It would be easy to write off the bewildering state that Anthem is in as the result of video game design by committee. Bioware’s mech-powered looter shooter is publisher EA’s attempt at building a persistent shared world in the vein of Destiny, full of modern gaming trends and pitfalls. Live service! Loot! Multiplayer! Microtransactions!

A constantly shifting and updating pursuit that keeps players happy as they pump bullets into enemies and get shiny rewards and fresh new content in return. And one that keeps game-makers happy as its fans consistently drop a few quid on new helmets to keep the whole thing sustainable. What on earth are Bioware, one of the industry’s premier single-player RPG craftspeople, doing with such a game? Phooey.

But on paper, Anthem should be a winner. Destiny, despite its own stumbles, has proven that there is a distinct pleasure to the cadence of a well-crafted loot shoot. Pair that with Bioware’s storied history of world-building in games such as Mass Effect and Dragon Age and experience with long-running online universes such as Star Wars: The Old Republic and it all makes sense. What could possibly go wrong?

Quite a lot, it turns out. Anthem is a bafflingly fragmented experience. A game that seems at war with itself. The things that it does right are so right; that it makes what it does wrong all the more frustrating.