Anthem Review: 4 Ups & 9 Downs

1. The Ending & Post-Game Are TERRIBLE

Again, no spoilers here, but if you're hoping that Anthem ends its main story on a high, prepare to be disappointed.

Though the final mission and climactic boss fight are actually pretty fun for the most part, the concluding battle sadly ends on a guffaw-inducing whimper, needlessly wrestling control from the players' hand and forcing them to watch a goofy, tonally jarring FMV instead. Then the game just ends abruptly, as though the production ran out of time and/or money.

And as for the much-debated post-game content, there really isn't much to speak of at all. Without ruining things, it's pretty close to nothing unless you love, love, love grinding, and though EA has promised that more game is coming, it's again laughable just how little effort they've put into giving players an incentive to keep playing past the first few days.

If you thought the likes of Destiny and The Division bungled their day-one post-game offerings, they both seem positively nuanced and complex compared to Anthem's scant proposition.

Basically, if you were thinking of buying this game to pour hundreds of hours into it, you might want to rethink it.

So, Anthem is an undeniable let-down, then, but it doesn't screw everything up. Despite its many shortcomings, here's everything it gets right...