BioWare/EA Announces New Title: "Anthem"

E3 is happening and we're being deluged with news of upcoming titles from all our favorite developers.  My social media feeds have been overwhelmed with articles about a new title from BioWare called Anthem.  A short, teaser-type trailer was released that gives us a first glimpse into this new game.  Here it is...just in case you're living under a dark, dark rock and haven't seen it bandied about:

Here's where I'm going to admit that my initial gut reaction was not great--to me this looks like a Destinty-esque/Titanfall wannabe--another run of the mill multiplayer shoot em' up and something that seems definitively un-BioWare like.  As someone who's not a big fan of multiplayer and prefers the story-rich, character focused style of a BioWare RPG I am still a little stunned at what seems to be a very clear departure.

Maybe I'm wrong for not applauding them for looking to branch out into different genres, but that's how I felt when I saw this.  Maybe the shenanigans that were Mass Effect:  Andromeda were leading to this?  I felt like the combat in ME: A was one of the stronger parts of the game and was a core part of the game that I enjoyed.  But....it's...just...so not the BioWare I know and whose games have brought me hundreds of hours of ecstatic gaming (somewhat less with Andromeda--which I didn't hate, but was a tad disappointed--read here).

I would love to see BioWare go back to the table and create a smashing follow-up to Dragon Age: Inquisition (which I enjoyed--I know that some people did not dig it so much) rather than focus on something that seems so run of the mill.  But can series like Dragon Age or Mass Effect last forever?  Maybe it's time to move on to something new?

 Anthem is being described as an "action/adventure" game rather than an RPG (but, apparently with flavors of BioWare's signature story/character style--at least according to this article).   It remains to be seen if this blend of genres will work.  I, for one, am a little skeptical.