E3 2018: Watch Bioware's Anthem trailer, new gameplay

EA showed off a new trailer and a second gameplay demo for Anthem, Bioware's hotly-anticipated multiplayer RPG, at the EA Play event at E3 2018. This is the second E3 reveal for Anthem, and watching both clips below, you may get a sense of deja vu for the footage that was shown at E3 2017.

Anthem marks a big departure for Bioware, a studio that made its name off of the Knights of the Old Republic, Dragon Age and Mass Effect franchises. Instead of being a story-based single player RPG with occasional multiplayer elements, Anthem is more akin to Destiny or The Division. All three titles feature large worlds full of combat opportunities, means for players to join up or fight each other and a keen focus on the accrual of loot above all else.

The heart of Anthem's premise is a world left unfinished by the gods, who left behind various powerful tools on a far-flung planet. The Anthem of Creation, a mysterious object, creates conflict with those tools that takes shape in the form of storms, creatures, evolving environments and more. To combat those creatures and survive those storms, humanity uses Javelins: The fancy power armor that will give players their toolset to interact with the world.

The Ranger Javelin, for instance, is a generalist. The Colossus Javelin, on the other hand, is slow and heavy while packing more potent weaponry. You can probably guess that the rest of the Javelins will fall within familiar RPG archetypes, with others focusing on speed or special attacks.

Bioware said they aim to have that conflict dynamically impact the world for all players, in the form of events experienced by all. Trailers and demos have shown massive storms, but other ways in which those dynamic elements interact with players have yet to be showcased.

With Anthem, Bioware's looking to add more of a story focus to the familiar massive multiplayer shooter template. Its initial reveal, after all, began with a story sequence. But promising and delivering are two different things, and Anthem is under particular scrutiny given EA's recent controversies over its monetization of multiplayer games, and Bioware's disappointing efforts with Mass Effect: Andromeda.

During E3 2018, Bioware confirmed that microtransactions would be in the game, but would be solely based on cosmetic items. So no loot boxes or no gameplay-impacting boosters, at least from what we've been told so far.

Contrary to a report that emerged right before EA's event, Anthem will be out on PS4, Xbox One and PC February 22, 2019.

This is a developing story. Watch the EA press conference here for real-time updates.