Bioware Updates on Anthem 2.0
Written by Jonathan Lee. August 1, 2020, 10:00AM. Tweet to: @Writerscube
With titles like Ghost of Tsushima and the Last of Us 2 being hotly discussed these days, you’d be forgiven for, well, forgetting about the existence of Anthem since it has dwindled significantly. Quite sad, really, because I certainly enjoyed the game. But that doesn’t mean that Anthem has died. Far from it. Bioware’s been hard at work in working towards an Anthem 2.0. And from what we’re seeing with the most recent Bioware blog on July 31, 2020, they’re really taking it seriously.
Closure and Hope from Bioware’s Christian Dailey
From Studio Director Christian Dailey, we’ve been given a little peek behind the scenes on what Bioware has most recently been working on with the rebuilding of Anthem from the ground up. The blog goes into the development team’s “Loot & Equipment Goals” as they’re still working on improving the loot system that many players had remarked on during the original game’s launch. Even though game patches had helped a little, unfortunately it just wasn’t enough to draw players back.
With the way the community responded to the loot system, Dailey humbly admits that “A good player experience depends on the loot system being extensible and robust, and a lot can go wrong. A lot did go wrong.” A lot of player likely needed to hear that. Players were also upset at Bioware’s general silence for a period of time. People were wondering if Bioware was going to just pinch out a few patches and let the game die. But then Bioware announced that they were going to revamp the whole game. Then with this blog post, I think Dailey here is finally giving the players some closure regarding the past before shedding some great light on the future of the world of Anthem.
Finding Inspiration for a New Anthem
After what sounded like a humble apology, Dailey went on to explain that their rebuilding efforts had started “with taking a long look and understanding the best in class of the many great games that inspire us.” This is great! There’s nothing wrong with admitting that you’re not the expert at something and needing to dig into what the real experts do—it’s how we get better before eventually creating something of our own. But what games might they have been looking at?
What’s Happening with Anthem 2.0’s Loot?
Some players in the Anthem community had called it from the start that this inspiration-seeking was needed from the beginning. A Diablo-esque loot system would’ve really benefited this game. It seems like after some research, Bioware came to the same conclusion along with others. In bullet points, Christian Dailey laid out how they were going to craft a “Satisfying Loot Experience”.
- Satisfying one of the greatest of player demands: Increased frequency of loot drops!
- Loot is going to be “viable more often”, “better and more competitive”, and a “chance of getting something exceptional”. Sounding very nicely like a Diablo loot system so far!
- The loot rarities are going to have “strategic value throughout progression”. My interpretation is that items can be broken down into components to further upgrade newer and better items. They had the breaking down part fine in the original Anthem. But I’ll admit, the Forge didn’t quite give us enough to use our materials and do things.
- Accessibility and organization are getting bumped up in priority as well. Loot pickups are supposed to be revealed and able to equip “right away”. The equipment sheet can also be accessed from anywhere, so no need to visit the Forge for that!
- Exceptional items will be getting “the exact types of bonuses you want, instead of maxing values on every bonus”. My interpretation of that is that you’ll get a LMG that actually has relevant bonuses to LMGs and your abilities, instead of getting an LMG and all of your bonuses somehow roll to a Pistol-type weapon.
Dailey goes on to describe how there will also be more choice in loot. That is, you will get to “pursue specific loot without relying on randomness alone”. He lists that there will be “Quests; Specialized Vendors; Unique Loot Tables” to ensure that this works. There also will be opportunities to modify our items and even “rerolling inscriptions and leveling up items”. I think it’s a pretty good idea too! Why? Because it sounds like a play taken out of the playbook of another favorite looter shooter of mine: Bungie’s Destiny.
Power Caps and Leveling Up in Anthem 2.0
Another play from the Destiny and Diablo playbook is a new ease in increasing one’s power cap. Dailey explains “Your power cap can be easily increased, and the loot system scales accordingly”. This is excellent to hear because even after reaching max “level”, still being able to boost our ability potential or power cap is a staple of both Diablo and Destiny. So what if we hit max level? We still want to get stronger, kick more butt, and slay harder! Dailey here sounds like Bioware is planning to give us just that.
More guns! More equipment! Loot!
It just gets better, folks. There is also a greater effort on the side of gunplay and weapons variety—Lots of effort! Take a look at the image below. Bioware is looking to give us access to weapons that go beyond just those of the Freelancers. I for one can’t wait to get my hands on an Urgoth weapon.
But through a short video clip within the blog, we also see some other neat equipment to come. After seeing a Freelancer gun down an enemy, a whole bunch of loot bursts out of it (increased loot). Loot gathering will be less of a chore too. In the video, loot can be seen getting sucked in towards your Javelin.
Finally, we see some interesting pickups. First there’s the lightning gun as a purple item, meaning we’re likely going to run into lightning guns more often in Anthem 2.0. I’m pumped for that because lightning guns are so much fun, they feel powerful! Then you see an epic grade item, Jorra’s Wrath, with a higher power level, nothing too surprising in itself, but seeing an epic burst from a mob enemy is encouraging from the perspective of loot. But most interestingly, we see a “Mod Battery” and “Reinforced Leg Armor”. Do I smell deeper Javelin customizations coming? Oh this is going to be exciting!
Final Thoughts on Anthem 2.0
Bioware really took the feedback from the Anthem player community to heart, and it’s clear that they’re trying to make a No Man’s Sky kind of comeback. It’s heartening to see this moving forward. I’m super pumped to see this revamp succeed because Bioware’s always been that kind of passionate studio when it comes to their games. I highly doubt they meant for Anthem to suffer the way it did during the first run.
It was great seeing Bioware show off some of Anthem 2.0’s development. It was the proof I needed to squash the beginnings of doubt that I was beginning to have. But now, I’m feeling amped up about this. Dailey stated that there is still much work ahead. I strongly suspect Anthem 2.0 to be developing slower as well due to the COVID-19 outbreak’s effects on people working. But now that we know that things are indeed progressing, we can wait patiently again for what could be something amazing.
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