Concord Review: A Unique Team-Based Hero Shooter Worth a Shot

Concord is a team-based hero shooter developed by Firewalk Studios and published by Sony. You’ll choose from a massive roster of Freegunners to participate in various PvP game modes in intense team battles. While it’s come under some criticism, it offers unique gameplay and mechanics you won’t find elsewhere. And while the character design may leave much to be desired, the tight and responsive controls, fantastic gameplay, sound design, and lack of monetization make up for it.

Price Tag

One primary concern about Concord is its high price, particularly for an online PVP-only game. However, it’s important to note that while the initial cost may seem steep, no microtransactions – such as Freegunners, battle passes, cosmetics, or skins – are locked behind a paywall.

Instead, you can earn your character’s cosmetics by playing and leveling up your Freegunners through the game’s progression system. The absence of microtransactions means you won’t have to spend additional money beyond your initial purchase, and you’ll know exactly what you’re getting, including all existing Freegunners and any future ones.

Concord features 16 Freegunner characters at launch and unlike other games with a comparable number of characters, where many were essentially reskins with similar mechanics, Concord offers distinct Freegunners, each equipped with unique weapons and abilities.

However, the visual design of each Freegunner doesn’t visually communicate what they do or offer to the team. Instead, you’ll have to open the character menu for each one to understand if their kits make them a sneaky assassin who uses throwing knives, a tank that can protect your team, or a healer to keep them alive. For this reason, it is recommended that you spend time in the Freegunners menu to review any of the characters you are interested in since the pre-game character selection goes by so quickly.

In addition to poor visual designs, the game lacks character interaction during matches, resulting in a significant absence of personality and lore that makes us fall in love with them. Furthermore, unlike hero shooters such as Overwatch, Concord undeniably lacks a standout character that could define the game.

It is also surprisingly balanced despite its extensive roster of characters. A handful of Freegunners and Roles seemed overpowered at launch, but it wasn’t enough to sway a match if that person’s team wasn’t cohesive. This balance was achieved by the developers using player feedback to constantly adjust the game, as shown by the changes made during the beta, at launch, and post-launch, to make sure gameplay is as fair and fun as possible.

Gameplay

The match-to-match experience in Concord is reminiscent of a fusion between the intense multiplayer action of Destiny’s Crucible and the diverse hero abilities of Overwatch, with a touch of the classic Halo feel. The controls are finely tuned, offering a responsive and precise handling of the characters. The hit registration and hitboxes are impressively accurate, enhancing the overall gameplay mechanics.

Concord rewards or punishes players based on how well they play as a team. It allows you to maintain a good balance, as each class of Freegunners supports one another. It’s easy to switch your team to counter the opposing one, but if your current team doesn’t work together, regroup, and act as one, you’ll be at risk of being steamrolled, which can be frustrating. If you’re a lone wolf, you won’t like Concord’s gameplay. However, if you love team-based game modes and maps that are designed around this, then you’ll have a blast.

The maps in Concord also boast unparalleled visual aesthetics and unique environmental elements, setting them apart from the generic designs often seen in other shooters. Most characters are endowed with impressive traversal mechanics, including double jumps, dodges, and various ways to navigate vertically and horizontally across the map.

At launch, players have access to six diverse game modes, carefully categorized into three playlists. These encompass traditional team-based objective-based modes, casual team deathmatches, and challenging permadeath modes. Each game mode offers an entertaining experience, but it’s worth noting that some map designs may encounter challenges for team deathmatch-type modes, like Takedown, with less focus on objectives, and more on killing opposing Freegunners.

For example, the maps in Concord were primarily designed to complement modes such as Signal Chase, which utilize capture points, occasionally resulting in deathmatch games funneling into a single central area. However, it’s essential to recognize that this is common in most shooters and does not significantly detract from the overall experience of playing the game’s different game modes to level your Freegunners and progress your account.

Progression

Concord’s avenues to earn XP and advance are diverse and rewarding. Your main Reputation level is the gateway to unlocking a plethora of new mechanics, variant options, and captivating cosmetic items for your Freegunners.

