‘Anthem’ E3 2017 Gameplay Was Real & In-Engine, Single-Player Confirmed By BioWare

Anthem was one of E3 2017’s biggest reveals, but its gorgeous gameplay demo has left some fans feeling a suspicious. Can this game really look that stunning in 4K on Xbox One X? According to some of BioWare Edmonton’s directors and designers, the answer to that question is a definitive yes.

Shortly after the game’s reveal, designer Corey Gaspur tweeted that he was seeing “lots of questions [asking] if the Anthem demo was real gameplay.” He said “it’s real, in-engine and playable,” adding that “Frostbite delivers on visuals.”

For those unaware of Frostbite, it’s the internal graphics engine of Electronic Arts that’s been widely adopted for the publisher’s titles since 2008. While originally intended as a showcase for first-person shooters like Battlefield, Frostbite 3 is now leveraged in almost all EA and EA Sports titles from Madden to FIFA to Battlefield 1 and Star Wars Battlefront II. As an in-house creator at EA, Gaspur is merely proud of the proprietary technology he gets to mess around with.

He’s not alone in expressing this sentiment either. When one fan suggested concerns about a possible graphics downgrade prior to Anthem’s scheduled release in late 2018, director Jonathan Warner replied “this is playable, don’t worry.”

Considering Anthem’s gameplay focused entirely on multiplayer, another popular subject was how single-player might figure into the larger experience. Given the studio’s past pedigree with the Mass Effect trilogy and Knights Of The Old Republic, gamers are hungry for that same narrative-heavy majesty that carried every game in those franchises to greatness.

Read: Electronic Arts Shows Off Machine Learning Division At E3 2017

According to Gaspur, those worries are also a non-issue. “The SP experience is very important to us,” he assured one inquisitive follower. He also added that “that type of detailed information will come sooner to launch.” In a similar vein, he also confirmed “the game is designed so that you can enjoy an amazing BioWare story and explore an incredible open world alone or with friends.”

With regard to graphics, however, there’s reason for gamers to feel unsure. Not only does Anthem’s demo look particularly amazing, but it also wouldn’t be the first current-gen game to receive a serious graphical downgrade before release. Two of the most popular examples of this include Ubisoft’s The Division and the original Watch Dogs. As much as we’d like to believe, just because a demo is preceded by text that labels footage as “in-engine gameplay,” it hasn’t always told the true story of what the final product will offer.

In Anthem, the player takes control of a character called a Freelancer that has the capability of piloting a futuristic mech suit called a Javelin. These Javelins can be segmented into various classes including a lightweight Ranger and heavier Colossus. The experience offers shared-world multiplayer, and BioWare has tapped Microsoft, and its new Xbox One X, for a multi-platform marketing partnership.

Anthem is scheduled to release on Xbox One, PC and PS4 in late 2018.

Do you think Anthem’s E3 gameplay demo will be representative of the final game? Are we looking at another downgrade candidate? Tell us in the comments section!