ANTHEM is dead. Or at least, it soon will be, depending on when you're reading this.
While the online looter-shooter never quite set the world on fire, it's worth remembering that there was quite a lot of hype behind ANTHEM ahead of its eventual release on the 22nd February, 2019.
This was, after all, a new property from BioWare — and this was before the once legendary studio had fallen completely from its perch.
Sure, 2017's Mass Effect: Andromeda was the subject of many a meme in the years prior, but ANTHEM was viewed as the studio's main priority; where Andromeda struggled, we'd see the real BioWare make a triumphant return with something completely new.
Of course, not everyone felt that way. Although ANTHEM launched at a time before 'live service' became such a dirty term, there was still cynicism surrounding its always online requirement, and its subsequent focus on co-op functionality.
For a while, ANTHEM caused some confusion. The game's marketing was a bit muddled, as it tried to paint the title as an explosive action-shooter — but at the same time, you had the developer assuring its fans that ANTHEM was still very much a BioWare-style RPG, with endearing characters and thought-provoking world building.
ANTHEM felt like it was caught between two design briefs. BioWare didn't want to further shed the identity that put it on the map, but then outside of Mass Effect 3's (really rather good) multiplayer, it had no experience with crafting and — crucially — maintaining an online experience.
EA wanted this thing to go up against the likes of Destiny, but from day one, people would question BioWare's appointment. In short, ANTHEM never truly felt like a BioWare game — and in practice, the studio's inexperience prevented it from standing on its own.
Oh, and the delays didn't help. ANTHEM was originally meant to launch in the spring of 2018, before being pushed back to autumn / fall. Then, it was delayed once more to its launch date of February 2019. Delays can often be a positive sign, showing that a developer is taking its project seriously, but in this case, the changing dates allowed some doubts to creep in.
But as we've already mentioned, there was genuine hype behind the game as its release neared. We know this because our ANTHEM-related news articles and features were drawing a lot of attention at the time.
The hype peaked near the beginning of February, as ANTHEM received a highly anticipated public demo on PS4. Only available over a single weekend, we hosted a feedback poll here on the site, and opinions were actually pretty positive.
41% of users said they'd spent "hours" playing it, with 22% stating that the demo was "absolutely superb".
But there was also some clear trepidation amongst potential players — an early glimpse of the disappointment that was to come, perhaps.
31% of readers claimed that the demo "was good, but nothing truly amazing". A combined 30% said it was either "just okay", "disappointing", or "really bad".
For what it's worth, we weren't too hot on ANTHEM either. We had sank quite a bit of time into its previous 'VIP Demo' — basically a closed beta — and in a Hands On feature, we came to the conclusion that while the game had potential, the finished thing had to "be so much better".
Our gripes largely boiled down to it being an unfinished build, but what we didn't know is that the full release would struggle with many of the same structural and technical problems as the demo.
Flash forward a couple of weeks and we published our full ANTHEM PS4 review, awarding the title an 'average' 5/10.
"Given time, ANTHEM could slowly start to bloom into a much more cohesive experience, but the worry is that it won't be given a chance," we concluded — and how right we turned out to be!
"There's a good game in here somewhere, but only the flashy, satisfying combat stands out amongst a background mess of shockingly bad design decisions and woefully undercooked systems. ANTHEM feels unfinished and, frankly, undeserving of your time when there are much better live titles currently available on PS4. Check back in a year from now, and we might be onto something."
Reviews from other publications were similarly damning, and would contribute to a heavily criticised launch period for the game. In particular, more committed players quickly expressed disappointment, pointing fingers at severely lacking endgame activities once the main campaign was completed.
There was a sense of brutal realisation around ANTHEM, and BioWare must have known that it had an awful lot of work on its hands if it wanted to turn things around. But as we've seen time and time again, initial public perception can make or break a game — and ANTHEM simply never seemed to recover from the initial backlash.
Just a couple of weeks before the looter-shooter dropped, EA had made its expectations known. Its financials revealed that it was estimating 6 million sales in the space of six weeks.
The not-so-subtle suggestion was that the publisher had ANTHEM marked as a big hit right out of the gate — and when that obviously didn't happen, it didn't hesitate in cutting support short. BioWare did churn out a number of updates over the next few months, but the damage was done.
In truth, it's a shock that ANTHEM lasted as long as it has. Almost six years later and it's only just being shut down.
But what are your thoughts on ANTHEM all these years later? Did it deserve to be pushed aside so soon, or was there always unrealised potential? Vote in our polls, and then tell us of your experiences with ANTHEM in the comments section below.