Given the nature of Anthem’s online shared-world experience, there’s bound to be comparisons with games such as Destiny and The Division, and there’s obviously a lot BioWare can learn from such games- both in terms of what to do and what not to do. Judging by recent comments made by a BioWare employee, that certainly seems to be the case.
In a Reddit post on the Anthem sub-reddit, a user made the suggestion that the upcoming game make use of open API for things such as item management of loadouts, which would essentially allow players to customize these things as they see fit without ever actually having to access in-game vaults. And according to BioWare’s Brennon Holmes, the Canadian studio is actually looking into something like this. “Yep, we’re really interested in the idea,” Holmes responded in a comment on the post. “Personally, I’ve played around a lot with Riot’s API and I’ve also really been impressed by what the community has done with Destiny’s API… I’d love to see what you folks could do if we had one as well!”
In another thread that compiles fans’ questions for Anthem to BioWare directly, another fan expressed concerns about the game’s combat, and how, given its third person design, it would obviously be an important factor in the game. Holmes moved quickly to respond to the fan, saying that thanks to the experience of the game’s lead gameplay designer, combat was going to be in good hands, and that there would be nothing to worry about. “Our Lead Gameplay Designer (Chris King) has a lot of experience with combat design and feel,” he said. “I think we’re in good hands.”
Sounds encouraging, definitely the part about the open API. A feature such as that would come in very handy for a game like Anthem. As far as the combat is concerned, given how good the gunplay was in last year’s Mass Effect Andromeda, I’d say there’s definitely reason to be optimistic. Anthem launches later this year for the PS4, Xbox One, and PC. Stay tuned to GamingBolt for continued coverage.
