Watch almost 20 minutes of Anthem, including a boss fight against a freaky giant spider

A few minutes of Anthem being played were the highlight EA's E3 2018 press conference, but that was just an aperitif next to this nearly 20-minute chunk of Anthem footage that EA just shared. It's actually pulled from the same Anthem demo that we played at E3 with the addition of running commentary from lead producer Ben Irving. While you can't experience the entire appeal of those scrumptiously satisfying flight mechanics through video alone, you have our word that they feel as good as they look.

We get to see plenty of flight throughout the demo - hovering, flying, swooping under waterfalls to cool off the Javelin's overheating thrusters. Don't worry if you're more into fighting than flying, there's plenty of that too. The gameplay footage shows off the many combat possibilities of the Colossus, a heavy firepower Javelin. That's especially exciting because we've mostly seen gameplay of the all-rounder Ranger suit before now.

The team of Freelancers we follow in the demo isn't just out there to do loop-de-loops and blow up boulders (which is totally what I'd do if I had a flying robot suit), they're out to destroy a Stronghold - basically a dungeon, which in this case is filled with foreboding-looking eggs. Yup, that there's a boss teaser; in this case it's a behemoth called the Swarm Tyrant (ugh), a giant spider who commands her oodles of spiderling children throughout the fight. We're gonna need a bigger boot...

Looking for more stuff to keep you busy while you wait for Anthem to arrive? Check out our list of the best open-world games!