The competitive shooter market has shifted rapidly the past decade. It’s gone from 6v6 arena shooters in the vein of Call of Duty to hero shooters and, most recently, battle royale. It seems, however, that the market is pivoting once again with both ‘boomer’ shooters and arena shooters growing in popularity. Meanwhile, hero shooters appear to be on their way out. That leaves Firewalk Studios and PlayStation Studios’ first project together,Concord, in an awkward position. To make matters worse,Concordsuffered from a terrible debut that made it look like just anOverwatchclone with aGuardians of the Galaxyaesthetic. After spending hours with the beta, it’s clear thatConcordis fun, though it does present its own set of problems outside whether the market wants another hero shooter.
Let’s get this out of the way:Concordborrows heavily from its contemporaries. On a surface level, the game does look a lot likeOverwatchand other hero shooters. Personality-wise, the game rips heavily fromGuardians of the Galaxy. From a purely aesthetic perspective,Concorddoesn’t do a lot to distinguish itself from these properties. That being said, where it does stand out is with its gameplay, mechanics and characters (known as Freegunners).
Concordis a PvP hero shooter that launches with 16 heroes, 6 modes and 12 maps. Within the beta, players have access to all the Freegunners, 4 game modes and 4 maps (a fifth game mode and map arrive during the Open Beta weekend). These modes include Respawn modes Takedown (Team Deathmatch) and Trophy Hunt (Kill Confirmed), and No Respawn modes Clash Point (Zone Control) and Cargo Run (Attack and Defend). Overall, it’s a meaty beta.
A hero shooter with arena shooter elements
WhereConcordhas shone so far is in its gunplay and character’s abilities. With Firewalk Studios composed of Halo and Destiny veterans, it shouldn’t be too surprising thatConcord’sgunplay is as snappy and enjoyable as it is. Probably the best way to describe howConcordplays is ifXDefiantis an arena shooter with hero shooter elements, thenConcordis a hero shooter with arena shooter elements. The mechanics surprisingly gel well together to the point where it does feel like you’re getting the best out of both an arena and hero shooter.
At least in the beta,Concordwas at its best when playing the Respawn game modes. Here, it’s easy to pick up and play a match with your favorite character, try someone new, or have a blast with friends. This is helped by a roster of (mostly) interesting Freefunners to play. You have your generic, pick-up-and-play characters like Teo (solider) and Star Child (shotgun brute) that are easy to play with out of the gate. Then you have more imaginative characters like It-Z, who utilizes tricks to teleport and make copies of herself or Lark who can drop Spores that buff allies and debuff enemies.
PlayStation, Firewalk Studios reveal Concord Pricing, Launch Content, Beta Access Details
Firewalk Studios and PlayStation Studios have revealed pricing, launch content, and beta access details for their upcoming live service game, Concord.
Each character feels unique with their different weapons, abilities, HP and movement speeds, though balancing does seem to be an issue. Tanky characters like Emari feel terrible to use due to their slow movement. Meanwhile, characters with healing abilities are highly sought after due to there being no regenerative healing. It’s great that no single character is like the other, but there already seems to be a meta forming within the beta around quicker characters and those that can self-heal or have healing abilities.
The convoluted and not so fun Variants and Crew Builder
WhereConcordcomes up disappointing is in its competitive No Respawn modes. Not because the modes are bad, but because they introduce the convoluted Variant and Crew Builder mechanics. Essentially, players can build their custom crews from a selection of the 16 characters or their Variants. Variants are the same character but with an altered trait (i.e. standard Lennox reloads his weapons by dodging, but his variant’s weapons have more ammo) and up to three Variants of the same character can be part of a Crew. You’ll need these Variants of your favorite character because, in Variant Elimination modes, you can’t pick the same member of your Crew if you win. Also, because there’s sequential picking in these modes, there’s a chance you might not even get to pick your favorite character unless you stack your Crew with them.
Sound complicated? That’s because it is and that doesn’t even cover the wide array of roles, stacking passive buffs and more you need to think about when building a Crew. A big problem with the beta is that it includes no stellar tutorial about Variants or the Crew Builder, instead tasking players with finding the long-winded entries in the ‘How to Play’ menu. More importantly though, these systems aren’t fun. After having a blast with all the characters in the casual respawn game modes, it’s hard to switch to the competitive modes and find yourself restricted. Hopefully, Firewalk has a proper tutorial planned for the full game and might ease up on some of these restrictive rules.
The beta proves Concord is fun, but it needs some tweaking
Concordis in a tough spot with its poorly-received debut and arriving at a time when hero shooters’ appeal has heavily declined. While this may not be what people wanted,Concorddoes deliver a fun experience with tight shooting, a roster of fun and unique characters and a solid presentation. The game does need some tweaking, though, specifically when it comes to balancing, tutorials and making the competitive experience more fun, all things Firewalk can hopefully tweak ahead of launch. The big question about whether the game can justify its $40 pricetag? We’ll have to wait for the full release on that one, but it can at least be said that the beta does confirm thatConcorddoes provide a fun multiplayer shooter experience.
Concord launches August 23 on PS5 and PC.
