Developer: Firewalk Studios
Platforms: PC, PS5 (Reviewed)
Genre: Action, Hero Shooter, Shooter
Publisher: Sony Interactive Entertainment
Concord is the latest first-person shooter to graze the genre. Released by Sony, this 5 v 5 hero shooter is looking to cement its place in the following genre of online shooter games and embed itself in the imagination of gamers all over. It’s available on Steam, Windows, and PS5. This review is for the PS5 version. The game is priced at 40 USD.
This game has strikingly superb space and sci-fi visuals throughout, and it leverages the set of characters, who are a wide range of heroes you can control in this 5v5 mayhem of FPS. The visuals and cutscenes resemble something you would find in a blockbuster movie.
The game itself is a bright, hero-inspired-person (leans very heavily on Guardians of the Galaxy in terms of the look and feel) shooter with a variety of characters to play, from your stereotypical small and pacy heroes to big, slow, tanky characters who can take a ton of punishment. The game is trying to leverage the story as a unique element and a way to drive the narrative side of the 5v5 PVP game; the art direction, graphics, and voice acting are superb in the cut scenes and stand out. The story seemed okay; it didn’t grab me.
The graphics and gameplay are super smooth; the game is really well-polished. The game mechanics and your control over your characters are responsive, and you feel total control. The diverse weapons, from machine guns, flame bows, and shotguns, have unique mechanics and damage profiles. The shooting mechanics, huds, and playability are superb. The characters ‘ details are vibrant. They are trying to use the cutscenes and story to flesh out the characters. The audio is excellent and fits well with the whole sci-fi space shooter, and the cinematics make the sound even better. The game has 12 maps, split amongst the game modes; each map is superbly built and fantastic. The choice of art style complements each map and gives the game a consistent feel. Graphically, each map looks stunning.
The game has Brawl and Takeover in the non-competitive game types. The brawl consists of team deathmatch and kill-confirmed. Takeover is a game with objective-based goals, like capturing the flag. There is nothing new or groundbreaking in these game types. The third competitive mode, Rivalry, is unlocked after attaining level 6 in your development. This mode is the first up to 4, and you will choose a different hero for each round. I enjoyed this mode and the use of heroes made for a unique game type. Finding games for the competitive mode was difficult, whereas the non-competitive modes were easier.
I played the team Brawl and Takeover mainly because I found games easier in these modes, and both were very fun. The game has 16 characters in the beta, each with a unique weapon and play style. These games allow for an exceptional experience with each character and their play style. This is enhanced by having to build a team with diverse roles for your team to thrive, which was executed well, but Valorant does an excellent job of this, too. The character is reminiscent of characters from Guardian of The Galaxy, so I said it there.
This genre of game is stacked with free substitutions, particularly Overwatch and Valorant, the two games that feel closest to this. These two games also have a huge following and tons of players and servers, and they are free.
Concord is fun and looks fantastic to play. The developers have spent considerable time making the game mechanics and maps look superb. It feels polished and super easy to pick up and play. The story building and the movie-like feel of cutscenes give the game a blockbuster movie appeal. The voice acting, music, sound effects, and characters are polished and slick. The gameplay is responsive and fun, and the choices of maps and players are quite big at the launch of the game.
This game’s most significant issue is that it mixes Destiny, Valorant, and Overwatch, but it will cost 40 USD. Considering the other free options, I’m unsure if you will pay this amount. The game has some great points; I loved the map I played, and it was fun, but I’m not sure if you would pay for it over the free competitors. It needs to have some uniqueness. I didn’t feel like there were enough unique elements of the beta to say this is a stellar game; I’m hoping more refinement and uniqueness will help the actual game stand out more than the free alternatives.
The game is fun, but I’m not sure it will reach the masses, and the lack of players on servers was an issue for me and others. I see the most significant issue as the adoption of players. Online FPS needs thousands upon thousands of players playing regularly, or users will be frustrated trying to find a game instead of playing the game.
Overall: 7.5/10
Enjoys more than the odd game, long time gamer, somewhat a technologist and everything else in between.
Also enjoys a good solid game of FIFA online. Currently PS4, XBOX 360 and STEAM.
