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ANTHEM - failed Destiny clone from BioWare

abija

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May 21, 2011
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Milk "chocolate" is like 80 grams of sugar in 100 grams of "chocolate". No wonder the country is so fat. Teh raising see levels my dick. It's the continent being crushed back into the sea.
Sadly, common dark chocolate has ~50% sugar, close to milk (which is like 60% usually). And tards like Lindt even list it per serving (which varies 30g, 50g, instead of usual 100g).

Milka Alpine Milk Chocolate
Typical Values 100 g
Energy 2220 kJ 530 kcal
:shredder:
That 99% Lindt has 540 kcal per 100g btw :p
 

BlackAdderBG

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excellence_cacao_99_.png

:martini:

Tried this one, didn't like it, way to bitter. 70% is the best one.
 

cvv

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Sadly, common dark chocolate has ~50% sugar

Since talking about chocolate is apparently more fun than about the game (or even playing it), why not.
Yep, I know. There's literally no benefit to the common dark chocolate - shitty taste and still buttload of sugar straight into your liver. If I buy chocolate once in a blue moon I only buy 90%. The sugar content is minimal (app. 7%) and the bitterness is still tolerable.

And tards like Lindt even list it per serving (which varies 30g, 50g, instead of usual 100g).

Fortunately in my country they're banned from scumbaggery like that. Everything must be listed for 100 grams of the product.
 

Swigen

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Dec 15, 2018
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Since when is having a ton of sugar in a goddamn candy bar a bad thing? Ya’ll are like, “I only drink 1 beer with 1% alcohol cuz any more is liek, bad for u”.
 

abija

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When it's marketed like healthier version and doesn't even taste sweet. It's also quite a common trap for people with weight issues.
 
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I'm curious how long it is until the stories of development hell start rolling in. It happened with Andromeda and it'll happen here. The only question is when. Irrespective of any opinion on BioWare, I'm guessing a significant chunk of the blame is to be laid on EA for pushing Frostbite, an engine that BioWare has repeatedly stated isn't suitable for RPGs and required massive reworking for both Inquisition and Andromeda. My understanding was that the tactics system wasn't deliberately removed in Inquisition, but that they couldn't get the system working the same way it did in Origins and 2. Frostbite is a notoriously difficult engine to work with, and its origins as a bedrock for multiplayer shooters are readily apparent in every singleplayer game released on Frostbite. They all struggle with enemy spawning. If more enemies need to get added to a fight, they just sort of pop in very awkwardly, like players spawning in a multiplayer game.

Frostbite also seems to currently be pushing hardware to the absolute limit on consoles and it doesn't seem to perform particularly well even on high-end PCs, which might help explain why Anthem has so many baffling design decisions. Can't run through the hub if the engine/hardware combo can't handle the level of detail and the number of NPCs that well (I'd note that most areas in the hub seem to have multiple sets of doors between them, IE, the game is cutting off your line of sight between areas so you can't see it loading stuff in and out), yet the hub doesn't even look all that good. Only being able to see loot after missions and equip things in the hub feels suspiciously like an effort to have the game avoid having to load new loot or a fancy animated character model in the menu that you can look at and slap new items on more than it does some sort of deliberate design choice.

In any case, this train of thought isn't to excuse BioWare or pass the blame. They had 6 years to develop a game with very little content that suffers across the board from issues that other developers have already fixed in the same genre. The netcode is poor, the mission design is trash, and numerous elements of the story barely even felt like they held up to the writing standards of Andromeda. It's an introduction to a new sci-fi universe, and yet the story is completely uninterested in exploring said universe, instead exploring a bunch of characters that feel more like the characters of a bad BioWare fanfiction. The rejects from a bunch of stories that you fine folk on the Codex already hate. The flying is way more fun than I thought it was going to be, and blasting the generic bad guys is a surprisingly good time, but that doesn't last long in and of itself especially when the enemy and boss design is so bland. I'd ask what went wrong, but between using a bad engine and an apparent lack of developer talent, Anthem seems like it was doomed from the get-go.

I'd comment that they might be able to patch it into health and that this is a calculated "early-access" release, but BioWare claimed they were going to fix Andromeda and they got abandoned in weeks. EA seems to want the games-as-a-service model without actually having to support their games.
 

fantadomat

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Yeah,frostbite is really shitty engine made for popamole shooting and to look nice. There isn't a single good game made with it. For fuck sake even unity is better and at least give a chance to devs to make a good game.
 

Correct_Carlo

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I got this free with my 2080. I probably never would have bought it otherwise (at least not at full price), but I'm having an OK time with it. As a disclaimer, I've never played Titanfall, which everyone says it rips off, so the gameplay of Anthem is probably "newer" to me than it might be for others. Some general impressions:

-Story and characters are much more involved than your typical Monster Hunter style, co-op focused, semi-MMO. However, they are much less involved than your typical Bioware game. All the characters are in a main hub, and you interact with them mostly to get quests. A few of the characters are interesting, given those restrictions, but thus far the character archs haven't been terribly complex. Also, the plot and characters seem entirely disconnected from the gameplay. Unlike most Bioware games, the missions themselves are almost entirely story free, involving no interactive elements beyond straight combat. This is probably the game's biggest flaw, as a character will give you a quest that sounds awesome, only for you to discover that it's another slightly altered version of Quest Template 12.B.

