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Mark Darrah, the executive producer on Dragon Age and BioWare's Destiny-like-maybe-thing Anthem, has listed a couple of ways the upcoming Anthem demo is going to be different to the game that many will be playing come February 22. I mean, it shouldn't come as a massive surprise to most that there are going to be differences, but having them laid out is appreciated.
If you've pre-ordered the game, or subscribe to the publisher's Access program, you'll be able to dabble with the bite-sized portion from this Friday, whilst the rest will have to wait an entire seven days before they get to have a go on BioWare's (potentially) next big series.
Darrah said that the demo starts players in the middle of the game, with no tutorials, and a given character, rather than the ability to customise your own. The developer has also since renamed 'a few things for clarity in the main game', whatever those things are. He also mentioned that the PC controls are 'slightly less nuanced' in the build you can play from this Friday, citing flight controls as one thing in particular that will be better at launch.
So how’s the Anthem demo different from the game?
– we start you in the middle
– no tutorials
– no pilot picker
– balance is super different
– economy is completely different
– 6 weeks less bug fixes
…— Mark Darrah (@BioMarkDarrah) January 19, 2019
There will be one story arc, which means the 'mission / stronghold / freeplay balance will be a bit off,' Darrah said. And, obviously, there'll be a lot more bugs in the demo than there will be in the finished game.
There's no harm in letting your fans know what to expect before they boot up the trial. This type of transparency allows folk to know that what they'll be playing is a taster and not fully representative of the Anthem they'll be paying for. But, you know people. I'm sure there will still be plenty of chatter around the balance and the economy. People, eh!
– with only 1 story arc, I think the mission/stronghold/freeplay balance will be off a bit
– slightly less nuanced PC controls
– we’ve renamed a few things for clarity in the main game— Mark Darrah (@BioMarkDarrah) January 19, 2019
Demos are good, though. I like them. I recently wrote a thing about them, and I think it would be great if we got more and I think it would be great if you read / watched that.
