I felt the same as you: When Concord was recently unveiled, I only noticed the game as a distant memory because at first glance it looks like any other hero shooter fighting for the favor of millions of players. And let me tell you something? That impression is spot on. Concord draws so much inspiration from Overwatch & Co. that it can't escape the corner of being a copycat.
But should I tell you something else? I'm still looking forward to the release because Concord plays so well that I had a lot of fun with it in the first few hours of contacting it! So if you're less concerned with trying something new and more concerned with how good what you get is, then Sony's foray into arena shooters might well strike a chord with you.
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Concord is not made by Sony, but by a new studio called Firewalk. Well… “new”. It is at least the very first game from the developer, which was founded in 2018 and wants to specialize in unique multiplayer experiences. If you think that sounds a bit strange considering the similarities between Concord and especially Overwatch: of course it is.
However, when presenting the game at Sony in London, the developers emphasised that they attach great importance to the history of their universe and the characters with whom you go into battle. This can be felt, for example, in Concord, where there will be a new short film sequence every week that tells the story of how you travel through space with your mercenaries to win fame and glory.
It's about the personalities of these so-called freegunners. They are supposed to grow on you and be in harmony with the skills they use in 5v5 battles. On a galaxy map, you research the background and history of the universe as you please. However, this is completely separate from the actual game, which is why I'm looking forward to the promised narrative background, but at least in advance I don't want to put it as much in the foreground as Firewalk does.
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We haven't even been able to see the galaxy map yet. What we played in London were three of six game modes, in which ten of the later 16 characters were active. The three modes will be familiar to you, because while both teams fight over who will take control of a zone in Clash Point, in Cargo Run they have to pick up a load, bring it to its destination and defend it there. Trophy Hunt is ultimately a relatively pure team deathmatch, but you only score points when you collect the bounty cards of defeated opponents.
And now we finally get to the point: There are three things that made Concord so much fun for me from the start, and number one is the first-class shooter feeling. The shooting, aiming and hit feedback are so good that I would put Concord in the top class, especially since despite the individual abilities of all the characters, you always have the feeling that you are playing a real shooter. Unfortunately, that is not the case with some Hero representatives. Here, however, the balance is just right – even more so than with Overwatch.
Number two is a flow of the game that focuses more on tactical action than the hectic crosshair flicking of Call of Duty. I also think the fast-paced XDefiant is very successful. However, if I have the choice in competitive online games, I prefer games like Concord, where the ratio of thinking to reaction is higher.
And this is where factor number three comes into play, namely a fairly high time-to-kill. It takes a while for an opponent or yourself to die, which means you can react to unexpected fire instead of constantly lying on the ground frustrated. In particular, it ensures that duels are naturally decided by reflexes, accuracy and knowledge of the level – but also largely by the correct use of skills, clever responses to problems and, in the best case, a companion who intervenes in the action.
These include characters who don't necessarily have to lead the way, but can act as healers, for example. At the end of the playthrough, I had chosen Jabali, whose energy balls heal comrades as well as damage enemies. Before that, I had already played with Daw, who sets up a shield dome and stationary healing fields.
There are DaVeers, whose grenade launchers fire a flammable substance that can later be ignited to block the path of flanking opponents. Star Child charges forward with close combat power and a shotgun, Lennox swings a powerful revolver and the former recycling robot 1-Off sucks up incoming projectiles.
My clear favorite so far is Roka, who can hover in the air with her rocket launcher, has an excellent overview and can therefore warn her team of dangers via the context-sensitive ping. And if someone gets too close to her, she slams back to the ground with a bone-crushing swing.
So, yes: These characters are logically as important as developer Firewalk says, and last but not least, you can customize them to your own preferences using different clothing, pendants and more. Incidentally, such content is the only thing that costs money in Concord after the original purchase price. All cards and characters, however, are to be available to all players from the start. Only additional variants of the mercenaries with slightly different characteristics, such as a faster running speed, are only unlocked after longer use.
At the same time, Concord rewards the frequent switching of fighters with a clever little trick. Each character has a perk, such as faster reloading, which stays with you for the entire match, even if you switch to another mercenary.
The perks of the characters chosen later are then added, so that players who like to experiment are rewarded. This is also motivated by the fact that the freegunners available in a match are put together beforehand like a kind of deck of cards, and three additional random fighters are added to this deck.
So I really hope that this tried and tested concept, which is implemented to a high standard, can hold its own in the highly competitive multiplayer sector. I find it unfortunate that although you can deactivate crossplay between PC and PlayStation 5, there will be no input-based matchmaking at launch. In my opinion, that would be much more important than the platform separation. What I am pleased about is how good the action feels and how much the focus is on tactical team play rather than pure reaction shooting. In any case, I will be there from July 18th to 21st at the latest, when Concord will be publicly playable for the first time in the open beta, before the finished game really starts right at gamescom on August 23rd.