Bioware’s Anthem Revealed at Xbox One X E3 2017 Event

Anthem is a new game from Bioware that was announced at the EA Play event ahead of E3 2017. It’s new IP, which is great for the gaming industry as it allows developers to try new ideas and players get a fresh new gaming experience. Bioware’s Jon Warner, who’s the game director for Anthem, gave us a short gameplay demo at Microsoft’s Xbox One X reveal event at E3 2017.

At first glance one could be forgiven for assuming that Anthem is a Mass Effect sequel. Your character in Anthem wears an exosuit similar to the ones Shepard and Ryder have, it has a jump jet of sorts that allows you to leap, and the game is a science fiction third-person shooter set in the future.

But that is where the similarities end. Anthem’s plot keeps humanity inside a massive wall to protect it from the dangers lurking outside. Massive monsters are just some of the threats outside the wall. You get to venture outside and explore the world, while picking up missions and following the story. For this you need some specialised protective gear.

Anthem’s exosuits are called Javelins and they let you fly long distances. The demo started with the player picking up a rescue mission, something longtime Bioware fans would be well aware of by now. The character moves into a Javelin and dives off an impossibly tall cliff, and then zips across the landscape like an arrow.

You can customise your Javelin to fit your fighting style — for example a ranger profile is a balanced one with speed and power equally distributed while the colossus profile is geared towards delivering maximum damage with every attack at the cost of speed.

Each character has a support team and these team members talk to the character to help with attacks. We heard one character commenting on how it’s best to leave a monster alone as it’s too powerful, during the demo. Similarly we heard characters helping each other out by revealing information on what kinds of enemies they’re facing and which weapons are best suited to taking them down.

Then there are massive storms which take players to other parts of the world, where they can explore more of the story and continue their adventure. There’s no release date yet for Anthem but this looks like one exciting new game. You can watch the full gameplay reveal below.