Concord

Concord isn’t the most innovative or content-heavy hero shooter you could play, but with such fantastic competitive gameplay, 16 compelling characters to master, and 12 well-designed maps, it’s got the makings of something that could go the distance in the months and years to come. In fact, it’s a testament to its FPS chops that even while it has a virtually nonexistent story and a serious need for a signature game mode, I still found myself losing dozens of hours to its PvP charms. Hopefully the live-service roadmap will do its thing and show this promising shooter the love it needs to become something truly special, but right now it’s at least good enough for me to recommend trying out.

There is a lot of fun in Concord. Firewalk has polished up the basics and given us a variety of characters with different combat styles. The gunplay is very well done too. However, the game straddles the line between team-based gameplay and slightly more dynamic solo play, and can't decide which side to stand on. The developers also missed the mark in terms of character and map design, which completes the picture of a game that lacks a certain spark.

Concord is a game that has tons of potential, that sadly doesn't capitalise on any of it. A by the numbers hero shooter, that while occasionally fun, failed to make any inroads into an already packed genre.

Concord is not a bad hero shooter, but neither a good one. It has really nothing special to offer in relation to other game of the same genre that are free to play, and it lacks of a distinctive characteristic. The lore is not original, the characters are not memorable, the shooting is not very good and the gameplay modes are few and old.

Concord is excellent on the shooter side but less so on the hero side: the potential is there, but the execution so far could be better. The problems remain more impressive than the bland characters, and this is not a good sign.

Sadly, Concord struggles to find its own identity given the overused sci-fi setting and the overdone gameplay structure.

At its core, Concord is a solid hero shooter with fun gameplay but minimal new mechanics, failing to stand out significantly from the competition. Its biggest ace up the sleeve is the detailed graphics and world-building delivered through an in-game encyclopedia and weekly cinematic drops, but that's not enough for a game locked behind a paywall, unlike most of the genre.

There is certainly a joke to be made about Concord and sour grapes, a little less than a week after launch my wait times for a match were at 2-4 mins and this was Friday and Saturday nights, which I thought was when people were gaming. This doesn’t bode well for the future of Concord, despite the fact that the team has new Freegunners, maps and modes in the development pipeline. Of all the errors I think this game has made with its release, the most egregious is the $40 price tag. In a time where the majority of hero shooters are F2P, even the upcoming Marvel Rivals is promising all characters will be free at launch and in the future; hell, even the KING – Overwatch 2 is free-to-play. So why, on God’s good green earth, did Sony think they could ship this game at $40 and find success? I don’t know, I am just a guy who reviews games; that question is for other minds, but as far as Concord goes, just wait for it to inevitably go free-to-play if you are truly curious.

In seeking to appeal to the widest possible audience, Concord suffers from a déjà-vu identity, with gameplay mechanics that require more investment than they appear, and already suffers from a lack of interest from players.

Concord's snappy combat and colourful character abilities make it a perfectly playable shooter. But muddled hero designs and unimaginative maps and modes leave it struggling to stand out.