As proven in spectacular fashion by both Bungie and Ubisoft with Destiny and The Division respectively, shared open worlds are a hot property right now. Both aforementioned titles – the former in particular – boast a huge number of regular players that log into both worlds on a daily basis to explore, shoot and loot their way to victory alongside a group of other like-minded players. BioWare, it seems, is about ready to take advantage of the popular formula with its own foray into the genre.
We’ve been hearing for a while now that EA desires to have its own competitor in the market, and it looks like Anthem is it. The brand new IP, which is in development at BioWare – specifically, the same folks responsible for the original Mass Effect trilogy – was first teased last week at EA Play, with a gameplay debut promised for Microsoft’s own presser over the weekend.
In the conference’s closing moments, EA delivered on its promise, proudly presenting the first gameplay footage of Anthem and what it’s all about. If you’ve yet to give it a watch, we strongly suggest you do so immediately via the video above before reading on, as no amount of words can do Anthem‘s beauty justice.
The demo, which was shown running on Microsoft’s newly-christened Xbox One X, casts players in the role of a Freelancer, heroes who leave the safety of human settlements to “explore the unknown and protect humanity.” While the premise may sound familiar, Anthem‘s gameplay looks anything but, with lush forests and sprawling underwater chasms ripe for exploration.
Danger awaits within the densely-packed world, however, and you’ll need to fight with others to survive out in the wild. Thankfully, you’ll have fully customizable exo-suits at your disposal while exploring which, while armed to the teeth with weaponry, also endow your avatar with the power of flight and other superhuman qualities.
So, when can you expect to experience all of this for yourselves? Sadly, EA isn’t quite ready to share a specific release date, but a Fall 2018 window is currently being targeted for Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC. Fingers crossed BioWare can stick to the schedule, because we can’t wait to play Anthem.
