Article - There's more Bioware in Anthem than you might think

These days it takes a lot for a piece of game journalism to offend me, I mean if you expect rubbish around every corner it's no longer distressing when you actually encounter it. Or as distressing anyway. I think a recent PCgamesN article has done it though, I think I might actually be offended. This guy must really think gamers are utter fools.

So the article is titled "There's more Bioware in Anthem than you might think" and in the article it lists 3 ways Anthem is very Bioware. 

1 - Bioware's roots are in D&D, and what's iconic about D&D games? That's right, towns, and dungeons (Bioware's never been about the "dungeons" but whatever, lets not let pesky facts ruin this person's intoxicating words). Towns are like the party's down time, and dungeons are like the party's battle time. And LOOK AT THAT, Anthem has this as well. You have a hub for down time, and a dangerous wilderness to adventure in. I mean, you can't get more Bioware than this folks. I mean, it's not like JRPGs have been doing this long before Bioware started ahaha ...

2 - Anthem isn't sci-fi but rather science fantasy, which makes the game more Bioware-y. You see, Bioware is a studio of fantasy nerds and Bioware has always chosen to "escape into new worlds rather than explore our own" (not really the difference between fantasy and sci-fi but let's just accept it ... let's try and accept it anyway). He then quotes Flynn as saying “where you see a lot of amazing things happening but we don’t worry too much about why they’re happening or how they’re happening, the science of it." This isn't actually the definition of science fantasy, it's the very definition of "soft science fiction" but once again lets not let pesky facts get in the way, because our intrepid journo immediately launches into his point's conclusion, which is Anthem is "a world of wizards and warriors, simply hand-waved in a different way. The ancient and abandoned Shaper technology that provides the impetus for Anthem’s action is so old and advanced that it’s indistinguishable, you might say, from magic."

For anyone interested, fantasy-magazine defines "science fantasy" as "like hard or soft scifi but mixed with magical or supernatural elements, or that uses alternate or imaginary science and technology that is simply impossible given all known scientific laws, theories and constraints." But I'm sure Anthem's ... pseudo science fantasy has you already sighing with nostalgia, reminded of Bioware's very best.

3 - You play in a party. That's right, apparently the ability to co-op with other people, a staple of every MMORPG and online shooters, will remind you very strongly of Bioware's player controlled companions of yore. 

So Jeremy Peel of PCGamesN has conclusively proved that Anthem feels quite Bioware ... or that he's high on crack. Probably the latter.

www.pcgamesn.com/anthem/anthem-RPG-bioware