This August, PlayStation will kick off its emerging dive into live service with Concord. The new hero shooter from Firewalk Studios looks to capture the fun of Overwatch while delivering a slow drip approach to narrative that could keep dedicated players logging in every week. With its stylish art and memorable character designs, it has just about everything a good hero shooter could need to succeed.
So … what’s missing?
I asked myself that as I dove into Concord‘s first beta over the past weekend. I found a perfectly competent shooter that seems to be checking all the boxes; it just wasn’t quite locking into place just yet. I can easily point to a few fixable problems, like movement speed and matchmaking issues, but Concord’s biggest problem might be a little broader: I’m struggling to find a key feature that makes it stand out from the competition. Every hero needs their ultimate ability, after all.
Special abilities
If you’ve played a hero shooter in the past seven years, you know what to expect here. Concord is a 5v5 multiplayer shooter where each player picks a distinct character (dubbed Freegunners) with their own bespoke weapons and abilities. From the jump, it’s clear that Firewalk Studios has really put the right effort forth to nail that aspect. Each character has their own unmistakable design and a totally unique play style. Star Child is a hulking tank that can dash into battle and blast enemies with a shotgun, while Roka can float in the air and blast rocket shots down. Yes, a fair amount of the heroes here have direct Overwatch counterparts, but playful designs and some inventive abilities help differentiate them. I’ve already found my main character in Lennox, a sort of reptilian cowboy who can pepper enemies with pistol shots and heal himself.
I appreciate that Concord is committing to making those characters more than just avatars. Firewalk Studios is set to build them out through regular cinematics that show off their snarky personalities and relationships with one another. That’s great on paper, though the beta doesn’t make the best case for that approach yet. The first cutscenes available don’t give a sense of the sci-fi universe. I’m dropped into what feels like a sitcom scene midway through its first season. I’m holding my judgment until I can see how Firewalk doles these cinematics out, but I’m hoping the full release has some stronger setup up top.
A few clear problems
Once I jump into battle, everything starts to feel familiar — maybe too familiar. I’m tossed into a playlist where I can fight in a standard deathmatch and Trophy Hunt, the latter of which is your average kill-confirm mode. The action is fun enough in my first session. I have some success when I stick with my team and keep my distance from enemies. There’s an emphasis on disciplined squad play here, as trying to peel off and take down foes on my own usually results in a fast death. That dynamic makes a lot more sense in Concord‘s elimination modes, which unlock when I hit level 6. There, it’s more imperative that my team sticks together to win control of a central point on the map. The best matches I’ve had happened in that mode.
While all of this is perfectly fun multiplayer action, there are a few clear problems that need ironing out. The most basic is matchmaking. In my very first match, three of my teammates dropped out almost immediately. No players or bots were backfilled onto my team and a lack of a mercy rule meant that I had to play out the full match even though my teammate and I did not stand a chance. That seems like an easy enough solution, so I’m hopeful it gets tweaked between beta and launch.
What might be a bit more complicated is the overall pace of battle. Concord is a surprisingly slow shooter despite seeming like it’ll be filled with quick movement strategies. Even the fastest characters feel like they run at a brisk jog. At present, its tankiest characters are downright unplayable due to speed. Emari, an armored character with a massive chaingun, moves like a snail. Anytime I die, it takes me a good minute to trudge back into action. It’s the slowest movement speed I’ve likely ever felt in a shooter; it’s so obviously off that I cannot imagine it making it into the final game.
Standout feature needed
Even beyond movement tweaks, battles feel slow in general. Enemies have large health pools that take a bit to chew down and gunplay doesn’t feel too precise. No weapon I try is particularly snappy, leading to a lot of long one-on-one shootouts where my opponent and I just keep missing one another. It all feels a little off. There’s a heaviness to the gunplay, but without the impact to match.
That’s a possible game killer if it doesn’t change due to Concord‘s biggest problem at present: It just doesn’t have a feature that helps it stand out from the rest. The character skillsets are solid, but not as unique as something like Marvel Rivals yet. The modes are fairly boilerplate (and the ones I’ve yet to play don’t sound like they’ll buck that trend). So far, I can’t find much that sets it apart aside from some stylized UI for challenges and a squad management option that I’m still toying with.
That doesn’t mean that Concord isn’t enjoyable. I had a fun weekend with it, and I know I’d have a good time playing it with friends. Is that enough, though? There’s no shortage of fun — and free — shooters in 2024. Standing out from the crowd is key and I don’t know that Concord has a secret weapon to accomplish that yet, especially considering it’s a $40 game. Overwatch 2 has signature modes like Push working to its advantage. Marvel Rivals has some wildly creative character kits based on superheroes. Heck, even the critically panned Star Wars: Hunters brings a few new ideas to the table alongside a playful interpretation of the IP.
What is Concord‘s defining feature? I’m not totally sure there is one at present. Squad-building looks like it could fill that void, but I’m not entirely convinced that it’s enough yet. Strong character designs and in-game cinematics are welcome additions, but those are secondary. Perhaps there are some secrets hiding in some of the content currently locked off in the beta? Maybe Firewalk isn’t fully playing its hand yet and there’s an evolving gameplay twist akin to the criminally underappreciated Exoprimal?
Or maybe Concord is just what it is: A fun shooter that’s not trying to overthink the genre. Maybe “PlayStation’s own Overwatch” will be enough to win players over. Some tweaks and maintenance could be all it takes to make for a steady hit that puts the PS5’s live service era in a stable place. I hope that’s the case, because it’s a crowded battlefield out there. Few games these days make it out alive.
Concord launches on August 23 for PlayStation 5 and PC.
