Anthem

Despite the game being available now since February 15 under some circumstances, today marks the day in which Anthem has "officially" been released. While Origin Access and EA Access subscribers have already had a chance to play and, in some cases, "complete" the game, this will be the first time most players will get to dive in.

Today's release is accompanied by the "day one" patch, which we already provided the changelog for the other day. Anthem allows you and some friends (or random people if you prefer) to assume the role of Freelancers. These Freelancers hop into special suits called Javelins that have unique abilities that makes for combat that is a bit like a lite version of Mass Effect's multiplayer. You know, in a sense.

Anthem also delivers amazing characters and deep lore that allows players to immerse themselves in the world and embrace its mysteries, as well as regular new content that will change the world and keep the experience fresh and new. In the game, players will square off against the nefarious Monitor, the leader of the militaristic Dominion who seeks to bend the very powers of creation and destruction to his will. The Freelancers must thwart the Monitor’s schemes to control the Anthem of Creation, or else he could tear the entire world apart and plunge the planet into ultimate chaos.

Launch is just the beginning for Anthem, as the game will continue to grow and evolve through free live service content updates. Over the next 90 days alone the game will deliver new missions, new rewards, a new stronghold and more. Perhaps the most noteworthy inclusion will be the introduction of the first Cataclysm, a world-changing event that will bring with it an entirely new experience. During the course of the game’s life new stories, characters and villains will emerge and players will be treated to ongoing excitement and conflicts.
Beyond this press release, what is the critical consensus about the game? Well, it's not great. Right now Metacritic has Anthem sitting at a 61 while OpenCritic is a point lower at 60.

Let's compare that quickly to some other "bad" titles. Mass Effect Andromeda had an OpenCritic score of 72. Fallout 76 had an OpenCritic score of 53. Despite having access to the game since the 15th, I have not yet put enough time into Anthem to make any sort of judgment about the game yet. I'm sure many people have already made up their minds about the game by now anyway.