Concord review

Concord, the new 5v5 shooter from Firewalk Studios and Sony, doesn’t really do anything wrong. In fact it’s biggest failing might simply be the fact that it’s so milquetoast as to be almost immediately forgettable. Having played all the modes and dabbled with most of the characters, across multiple different stages, the biggest takeaway is that I’ve taken nothing away. Which is a shame, as it could have been more. Maybe.

It takes place in a Star Wars-y, Guardians of the Galaxy-style universe where multiple alien races all have distinctly human traits, voices, mannerisms, physical composition and characteristics but, like, have horns or fungus for beards or are robots. An opening builds a Marvel-esque atmosphere where everyone communicates in quips, and almost everything of note is followed by someone saying a variation of “Well, that just happened.”

Firewalk Studios have promised to follow this opening with weekly vignettes about each character, fleshing out the greater universe and building an archive of lore to bring it all to life. And while the cutscene is ridiculously stunning and the production values are off the charts, you have to wonder if the money and effort wouldn’t be better spent on extra game modes, or some kind of character progression beyond unlockable cosmetics.

Because ultimately it’s story for the sake of story, which feels incongruous alongside the actual gameplay. The roster you’re picking characters from are crewmembers of the Northstar, “Freegunners” who are essentially mercenaries picked for the deadliest and most lucrative contracts. But the concept makes little sense. Why are they rivals? Why do the jobs consist of everyone just running at each other and killing each other over and over? Why do they fight against each other, even the ones who are clearly shown as a team in the various elaborate cutscenes we’ve been shown?

Unfortunately, the whole concept feels like a wobbly mess which is just not the best foundation for anything. At the end of the day, regardless of how deep and rich they want to make the universe, the game itself remains unremarkably “good”. Firewalk is a competent studio, the gunplay and movement are solid, the character powers are decent, and the levels are at least colourful and distinct if not particularly original.

Each of the characters on offer has a different weapon and pair of special moves, a form of double jump, and a selection of costumes to unlock which, at this point, are simple recolours, or barely noticeable keychains for weapons. Also, you barely see your characters and enemy characters are highlighted to such a degree and move so fast that you can’t appreciate anyone’s skin anyway. Some of the characters are fun to play, such as Haymar who uses little firebombs and has a precision crossbow, or Bazz, who can hurl knives for fast, instant kills. Oh, and Lennox, the Star Lord substitute who packs a meaty revolver and the ability to self-heal.

Other characters in Concord, however, just don’t feel worth a pick. Huge robot 1-Off, for example, has a weapon that’s basically a hoover and feels utterly useless; Vale, the sniper, might as well be shooting enemies with a BB gun; and Emari’s shield is pretty useful when surrounded by teammates but clever opponents will just wait it out and kill her while it cools down.

You’re able to switch between any unused characters when you respawn, which is actually one of Concord’s few novel ideas, because it conveys one character’s unique passive ability onto the next. Firewalk were on record as saying that some of Concord was inspired by deck-builders, and I presume this is what they mean, although it lacks the nuance, strategic thinking or variety of a deck-builder. If you’re working together with your team and strategising to your fullest, it might make a difference, but little in Concord inspires this level of effort.

Rewards are slowly dripped and unlock the aforementioned cosmetics. At level 6 you can create a “fireteam” of characters that you can easily switch between during matches, but I struggled to understand the point of it. For a game that costs the best part of £40 at launch, the lack of content in general is a concern. There are six modes to play, and two of them are a variation of practice modes. Only two feature objectives, which is a Team Deathmatch mode and a territorial control mode. The game mixes up objectives and goals within them, but it won’t take long to see everything.

Perhaps Concord’s saving grace is its actual core gameplay. It reminds me of Destiny 2’s Crucible more than Overwatch in some cases, utilising double jumps and slides, hurling special abilities around and then running like crazy while waiting for cooldowns. Even the pace, time-to-kill, and overall gun-feel have a Destiny vibe that I felt immediately comfortable with. It’s telling, though, that the character I had most fun with was Teo, a generic dudebro with a submachine gun and grenades as his special ability.

Concord really isn’t a “bad” game. It feels a little at odds with itself and struggles to find its own identity given the over-used sci-fi setting and the overdone gameplay structure, but it’s genuinely beautiful to look at, moves smoothly, isn’t subject to a single microtransaction at present, and features satisfying – if familiar – gunplay. It’s juts one of those games that you’ll feel like you’ve played a hundred times before, and all the cinematic grandstanding in the world can’t make up for a chronic lack of originality.