I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Anthem looks like a great 20-hour game, but it has an uphill battle on its hands if it wants to convince me to spend more time than that within its world. With the amount of hype, resources and development invested within Anthem, Bioware and EA need to make certain that this Big Mech with Cheese combo special is satisfying enough to keep players around not just for days, but months.
To do just that, Bioware’s plane involves three “acts” of content for its endgame, as the studio finally provided a roadmap of sorts for the year ahead. While the curtain is still closed on Acts Deux and Trois, Act Uno was given more detail. Within that Act, three major updates will be made available and each will focus on a specific aspect of Anthem.
Update one will focus on “Evolving the world” of Anthem, presumably injecting some life into the otherwise stale freeplay environments, while the “Stronger Together” update will add more social features to the mix. It’s the third update that sounds fascinating: Cataclysm. Taking inspiration from Fortnite’s seasonal narrative, Cataclysms are time-limited events that require plenty of teamwork and skill to successfully navigate.
“They’re designed to be more seasonal,” executive producer Mark Darrah said to GamesRadar of the event.
The goal of something like a Cataclysm is that it should be impossible for you to fully explore in that first week. We probably won’t overlap actual Cataclysms, just because of their nature. I think it’s important to have sort of the world return to sort of a normal state between them, but I think yeah, you’ll have holiday events, new strongholds coming out.
Between the updates, players can also expect smaller tweaks that’ll open up new events, quality of life improvements and various rewards for their time spent in Anthem. I’ve still got some excitement left in me for Bioware’s Iron Man simulator, which has the potential to be something special in the months to come as these Acts shape the world around it. Whether Anthem has enough longevity to keep fans around to see these changes, is another question entirely. Especially in light of that other game that just launched for free, which rhymes with Latex Hedge Funds.
Last Updated: February 7, 2019
Admiral Chief
February 7, 2019 at 10:05
ACT2 DLC @ $9.99
Pariah
February 7, 2019 at 10:09
It’s funny because while this is an EA game – all future content is apparently going to be free.
Kromas
February 7, 2019 at 10:15
Well $20 skins will pay for the DLC on it’s own.
Pariah
February 7, 2019 at 10:15
PoE has $42 skins and those can’t be earned with in-game currency. So…
Original Heretic
February 7, 2019 at 10:47
Skins that do or don’t alter gameplay?
Pariah
February 7, 2019 at 10:47
That same argument can be said of the Anthem MTX, which actually can be earned in-game. Also, PoE without stash tabs is hell to play.
Original Heretic
February 7, 2019 at 10:51
Meh, skins don’t bother me like it does for some. As long as I can play and enjoy, I’m fine.
And if I can jam a F2P game, enjoy it for hours, then I will spend some money on it to show support to the peops that gave me such enjoyment.
Pariah
February 7, 2019 at 10:51
Eh, I’m just trying to point out that the MTX in Anthem (and we still don’t have actual figures on those yet), isn’t anywhere near as predatory as people seem to want it to be. Just because it’s EA people are assuming the worst without any concrete evidence. A single in-dev screenshot is not indicative of the reality.
Original Heretic
February 7, 2019 at 10:51
Granted, but personally I find MTX’s in a paid for game to be very kak.
Pariah
February 7, 2019 at 10:56
I find it more expensive in F2P games, tbh. Like if I look at even my spending (and I don’t like spending if I don’t have to), then F2P games get more money from me than any other single title.
After playing the demo, it doesn’t even feel like it matters either. Like, it feels as unimportant to gameplay as Warframe’s MTX.
Kromas
February 7, 2019 at 10:19
PoE … that free to play game?
Pariah
February 7, 2019 at 10:19
That free to play game that has some of the most expensive MTX in the industry. So sure, the cost of entry into Anthem is there, but it’s worth 2 suits of armour in PoE. Just 2. Let that sink in. Or maybe 5 portal skins. Or a few stash tabs.