Whether you display exceptional performance, complete matches, or emerge victorious, each action earns valuable experience points. Notably, completing a match yields a substantial 4500 XP, while winning a match rewards you with 500 XP. Thus, while winning is the ultimate objective, you can still progress significantly by demonstrating remarkable teamwork and skill, even without victory.

Furthermore, the Job Board presents daily, weekly, and seasonal tasks that offer substantial XP and unlock additional content. In all, Concord’s progression system makes it easy to unlock new content for the game by simply playing the game so you can enjoy the unique mechanics that set it apart from other hero shooters.

Unique Mechanics

Another way that Concord distinguishes itself is through its three distinct mechanics: Crew Bonus, Dodge Mechanic, and Persistent Gadgets.

The Crew Bonus mechanic cleverly influences players to explore a variety of characters by offering role-specific boosts upon respawning or at the start of the next round. These boosts accumulate for a competitive advantage by providing you with increased healing received, faster dodge cooldown, improved mobility, improved weapon recoil, faster reload speed, and longer weapon range. This system caters to casual players as the bonuses are awarded upon respawn, ensuring an engaging experience. The Crew Builder feature allows for creating diverse crews, enabling players to observe the specific bonuses they can obtain by utilizing multiple characters in a match. However, individuals who prefer committing to a single character may be less enthusiastic about this mechanic.

Dodge is a crucial skill in Concord, offering a strategic escape from intense gunfights. While it’s not a guaranteed rescue from poor decisions, each character gains a unique advantage from dodge, such as gaining invisibility, a speed boost, or hovering in the air. These advantages synergize effectively with each character’s overall skill set, adding depth to the tactical gameplay.

Concord has a unique feature where gadgets on the battlefield, like surveillance traps and spore seeds, will stay in the game unless destroyed by opposing Freegunners, even if you switch characters. This feature helps set up strategies and support your team before switching to a different character to take advantage of the Crew Bonus mechanic.

Overall Aesthetics and Production Value

Elsewhere, Concord’s striking retro aesthetics immediately draw comparisons to the iconic visuals of Guardians of the Galaxy or the vintage charm of a B sci-fi movie. Whether you’re captivated by its nostalgic appeal or put off by its old-school vibe, the overall aesthetic harmonizes seamlessly with the game’s design. Although I wasn’t a fan of the character designs, I was genuinely impressed by the attention to detail in the set pieces, weapons, armor, and environments, which vividly brought the world of Concord to life.

It also boasts impressive production value, featuring a top-notch voice cast, captivating cut scenes, and stunning animations. However, these assets are not fully utilized within the game. For instance, the fully voiced cutscenes are only accessible when initially launching the game during weekly cut scenes, representing a missed opportunity for immersive storytelling.

Additionally, Concord lacks in-depth character interactions outside these cutscenes, making it challenging for players to form strong connections with the Freegunners. The one negative to these cutscenes is having to skip them every time you load up the game, which gets tedious. Hopefully, the developers will listen to fans and implement a way to bypass the cutscenes permanently after you’ve seen them. Finally, Concord is more than just pretty to look at. It also has some of the best sound designs that amps the gameplay.

Sound Design

The distinctive sound design of Concord sets it apart from other shooter games and enhances the gameplay. When you fire your weapons and hit an opposing Freegunner, the sounds are incredibly satisfying and contribute to the overall combat experience.

The audio cues are also beneficial in all stages of the game. For example, the game features spatially accurate footsteps that differ for each character. When you play as Kyps, your footsteps are subtle, allowing you to sneak up for takedowns. Conversely, when maneuvering as Star Child, expect your steps to be more pronounced, attracting attention away from your teammates. Being mindful of these sound differences can provide a significant advantage during gameplay.

Concord — The Bottom Line

Pros:

• Responsive and Tight Controls
• Unique Character Mechanics
• Amazing Sound Design
• No Microtransactions

Cons:

• High Price Tag
• Bad character design
• Lack of Story
• Subjective Aesthetics

If you’re searching for a new gaming experience emphasizing teamwork and offering innovative game mechanics, highly responsive controls, and outstanding sound design, then Concord is the perfect choice for you. Despite encountering some negative feedback, Concord stands out as an excellent option among other ongoing hero shooters, extraction shooters, and battle royales. Additionally, Concord offers a refreshing change by steering clear of overly aggressive microtransactions.