‘Anthem’ creators give sneak peek at “Mass Effect-themed armor

BioWare’s Anthem moves away from the semi-realistic science fiction of the Mass Effect series in favor of something more fantasy-oriented, and it puts a great focus on action, but that doesn’t mean the studio has forgotten its roots. In fact, to celebrate the latter series’ “N7 Day,” we got a look at some Mass Effect-themed armor coming to Anthem.

Anthem lead producer Michael Gamble posted a picture showing off some sleek N7 armor in “Fort Tarsis,” one of the game’s locations. The character appears to be using the “Interceptor” Javelin armor, which is the fastest of the bunch.

They celebrate #N7day in Fort Tarsis too! pic.twitter.com/kOkOHo1dyl

— Michael Gamble (@GambleMike) November 7, 2018

This will likely not be the only Mass Effect Javelin included in Anthem, as there are multiple different Javelins available with wildly different abilities. The “Ranger” is a jack-of-all-trades suit, while the “Storm” excels at flying and long-range combat. Perhaps the most intimidating is the “Colossus,” which resembles a mech and deals out massive damage from both close and afar. You’ll start the game using the Ranger, but others are unlocked over time, so you won’t be locked down as players are when picking a class at the beginning of a traditional MMO or role-playing game.

In an N7 Day video, BioWare hinted that the Mass Effect franchise could return, despite the mixed reception Andromeda got in 2017. Andromeda just received a new patch for Xbox One X, as well, with HDR and better resolution.

“[N7 Day] means coming into the studio every day, dreaming about what the next great Mass Effect game will be.”

This seems to be a course reversal for what BioWare and Electronic Arts were reportedly planning in the past. Following Andromeda‘s release, we heard that team members at studio BioWare Montreal were being reassigned to EA Motive to help with Star Wars: Battlefront II. BioWare is also working on another Dragon Age game, with executive producer Mark Darrah splitting his time between it and Anthem.

Anthem will arrive to PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC on February 22, 2019. It will release in an extremely crowded month that will also include Metro: Exodus, Crackdown 3, Dead or Alive 6, Jump Force, and Trials Rising, though competing game Days Gone was recently bumped out of its planned February 22 launch date.