Anthem is one hell of a decent loot-shooter that boasts some ambitious mechanics. Its massively engaging combat and its flow of movement takes center stage, with its several activities, its deep lore, and its diverse and interesting world following closely behind. That said, Anthem isn’t without fault, and BioWare will need to carefully address the game’s issues alongside its community feedback to ensure they maintain player interest.

Anthem is stunning like a firework, a technical achievement and a very fun game, but right now it is also unfinished.

Anthem may thrive. Anthem may fail. It has the bones to be something great but I am tired of saying that about so many games in this genre and five years after Destiny 1, I can’t believe we’re here yet again. Get it right the first time, because everyone is losing patience.

Despite some new ideas and a core gameplay loop that does its best to carry the experience, Anthem is ultimately a bit of a disappointment from BioWare

In comparison with even the base Destiny 2 – let alone that game expanded by all its excellent DLC – Anthem feels not so much unfinished as barely started. It contains some good ideas which it fails to develop, and some of its basic pillars, such as the insistence on fourplayer co-op, somehow convey the impression of being tacked on rather than fundamental. And even with the huge early patch, it’s still glitchy – we had to play three quarters of a 45-minute Stronghold without sound, for example, which was disconcerting.

If ever there was a game in recent memory that seemed unconsciously engineered to ferret out if someone leans toward a glass half-empty or a glass half-full disposition, it’s this one. Anthem is nothing if not a mixed bag.

I am sorry to say that Anthem has fallen short in pretty much every way. Not only do I believe that Anthem was never originally conceived to be a Live Service game and was hijacked by EA to jump on that bandwagon, but also that this game was released in an unfinished state. This has left such a sour taste in my mouth because when Anthem is working well, it can be a real fun time; flying around, getting into intense battles against humans and beasts. But it has so spectacularly failed in all other areas that I simply cannot recommend this game. And with The Division 2, a game that has experience in the Live Service sector only weeks away from launching, I feel like this Anthem will just fall on deaf ears.