Scrolling through the Anthem Reddit page on any day of the week makes for grim reading. If someone isn't screaming through their keyboard at BioWare's lack of communication on the game's future, then another person has published a poetic eulogy in anticipation of its online death.
At the moment, the general vibe is one of anger, disappointment, and existentialism over the game's recent update, which introduced Anthem Public Test Servers for players to try out the impending Cataclysm Event; the first major content drop for BioWare's open world looter shooter since launch.
As you can already imagine, I'm sure, the reactions to The Cataclysm have been predominantly negative, as those who've already seen what it has to offer express frustration with its hollow, uninspired take on endgame content. A Reddit post from a player by the name of TheGame1011, with nearly 15,000 upvotes on the game's page explains the problem with Cataclysm pretty succinctly, predicting that "Anthem will not survive to the end of this year" if it continues in this fashion.
"The Cataclysm is basically the Freeplay Area with a heavy blue filter of death", reads the post. "Yes, as long as your screen is blue you are dying. You fly into a “Safe Zone” where you complete the same exact crap you have been completing for the last 3 1/2 months. Afterwards, you fly to another zone, complete some more shaper relic events until finally you reach a boss. The boss mechanics are boring, baseless, lore-less, and lack all sorts of creativity. Same exact mechanics as a Titan found anywhere in Freeplay. So it doesn’t even feel like new content. Once the boss dies, you collect your blue’s and purple’s, the event is over and your [sic] back at Fort Tarsis."
TheGame1011 continues: "Had BioWare released this type of gameplay activity 30 days after release, it would have been very well received. But, to have players grinding endlessly for over 90++ days, then add a filter to Freeplay and call it “The Cataclysm” is beyond ridiculous and a dis-respectful way to treat whatever player base is left."
So... it's not great, then? The hundreds of comments beneath the post reveal an alarming consensus on Cataclysm, too, though some are just happy to be playing something new in the game after months of silence from BioWare. Speaking of, Anthem will have a small, 5-minute live stream at the E3 2019 this weekend, as part of the EA E3 2019 programme, so perhaps the studio can pull something out of its hat to turn Anthem's fortunes around? Maybe? I wouldn't hold your breath.
For more, read about the biggest new games of 2019 to look forward to, or watch the video below for a guide on everything else out later this week.
