EABioWare are a fantastic studio known for a string of incredible RPG titles. Mass Effect, Knights of the Old Republic, Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood, to name just a few.
Yes, that last one is an RPG starring Sonic the Hedgehog by the way. And yes, it is actually really bloody great, because BioWare made it.
Unfortunately BioWare’s latest release – the Destiny-like online shoot and loot RPG Anthem – isn’t quite hitting the mark for fans or critics.
EA A couple of days ago it was reported that the game’s week one physical sales were down 50 per cent on BioWare’s last game, Mass Effect Andromeda – and it’s worth noting that that game didn’t have sales to scream about either.
It’s now been pointed out that as of today, Anthem is officially BioWare’s worst reviewed game, at least according to reviews aggregation website Metacritic.
Over on Metacritic, BioWare’s latest has an average score of 60, based on 52 reviews. It also has a user score of 4.4 based on 2,453 reviews from fans. For comparison, Mass Effect Andromeda is BioWare’s second lowest-rated game and has an average score of 72 with a user rating of 4.9.
60 certainly isn’t an awful score, but it’s not what anyone expected from a studio who put out games like Mass Effect 2 (Metacritic score 94) and Dragon Age: Origins (91).
EAIt seems very much as if BioWare were pushed into creating the kind of game they didn’t particularly want to make. Indeed, the live service nature of Anthem is worlds apart from the story driven, single player experiences they usually deliver, and the scores reflect that.
Anthem has been criticised for everything from long loading screens and numerous bugs to dull and repetitive missions.
It’s worth pointing out, however, that the main consensus isn’t of anger or upset, but of disappointment that a studio known for such great games has released something that has fallen so flat.
EAWith a new Dragon Age on the horizon, I’m confident BioWare will redeem themselves when they get back to doing what they do best.
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Ewan Moore is a journalist at UNILAD Gaming who still quite hasn’t gotten out of his mid 00’s emo phase. After graduating from the University of Portsmouth in 2015 with a BA in Journalism & Media Studies (thanks for asking), he went on to do some freelance words for various places, including Kotaku, Den of Geek, and TheSixthAxis, before landing a full time gig at UNILAD in 2016.