The game, which releases on August 23 for PlayStation 5 and PC, is the first game from Sony’s first-party developer, Firewalk Studios, a group of veteran creators of multiplayer shooters. PlayStation has been working to beef up its multiplayer, and Concord aims to fill a weak spot in Sony’s catalog. The game was available in beta last weekend, and will be available again this weekend starting Thursday.
Firewalk’s pedigree shows in the gameplay, where the hero shooter genre sees a mix of characters filling different roles with unique abilities mixed into a five-player team to complete objectives. Concord’s cat-girl zips around the arena wielding a submachine gun, while a giant armored woman acts as a defender. As you can tell, I don’t know the characters’ names yet; you’ll find out in a moment.
The game feels like a mix of the floaty movement of a Warlock from “Destiny” and the slow, deliberate ground movement of “Valorant,” another popular hero shooter from Riot Games. It’s like a well-crafted dish with unique flavors for a well-trained palate: Comforting, familiar and well-crafted.
The problem with Concord, at least from what I can judge from these early entries, is that while everything is well done, it lacks the appeal that makes it stand out from other games in the genre. Concord’s gameplay design mimics the hero shooter genre made popular by Blizzard Entertainment’s hit esports game Overwatch, which released in 2016. Unfortunately for Concord, the Overwatch series has remained popular, spawning several copycat games, including Valorant and Marvel Rivals, which features “real” superheroes and will be released later this year.
What sets Sony’s “Concord” apart seems to be its characters and the way the story is written. The game promises weekly episodes of a cinematic story displayed in high-fidelity motion capture by facial animation actors. “Overwatch” and “Valorant” can’t claim a similar level of production. But these characters lack charisma. A lot has been said about how “Concord” seems to have lifted “Guardians of the Galaxy” archetypes straight out of the James Gunn movies, and it’s true. The most notable example: a character like Drax is named Starchild. The dialogue and character chemistry so far is close to the ironic tropes of a Disney-esque superhero story, and it’s really hard to remember who’s who in these people.
Conchord exposes the risks of developing games with big budgets. These days, games can take up to five years to complete. If you chase the latest trends in AAA video games, you risk sounding years behind by the time your game is released. Plus, there’s a clear need in the multiplayer marketplace that can be filled outside of the hero shooter genre. Earlier this year, Sony did just that, releasing Helldivers 2, a game that harkens back to the simplicity of early 2000s multiplayer games. With 12 million copies sold to date, it’s Sony’s fastest-selling game of all time, Best Selling Games of 2024.
At $40, Concord enters an already crowded market, and while the gameplay is solid and will likely find its fans, Concord needs to improve a lot to be a hit. Highlight the characters, the story and the writing. The jury is out until the first weekly episode is released.
