After spending a good few hours with Concord’s early access beta over this weekend, I am something of two minds regarding Sony’s first proper bite at the online multiplayer hero shooter subgenre. First of all, let’s get into the stuff that Concord and by proxy its developer Firewalk Studios gets right.
From the jump Concord’s audiovisual presentation is extremely appealing. Each of the 16 combatants you can pick from in the beta (or ‘Freegunners’ as they are known), have highly detailed character models that at once feel both rather vibrant and striking to say the least. I stopped myself from calling them ‘unique’ there and that was simply because it’s also clear that Concord owes a sizable stylistic debt to Marvel’s hugely popular Guardians of the Galaxy comics and movies, as there are more than a few characters in Concord that have obvious analogues to Marvel’s space bound property.
The hulkingly brutish, nuance-free Star Child appears to be an almost direct match for the similarly autistically coded Drax the Destroyer, for example. Likewise, the menus and other aspects of the UI are also realised attractively, with a breezy, retro-tinged flourish that again, looks like it would be right at home Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy.
As someone who doesn’t necessarily live and breathe online hero shooters 24/7, one of the most appetising things for me about Concord is the notion of macro and micro storylines being told on a seasonal basis which are then being threaded through weekly cutscenes. Now, while the beta is expectedly a bit skimpy on this front (the beta refers to itself as ‘Season 0′), we do get a glimpse at how these narrative unfurls with gorgeously rendered real-time cutscenes that are both amusing and also full of wisecracking dialogue as we learn about the ragtag crew of the Northstar and their desire to escape the clutches of the nefarious Guild which is attempting to track them down at all costs.
Once into the meat of the Concord beta itself, the Concord early access beta essentially offers up a quartet of different modes – Team Deathmatch, Trophy Hunt, Cargo Run and Clash Point with the latter two modes only available when you hit level 6. Team Deathmatch does exactly what it says on the tin, Trophy Hunt has you picking up trophies from fallen enemies, Cargo Run has you protecting an item which is being extracted by your team or the opposite if you’re on the other side while finally, Clash Point has mixes up the classic Team Deathmatch scenario with classic Capture the Flag mechanics, as teams are asked with either capturing a specific zone, or eliminating the entirety of the other team. Though it’s a reasonable selection of modes, there’s nothing really that’s especially groundbreaking from a mechanics point of view – though I would qualify that somewhat by saying that the beta is technically mode incomplete.
Equally the quartet of maps, Water Hazard, Freewater, Star Chamber and Shock Risk are well designed, with snug, wraparound structures that allow for a balanced mixture elevated areas that provide ample opportunities for overlook on foes below while simultaneously encouraging players to jump, double jump and in some cases super jump through various windows, onto numerous ledges and so forth. So again, nothing especially unique but what’s there at the moment certainly appears to be satisfyingly put together and the overall level design in each case appears succinct enough to encourage constant action.
Where perhaps Concord doesn’t fare quite so well in my mind – and again, I would like to provide the caveat that this is from the beta of an unfinished product that will like every other hero shooter ever, live or die by the quality of its post release support – is in how Concord feels to play. To my hands and eyes at least, playing Concord – even with its faster combatants such as Teo and Haymar at my fingertips, Concord feels at least a step slower than other hero shooters such as Valorant and Overwatch, which makes the second to second gameplay loop of jumping around, shooting at enemies, sliding, dashing and trying to combine all four of those things, feel slower than I expected it to.
Elsewhere, while it’s abundantly clear that each of the 16 characters are all quite bespoke in terms of their strengths, weaknesses and special primary and secondary abilities, it’s also obvious that a whole heap of balancing needs to happen because some characters arguably feel a touch more helpless than others thanks to the way that damage and health pools are divided between them. Some tank characters for instance have comparable health to non-tank characters, while their damage is clearly not comparable – highlighting an obvious place for Firewalk Studios to begin in its tightening up of its character balancing.
Additionally, with Concord not being free to play there will be an expectation for Firewalk Studios to deliver a good chunk of content on day one that you wouldn’t get from a free to play offering. So while the jury is out on the depth of the day one content offering (never mind what will come in the weeks and months thereafter), it also remains to be seen how effective Concord’s leaning onto micro and macro storytelling will be in nabbing the attention of players across the longer term – how will Firewalk Studios make people care about these characters? Will there be special story events? There’s a lot they can do for sure but at this point, I’m a little unclear as to what their ultimate plan will be regarding what is arguably one of Concord’s marquee features.
At this early juncture, it’s clear that Concord has a lot going for it. It’s an audiovisual attractive take on the hero shooter genre with smartly constructed maps that provide an ample playground for its cast of functionally diverse characters to blow each other to pieces across. Likewise, the concerns that I have with character balancing and the overall slightly sluggish feel of Concord’s combat are all things that can be adjusted in good time before Concord has its full release next month.
Ultimately though, the jury remains out on whether Firewalk Studios can convert its big weekly narrative storytelling hook into something sufficient enough to convince players to part with their hard-earned bucks for a title which many will expect to be free-to-play in the first place. As things stand, I’m cautiously optimistic about Concord and yet I’m also keenly aware that with Overwatch 2, Valorant and the incoming Marvel Rivals, it will also be that much harder for Firewalk Studios inaugural PlayStation Studios effort to stand out from the pack.
Concord PS5 beta access kindly provided by PR.
Concord is officially set to release for PS5 and PC on August 23, 2024.