BioWare's Anthem is a "science fantasy" like Star Wars
Definitely not like Mass Effect.
BioWare's new IP, Anthem is set to be "science fantasy" more like Star Wars rather than "hardcore science fiction" like Mass Effect, boss Aaryn Flynn has revealed. In an interview with CBC, Flynn spoke about how the game compares to the company's previous work.
"It's in a genre we call science fantasy, very much like Star Wars, very much like the Marvel Universe. You see a lot of amazing things happening but we don't worry too much about why they are happening or how they are happening; the science of it."
BioWare is not a rookie to the "science fantasy" genre, having developed the RPG Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and the popular MMO Star Wars: The Old Republic. But what makes it different than the Mass Effect series?
"Mass Effect is more a real hard core science fiction IP. [Anthem] is much more about just having fun in a game world that is really lush and exotic and really sucks you in."
In other words, it is looking likely that Anthem will not have the nitty-gritty science explanations that the Mass Effect series had, such as the codex. Instead, there may be stronger resemblance to Destiny. Destiny was initially pitched as a "mythic sci-fi", with a similar disregard for logic. EA stating that Anthem will be "the start of maybe a 10-year journey for us" also echoes Bungie's decade long deal with Activision. With Destiny 2 being released in September this year, there will definitely be parallels drawn between the two, whether BioWare likes it or not.
Announced at E3 2017, Anthem will be BioWare's first new game series since Dragon Age in 2009. Players will take on the role of a Freelancer, a human fighting to protect and save humanity whilst exploring the game's vast open world. With a large emphasis on cooperative game play, and an Xbox One X release, Anthem looks set to be both visually and technically impressive.
Anthem is due autumn 2018 on PC, PS4 and Xbox One.