Anthem dev stream shows open world roaming, combat, and a snazzy cape

Watch lead producers Mike Gamble and Ben Irving zoom around Anthem's extremely pretty open world. We get to see a lot of the Storm Javelin, a glass cannon archetype that can float and summon lightning storms. An explanatory post on the Anthem site shows how you can use lightning storms to set up combos with other Javelins. 

The other Javelin is an Interceptor, the fastest of the four classes. If you want to see more of what that can do check out this video overview of each Javelin's ultimate.

There's plenty of combat in the stream, but it looks more fun just to fly around that vertiginous world. The devs discuss the suits' abilities, weapons, and customisation options, including builds that let you specialise in different play styles. 

We're only a few months away from Anthem's release on February 22. Pre-orders promise access to a playable demo on February 1, and there are various other ways to get in early detailed here. Considering we're so close to launch, the game is still a mystery in many ways. What's the story like? What's the city hub like? How will loot work? Hopefully future streams will dig into more of the gritty details.

Tom Senior

Part of the UK team, Tom was with PC Gamer at the very beginning of the website's launch—first as a news writer, and then as online editor until his departure in 2020. His specialties are strategy games, action RPGs, hack ‘n slash games, digital card games… basically anything that he can fit on a hard drive. His final boss form is Deckard Cain.