Anthem

Anthem is a shared-world action RPG set in a vast landscape filled with advanced technology and forgotten treasures. As a Freelancer, you’re called in to battle savage beasts, ruthless marauders, and forces determined to conquer humanity.

A renowned Freelancer named Haluk gathers an army of Freelancers to enter the Heart of Rage and deactivate the Cenotaph. Among them is the player’s unnamed character, a rookie on their first mission, accompanied by Faye—Haluk’s wife and a Cypher. Early in the operation, the other Freelancers are killed. Faye orders a retreat, and the player evacuates an injured Haluk. The disastrous failure shatters public faith in the Freelancers, whose ranks are left decimated. Two years later, the player has settled in Fort Tarsis, a frontier city between the Heart of Rage and Antium, Bastion’s capital. Working with a young Cypher named Owen, the player survives by taking modest Freelancer contracts for locals. Owen dreams of becoming a Freelancer, even though his psychic abilities make piloting a Javelin difficult. A Corvus agent named Tassyn hires the player to locate a spy who vanished while undercover with a smuggling gang called the Regulators. At a ruined Regulator hideout, they encounter a Dominion leader known as The Monitor. A powerful Cypher and skilled Javelin pilot, The Monitor took part in the assault on Freemark that created the Heart of Rage. He kills Tassyn’s spy and claims a hidden Shaper relic. Tassyn concludes the Dominion is collecting relics to attempt reaching the Cenotaph again, and she rehires the player to reach it first. She also notes that Haluk and Faye have spent two years developing a new plan to deactivate the Cenotaph, and brings them into the mission. Haluk and Faye believe the only Javelin that can survive the Heart of Rage is General Tarsis’s legendary Javelin of Dawn. Following clues in the tombs of Tarsis’s Legionnaires, they find Tarsis’s secret tomb. Inside, the player obtains Tarsis’s signet, a key to the Fortress of Dawn—site of her last stand and the resting place of the Javelin of Dawn. At the Temple of Dawn, the player faces trials of skill and resolve. After reenacting Tarsis’s final battle, an apparition of General Tarsis judges the player worthy as a Legionnaire of Dawn and grants access to her Javelin. Before the player can claim it, their own Javelin freezes. Owen appears, admitting he sabotaged the player’s Javelin so he can take the Javelin of Dawn for himself. He intends to accept The Monitor’s offer to spare Fort Tarsis in exchange for help securing the Javelin, and he accuses the player of holding him back from becoming a true Freelancer. Before leaving in the Javelin of Dawn, Faye scans its unique shielding module—the Shield of Dawn—hoping to duplicate it so the player can enter the Heart of Rage in their own Javelin. Haluk and Faye successfully build a copy of the Shield of Dawn, but they cannot activate it. Tassyn arrives with urgent news: the Dominion is closing in on the Heart of Rage. She also reveals she hired the player at Faye’s request to replace Haluk as a Javelin pilot. Furious, Haluk flies to the Fortress of Dawn to find a way to activate the Shield of Dawn, but the Dominion ambushes him. The player arrives to discover Haluk was saved by Owen, who apologizes for his betrayal. As an offering of peace, Owen gives up his own Shield of Dawn and departs. With the Shield of Dawn activated on their Javelin, the player returns to the Heart of Rage while Faye and Haluk provide remote support. Deep inside, the player learns The Monitor has used the conduit to merge with the Anthem, and must defeat him in battle. After The Monitor dies, Faye uses her powers to deactivate the Cenotaph and close the Heart of Rage. During celebrations in Fort Tarsis, Tassyn pulls the player aside to reveal a newly discovered Urgoth corpse—recently killed within Bastion’s borders. Fearing another crisis, she asks the player to be ready to help again.