Kromas
February 7, 2019 at 10:19
Okay but look at Apex. $20 skins and no one cares cause it is free to play.
Well no one except me. Warframe has a great mtx economy.
I believe $5 skins should be the most expensive.
Pariah
February 7, 2019 at 10:23
Well I like Warframe’s yeah. It’s there, but it’s also not that expensive. And if I remember correctly you can buy plat from other players by trading in-game currency?
Kromas
February 7, 2019 at 10:56
Fortnite has the best economy both BR and StW.
Pariah
February 7, 2019 at 10:23
And let me just re-iterate. $42 for one suit of armour.
Also, while you can technically go F2P in PoE, doing so without stash tabs is a literal nightmare. You’ll want to drop $40-$50 on those before you’re at an ok spot for item and currency management.
Darren Peach
February 7, 2019 at 10:09
I respectfully disagree. Allow me to qualify that. Destiny always had a certain amount of pretender to the crown type cheese to it. Why, it was developed by the good folks who brought you Halo, An over rated Doom wannabe ( I know I`m being highly critical ).
I come from a generation that grew up on Doom and the subsequent evolution of great games from that point onwards. Bioware comes from the Doom side of the Industry, Just barely, but they do. A does Valve and many others. This argument is incredibly juvenile isn’t it ?
I guess my overall point is I felt Destiny was a touch corny, Still great but corny. From what I can tell, Anthem seem more to my taste. And it has Robot suits. Good grief…..Robot suits with friggen shoulder rockets and stuff…and Giant god damn Spider Crabs….Glory !!!!
Admiral Chief
February 7, 2019 at 11:00
So, 4 player and EVOLVING….I wonder if this MONSTER of a game will last?
Raptor Rants
February 7, 2019 at 11:04
and dude. WoW! A CATACLYSM is coming!
Admiral Chief
February 7, 2019 at 11:16
Stage 2 cataclysm?
The Banana Knight ♞
February 7, 2019 at 11:19
Stage 3… Caaaaaaattaaaaaaacccllkkllyyyysssssssmmmmm
Raptor Rants
February 12, 2019 at 10:44
Stage 3.
G8crasha
February 7, 2019 at 14:15
This game better be worth the Access Premier price tag!!!!!
Kromas
February 7, 2019 at 10:09
I know we wanna promote Anthem as much as possible because otherwise there3 won’t be enough players to make a group but I think today’s focus should be Division 2. 😛
Pariah
February 7, 2019 at 10:09
I think the public are divided on that one too. 😛
Kromas
February 7, 2019 at 10:09
True but today is the private beta for division 2 and they have not yet garnered nearly as much controversy yet. Actually I think the only thing they have is the inventory space thing a while back.
Magoo
February 7, 2019 at 10:31
So basically they are releasing the game soon but only finish making it in the next couple of years.
Pariah
February 7, 2019 at 10:31
The idea is that the story isn’t ever “finished”. It evolves. Without buying expansion packs.
Magoo
February 7, 2019 at 10:31
Story? I don’t know what you were reading but I was reading about mechanics and QOL improvements. <.<
Pariah
February 7, 2019 at 10:35
Cataclysm is literally new story content. That’s the entire objective behind it.
Magoo
February 7, 2019 at 10:42
That’s just one aspect. If you look at the image made by anthem it mentions many things part of 3 updates, including – in their own words:
New Events
Quality of Life
New Rewards
Expanded Progression System
New Stronghold
Guilds and Leaderboards
New Missions
The Cataclysm
Most of that stuff is not extra content. It’s the kind of stuff you find in complete Day-1 games.
Pariah
February 7, 2019 at 10:47
You’re not exactly covering the fact that there’s a ton of content in the base game already. Multiple strongholds, dailies, weeklies, monthlies, overarching narrative, multiple end-game group activities, etc. It’s not like it’s going in with 1 dungeon and a once-off quest once every 2 weeks.