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(Image credit: PlayStation Studios)
Critical hit
(Image credit: PlayStation Studios)
It’s a killer sell, easy too, although not necessarily rooted in the reality of what Concord is putting out there. So, what would be closer? A slower Quake, perhaps? Not quite. A more forgiving Counter-Strike? Hmmm. Halo without the buoyancy? That’s not right either. Concord deserves to be held to account on its own merits, but there is something about its makeup that seems to draw comparisons out into the ether. There’s this dichotomy in the video game industry right now, where it’s almost as easy to make the argument that the multiplayer shooter genre is at its zenith as it is that a pervasive sense of live-service fatigue threatens to bring the whole thing crashing down. That’s the arena Concord steps into when it launches on PC and PS5 on August 20, 2024 – and one Sony is trying to claim ground in now through open beta.
(Image credit: PlayStation Studios)
What surprised me is how grounded Concord’s action is. Arenas are large (arguably too large), and often equipped with what appears to be towering verticality. But it’s a facade – a smart trick that echoes the scale of Destiny 2’s Crucible environments. None of Concord’s 16 Freegunners arefree runners. Gunfights typically unfold dead center of the Y-axis, with the trajectory of the right thumbstick typically curving upwards to mitigate a character like Roka – hovering in the air while wielding a light missile launcher. This grounded approach almost feels unnatural, given how fluid the animation cycles and purposefully weighted the movement is in Concord. I want to be running across walls, vaulting over obstacles, and darting between cover, but it never comes. Concord lacks the momentum of Halo, the carnage of Quake, and the acrobatics of Titanfall, again making it feel more aligned with a supercharged Counter-Strike or depowered Valorant. Had more fluidity manifested itself in the movement and combat, I suspect that Concord would come dangerously close to being the spiritual successor to FASA Studio’s Shadowrun – but I recognize I’m probably one of the only people clamoring for a revival of the critically overlooked 2007 shooter at this point in time.
Still, Concord shows real signs of life. It’s difficult to know how successful the untested Firewalk will be at handling the growth of a live service – the studio is promising weekly cutscenes, evolving character arcs, and regular content drops – but perhaps its biggest test will be one of perception. Overwatch 2 has essentially collapsed in on itself, a sequel that few asked for, and that everybody has been stuck with after Blizzard wiped the original game off the face of the planet as part of the transition. There’s definitely room for a new hero shooter to lay claim to that wayward community, but I don’t necessarily see Concord filling the void – Marvel Rivals orValve’s unannounced Deadlock could be more fitting.
Know your role
(Image credit: PlayStation Studios)
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Concord is set to launch on August 23 for PC and PS5. You can try it for yourself in open beta from July 18 to July 21.
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