The first major presentation of E3, EA Play 2018, showcased the studio’s upcoming games. Many of EA’s usual suspects (including NBA Live, Madden, and FIFA) were front and center, as were unexpected announcements like Unravel 2 and Sea of Solitude. Everyone and their grandmother knew EA would reveal more information on the upcoming BioWare game Anthem, but nobody quite expected the Internet’s response to be, “Where have I seen this before? Oh, right: Destiny.”
EA wanted to save the best for last. It hyped Anthem with a little teaser at the beginning of the presentation, provided some new gameplay, and even gave the audience a semi-Q & A with the developers. However, instead of giving praise and adulation, audience members have responded with a bunch of disappointed Tweets claiming Anthem will be a repeat of Destiny/Destiny 2. Given the games’ middling reviews, that is a worse insult than you think:
Anthem is just boneless Destiny.
I said it.
Despacito.
— Papi Memes 🐝🇩🇴 🔜E3 (@SavinTheBees) June 9, 2018
Ah. So. Anthem is a third-person Destiny.
— Stephen Ford (@StephenSeanFord) June 9, 2018
EA's conference in a nutshell
''WE TRY, BARELY''
''HERE'S A BATTLE ROYAL MODE THOUGH,AND SPORTS
YOU KNOW YOU LOVE EM''''ANTHEM IS NOT DESTINY WE SWEAR''#E32018 #EAPLAY
— Zee (E3 Hype) 🎮 (@heelmasamune) June 9, 2018
"we designed anthem so that we could add more to the game in the years to come…" Translation: SEASON PASS, OVERLY EXPENSIVE DLC, LACK OF STORY AT THE START…. So yeah, destiny
— David Devlin (@DavidSDevlin) June 9, 2018
Several commenters even have gone one step further to sarcastically call Anthem the third entry in the Destiny franchise:
It's cool how in Destiny 3 you can fly and swim and stuff.#Anthem
— Erik Kain (@erikkain) June 9, 2018
anthem more like destiny 3
— not glacier (@notglacier) June 9, 2018
Destiny 3 looks amazing…. Oh I mean Anthem.
— JSN MUZIK (@JsinG604) June 9, 2018
Anthem is being compared to more than just Destiny. A few users mentioned the free-to-play game Warframe since Anthem, like Warframe, will revolve around using different suits of power armor. Sure, Warframe has a metric ton more suits (and a unique art style), but many can’t help but see similarities, myself included:
warframe + destiny = Anthem ?
Parece Bom
— Leonardo Oliveira (@xcapimBr) June 9, 2018
Destiny + Warframe = Anthem ???
Sorta underwhelmed tbh.
— hush (@BlameHush) June 9, 2018
Why y’all Bullshittin ….I’ll cop DAYS GONE ….any day over Anthem in February….Anthem really looking like destiny /warframe …same classes….same. Skin as warframe n y’all hype ..
— Evil Within 1….GOAT (@YepWeOut) June 9, 2018
Not everyone is a negative nelly, though. While the majority of commenters think Anthem will suck, some are confident the game will surprise audiences in a good way. If Anthem can succeed where Destiny failed, players will regain confidence in BioWare, and after the disappointment of Mass Effect: Andromeda, the studio is in dire need of gamer approval:
#Anthem gives me a lot of Destiny vibes, but I feel Anthem will succeed where Destiny failed. Neth’s two cents $ #E32018
— Spidey-Neth (@Nethilez) June 9, 2018
anthem is gonna be destiny 3 but with actual fun gameplay
— dante 💢 (@hqxed) June 9, 2018
People calling Anthem a “Destiny killer” like that’s even hard
— Graham Stark (@Graham_LRR) June 9, 2018
real talk: I DONT GIVE A SINGLE SHIT ABOUT HOW SIMILAR ANTHEM LOOKS TO DESTINY. IT LOOKS FUCKING RAD AS HELL AND IM GONNA GET IT.
— The Shame Goblin (@Occams_Lazer) June 9, 2018
Let’s hope Anthem has actually interesting lore in game unlike Destiny 😒
— 🌼Tazmin🌼 (@Tazmin98) June 9, 2018
Feb 22nd 2019 Anthem! Well done on this one @EA and @bioware looking really good! And huge thanks for no ridiculous lootbox progression! Can't wait! Looks like a more vertical more alive wildlife destiny!
— Joe Vargas (@AngryJoeShow) June 9, 2018
What if Anthem just nails it and does everything Destiny doesn’t. Just throwing hypos out here
— Bunni 🍆💦 @ E3 (@ActaBunniFooFoo) June 9, 2018
Just gonna say this right f’n now. @Anthemgame is what I wanted Destiny to be. To each their own, happy for those who enjoy what they do, but this, this is the melding of sci-fi, magic and myth, suffused with lore and a true open world that set my heart alight years ago! #Anthem
— Interactive Artistry (@InterArtistry) June 9, 2018
Anthem looks like what Destiny should have been imo. REALLY like the way it looks, hoping it plays as good as it looks #0# #E32018
— 🌟MIC🌟 (@MicDaMicrophone) June 9, 2018
One of the biggest concerns several gamers have with Anthem isn’t that it resembles Destiny (that’s still a major concern) but that it doesn’t resemble other BioWare games. The studio has developed some of the best RPGs in gaming history, including Mass Effect, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Neverwinter Nights, and Jade Empire. All of Anthem’s gameplay trailers focus on the gunplay and mechs, not the RPG mechanics that make BioWare games so beloved, which is a red flag to many gamers:
Anthem looks like more of a competitor to Monster Hunter and Warfame rather than Destiny
No demo of loot, dungeons/raids, or how end game progression will work. Kind of a missed opportunity. Visually the game looks great but ehhhh
— Gigz (@T1gigz) June 9, 2018
Report: Anthem Will Not Resemble a Bioware Game At All. It is Just Destiny All Over Again.
— Destroy All Statues (@sadhourglass) June 9, 2018
Hate to be that guy, but Anthem isn't moving me at all. Just looks like another generic Destiny type game. Not the Bioware stuff I'm used to, and want. Sorry guys, but I need to see way more.
— Fonz (@JFonzerrelli) June 9, 2018
You could spend all day scouring the Internet for responses and reactions to the E3 Anthem presentation, and most will likely repeat each other. However, some Tweets stand out, such as this one that will tickle the fancy of anyone who has ever played an instrument or joined a band:
Anthem, EA's Destiny killer, hopes to arrive just in time to lay down next to Bungie's bones. Will change name to "Dirge."
— Plague Of Gripes (@PlagueOfGripes) June 9, 2018
As will this Tweet involving a bingo card, because apparently Anthem wasn’t the only thing people disliked about the EA Play presentation:
D O U B L E B I N G O !
But honestly, what else do you expect from EA? Unravel and that demon girl game are cute. Anthem is like…. Halo/Destiny/Warframe/Titanfall with a hint of Metroid design? I need more gameplay, please. Sportsball is sportsball. Grieve reveal is best.
— Risa Hunt (@Pelikuni) June 9, 2018
And lets not forget this Tweet featuring a clip from the ever meme-able 1967 Spider-Man cartoon:
When Destiny sees Anthem on the street #EAPlay
— KijanaMurphy (@kjmurphhyy) June 9, 2018
What is your opinion about Anthem? Do you think it resembles Destiny? Are you concerned about a general lack of RPG elements? Will you buy the game anyway because you’re a sucker for mechs and power armor? We’d like to know.