-Combat is great fun, especially the flying, which I've still yet to get sick of. The various javelin classes are different enough to make different builds and play styles relevant. The game is also pretty difficult at times, but mostly just in freeplay. I've yet to be wiped playing co-op, but maybe the difficulty will increase.

-Missions are OK excuses for the combat, but they all tend to be fairly samey. As I said above, while the missions are all justified via the plot, they feel very divorced from it. There will occasionally be a story related cut scene in the middle of a mission, but after that, you typically revert back to one of the 5 or 6 mission types that are repeated throughout the game.

-I don't feel like I am deep enough into the game to fully evaluate its crafting and loot system yet, but I do like that there is a wide variety power ups that make significant changes to your build. However, I dislike that you basically end up changing everything you have out after every single mission, just because your loot is outleveled so fast. Not sure how this will be handled end game.

-There is a faction and loyalty system. Thus far, it doesn't seem to make a huge difference in terms of C&C. Gaining loyalty with one faction will unlock missions and perks, but it doesn't seem to exclude you from gaining loyalty with another faction. I'm too early into the game to tell, though.

-Graphics are gorgeous, but the game is incredibly unstable and seems to have issues with CPU usage. I will be cruising at 100FPS, only to turn a corner and suddenly my CPU usage spikes to 100%, my GPU drops to 50%, and my FPS tank to 50. Generally, my average FPS ranges from 70-100, but the game feels way choppier than it should be with FPS that high, and there are huge oscillations between highs and lows. Other people have reported having the CPU issue, so it's definitely an issue they will need to fix.

My assessment:

It's not shit. It has fun combat and the story is slightly more interesting than most games of its type, but the gameplay is repetitive and it hasn't really done anything yet that's made it move from "a pleasant diversion" to "must play."
 

The_Mask

Just like Yves, I chase tales.
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The averadge Joe gave it a
4/10
and has obviously forgotten that Mass Effect 3 had a hoard mode too.

He also poses the very valid question: "What has Bioware done these past 6 years?"

In any case, here it is (beware - it is a *very* long review):

 

Correct_Carlo

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Played a lot more tonight. Story and characters get better as it goes. I don't think there's enough variety that I see myself playing indefinitely as an MMO, but it's perfectly fine being played as just a single player game (with random MP co-op). Also, I started playing in borderless fullscreen mode and all of the weird CPU spikes and framerate issues disappeared. True fullscreen didn't agree with my system.

As a disclaimer, I've never played Titanfall, which everyone says it rips off,
fucking wut

I meant Warframe. Or maybe Destiny? I get games I've never played confused. Personally, "Anthem" reminds me more of "Monster Hunter," only with flying, guns, and more plot.
 
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PhantasmaNL

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That 99% Lindt has 540 kcal per 100g btw :p

Since pure 100% powder has 379kcal/100g (just checked it), that 1% 'other ingredients' in Lindt must be extra special GMO radioactive lard or something.

1 gram of the stuff contains 161kcal.

And although probably unhealthy, this miracle compound could solve world hunger.
 

Turjan

Arcane
Joined
Mar 31, 2008
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That 99% Lindt has 540 kcal per 100g btw :p

Since pure 100% powder has 379kcal/100g (just checked it), that 1% 'other ingredients' in Lindt must be extra special GMO radioactive lard or something.

1 gram of the stuff contains 161kcal.

And although probably unhealthy, this miracle compound could solve world hunger.
Cocoa powder is usually highly de-oiled. 99% cocoa means a mix of cocoa mass, cocoa powder and cocoa butter. You need the latter to make chocolate. Cocoa mass (ground cocoa beans) itself is also roughly 53% cocoa butter. Cocoa naturally contains tons of fat.

Ironically, a chocolate with much more sugar would probably be the diet option (I use that term loosely) here.
 
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Loostreaks

Learned
Joined
Mar 28, 2018
Messages
103
Personally, "Anthem" reminds me more of "Monster Hunter," only with flying, guns, and more plot.

Wuuuuut?
MH is all about taking down these unique, big ass monsters using a variety of tools/weapons...they have their own AI, resistances, extensive movesets, etc, etc. There is huge depth and variety there, and it's very satisfying when you succeed.. making the "grind" feel worthwhile.
Anthem has...Ash Titans ( big and smaller versions), gorilla boss, Giant spider, and nothing else really. Look generic, play exactly the same, very simple to fight, have lame/cheap attacks to only prolong it ( summon swarms, fire wave, etc): fly + shoot, spam powers, rinse repeat...it's completely braindead/tedious.
There is no depth or engaging mechanics here: entire "fun" factor comes from visual flash and



Anthem is too late to the party with too little to show for. Even next to Destiny/Division which at least had PvP to keep it's playerbase (with Warframe, there is no comparison).
 

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