Anthem Hands-On Beta Review: 5 Ups & 5 Downs

4. Isolated "Story Hub" Works Surprisingly Well

For the longest time, Bioware have been touting a "meaningful" story in Anthem that would still be recognisable as something by the same team that brought you the likes of Mass Effect and Dragon Age.

Sadly, there are a lot of NPCs in the beta who you can't interact with until the full release, but the genius idea here is to isolate any multiplayer session as you get loaded into a first-person environment instead. Here the game can serve up in-game cutscenes with meaningful story characters, let you take your time drinking in the phenomenal art direction, and customise your Javelin without party members rushing you along.

Honestly, for as much as Anthem's overall gameplay is rooted in large-scale skirmishes and interaction with other players, loading into something that feels like a township from The Elder Scrolls is the closest any developer has come to walking both sides of the single and multiplayer divide.