Owning the EA pass has many benefits. One of them is being able to give new releases a 10 hour trial the week before release. Ever since Destiny let me down and drained my wallet with underwhelming DLCs (saving that rant for another article or podcast), I’ve wanted another mmo shooter to play with the other Dad’s that have traded nights out for precious game time. Anthem is the first game that has created the same buzz that Destiny had prior to its release. So a couple of the Dad’s and I started our trials and played a bit of what some are thinking will be the game of the year.

The first thing you notice is the heavy theme of the game, with music reminiscent of the first Halo. After lots of loading you start the game and enter a decently long cut scene explaining the lore of the game. I’m not going to go into what the story is, but I will stay it peaked my interest. One thing Destiny proved is how important the writing of a story arc can be to a game. Anthem has an original idea and from what I can tell after 10 hours played it has me interested.

The shooting style is third person that very much has a Gears of War feel. Being third person leaves them open for all kinds of armor customization that includes daily and weekly micro-purchases that has made the makers of Fortnite rich beyond belief. The shooting was smooth and the animations were decent. The mechanics of the fights become real interesting with the ability to boost and fly. Once you get a feel for the controls it is really fun to jump around a map shooting npcs.

Being able to fly is pretty fun. Until your pack overheats and you find yourself having to run like a peasant. While you are in the air you really get to see the amazing landscapes Anthem has to offer. I have a OneX and get to enjoy it in 4K which looks stellar. The flight mechanics are pretty smooth and I can see how this will keep the game interesting for some time. Overall the gameplay was really enjoyable.

There were some downsides however. The loadout screen known as the forge is a bit overwhelming and a nuisance. I’m sure once you get some real game time in that it will be easier to navigate but it will still have some issues. As you get new weapons you have to go to the forge to equip them. This process involves multiple load screens. After doing that to try out a few guns that you will end up scraping will become tiresome and annoying.

You don’t get thru too much of the game in a 10 hour trial but it’s enough to get a feel for the game. After the trial run I am not completely hooked but I am still interested enough to purchase the game and play it out. It will be interesting to see what they patch after release and the direction they take the game in. I don’t purchase games often since I have the EA pass and the XBox Game Pass, but the mmo aspect that keeps me in touch with busy friends combined with a unique story and top notch game play will pry the 60 USD out of my hand.