the game. The best resource for understanding how gear, loot, loadouts, and builds work in the game is the gear-focused livestream video:
GEAR, LOOT, AND PROGRESSION
You can also check out this explainer on MMORPG.com, excerpted here, for a written overview of what was covered in the video, (thanks to @texhnolyze for recommending this):
What does the gameplay look like?
Here are some livestreams and other videos that can give you a look at the core gameplay. The first video is a more polished "vertical slice" style video that was released after E3; the second and third videos are more recent livestreams hosted by Bioware developers to give extended looks at different facets of the game:
E3 2018 GAMEPLAY DEMO SHOWCASING THE COLOSSUS
ALPHA GAMEPLAY STORM SHOWCASE
INTERCEPTOR AND STRONGHOLD (DUNGEON) GAMEPLAY SHOWCASE
Quote this post to get access to the FreelancERA Discord:
The VIP Demo from January 25 to 27 is open to anyone with an Anthem pre-order, and is also open to Xbox One players with EA Access and PC players with Origin Basic or Origin Premier. The Open Demo from February 1 to 3 is open to all players on PS4, Xbox One, and PC.
So far, we have the following facts about the demo:
- Will put players at around level 10-15
- Progress from the demos will not carry over to the full game
- Will allow players to experience a variety of content, including missions, contracts, Fort Tarsis (single player hub area), and strongholds.
- Players will start as the Ranger and can choose to try other javelins later
----------------------- Original Post -----------------------
Anthem discussion seems to be drastically lacking on the forum, but I have noticed that there is still a smattering of people who are really interested in the game. I thought I would put together this thread to be a central location for discussion of the game's marketing, development, mechanics, livestreams, and more.
What is Anthem?
Anthem is an upcoming online "loot shooter" developed by Bioware. In the game, you play as a exosuit pilot living in a human settlement on an alien planet. The planet is also home to a variety of creatures, enemy human factions, hostile alien races, as well as larger, more mysterious forces. The planet was abandoned by its "gods", the Shapers, some sort of higher beings that were using massive machinery and advanced technology to terraform the world, but then disappeared for unknown reasons with the job only half-done. Their technology still remains scattered across the landscape, wreaking havoc, causing earthquakes and cyclones, and providing a tantalizing source of power for those factions who dare to attempt to harness it.
Within this world, you take the role of a freelancer, donning a power suit to take on missions and tasks beyond the walls of your settlement, Fort Tarsis. There are four types of powersuits, or Javelins, available, the Ranger, Colossus, Storm, and Interceptor. Each suit has slots for different types of gear, weapons, and abilities. Your play style can vary greatly depending on the Javelin and gear loadout that you choose.
How do gear and loot work?
This seems to be a commonly occurring question, so I'll foreground some info here on how loot works in the game. The best resource for understanding how gear, loot, loadouts, and builds work in the game is the gear-focused livestream video:
GEAR, LOOT, AND PROGRESSION
You can also check out this explainer on MMORPG.com, excerpted here, for a written overview of what was covered in the video, (thanks to @texhnolyze for recommending this):
Both your character (Pilot) and items will have levels in Anthem and these items will be split across five different hardpoints on your Javelin. Some aspects of the game will also be gated by your Pilot level. One example given was that while you can equip two weapons at a time in Anthem, you won't be able to do this until you reach Pilot level four. Gear score is also a thing in Anthem and it works by simply adding up all the power levels of your individual pieces of gear.
What does the gameplay look like?
Here are some livestreams and other videos that can give you a look at the core gameplay. The first video is a more polished "vertical slice" style video that was released after E3; the second and third videos are more recent livestreams hosted by Bioware developers to give extended looks at different facets of the game:
E3 2018 GAMEPLAY DEMO SHOWCASING THE COLOSSUS
ALPHA GAMEPLAY STORM SHOWCASE
INTERCEPTOR AND STRONGHOLD (DUNGEON) GAMEPLAY SHOWCASE
Quote this post to get access to the FreelancERA Discord:
Discord link changed. For anyone interested in joining the FreelancERA Discord : [Hidden content]
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