10 Things to Know Before Playing Concord
Story
Despite being an online multiplayer PvP game, “Concord” does have an overarching story. We follow a group of space-faring adventurers - Lennox, Haymar, Vale, Star Child, and 1-OFF - hoping to make a name for themselves in an organization known as “the Freegunners”. But they aren’t the main stars of the game. You will have a total of sixteen Freegunners to play as at launch, each from a different faction. More on them later. You’ll get your intro to the aforementioned group when you first boot up the game. As for the rest, their stories will be unveiled through more cutscenes that will be released every week.
Combat
Like any hero shooter, every character comes with a unique weapon and a few abilities to help turn the tides of battle. Each Freegunner comes with two active abilities ranging between additional weapons, healing, respawning, and more. However, every character also comes with a passive ability, some of which are only triggered when executing a dodge. With your shooting skills and use of powers, you and your teammates will have to work together if you want to come out on top. Seriously, you cannot go lone wolf. “Concord” is built around teamwork and knowing how each character plays.
Game Modes
At launch, “Concord” will come with four game modes for you to play. The main ones are Team Deathmatch and Trophy Hunt, the latter being a mode where you collect an object after eliminating a player to confirm the kill. There is also Area Control and Signal Hunt, which will task you and your team in maintaining control over a point on the map. Cargo Run and Clash Point are roughly the same as the control point modes. There was a fourth game mode in the menu, but it was unavailable during our time with the beta. Perhaps this will unlock at launch or sometime after.
Roster
As we mentioned earlier, there will be sixteen characters available for you to play as at launch. While there are a few Support-types and a couple of tank characters, most of the roster consists of Freegunners that are focused on offense. You got some sharpshooters with pistols, a few characters with assault rifles and grenade launchers, one who can throw knives with great precision, and more. You will also be able to unlock cosmetic items from earning XP and improving your skills with them. More characters will be added after launch as well, so you might come across another fun character later down the road.
Maps
During the beta, there weren’t a lot of maps for us to play in. In our time with the game’s open beta, we only got to play in four maps, each having similar layouts. Each map featured areas that could be chokepoints, narrow corridors ripe for ambush setups, and at the center of them, a wider area for total warfare. Though each were unique in visuals, they all kind of felt the same. In “Concord’s” defense, twelve maps will be available at launch, and more maps will be added later down the road. So, perhaps there will be a more robust selection of maps when the game is out.
Progression
Cosmetic items can be earned XP across matches. Just like any other online shooter, the amount of XP you earn will be determined by your performance in each game. However, there are ways to earn even more. You’ll be tasked with various challenges every day, every week, and every season, and they can range between dealing damage with a character to simply racking up eliminations between games. In our time with the beta, fulfilling these challenges was done without too much effort, but this could change as more people become familiar with “Concord’s” mechanics and eventually begin to exploit a meta.
Who is Firewalk Studios?
Everything surrounding Firewalk Studios has been confusing to say the least. Despite being a brand new studio, Sony acquired the company in 2023 before the publisher began axing other live service projects from its more veteran studios like Naughty Dog’s “The Last of Us” online game and Firesprite’s “Twisted Metal” revival. So, why is Firewalk getting leniency? Well, despite being a new name, much of its staff is composed of developers who have worked on games, the founders themselves having worked on “Destiny”. Even so, the quick acquisition is worthy of skepticism as it sort of implies Sony sees something truly special in “Concord”...possibly. Although, players are saying differently.
Public Perception
After two betas, one being open to those who pre-ordered and one being open to PlayStation Plus members, players have begun voicing their impressions of the game. And while Sony may seem something in “Concord”, most of the public does not. Critics have complained about the generic roster of characters while remarking that the gameplay does feel solid. Unfortunately, for an online game charging as much as it is, many are finding it hard to find a reason to believe in “Concord”. Others are wondering what “Concord” is even doing that other hero shooters and online multiplayer games aren’t. If the weekly cutscenes are all it has going for it, then we really have to wonder about…
The Player Count
Within the game’s final month before launch, there has been much discussion surrounding “Concord’s” player count on Steam during its two beta weekends. According to SteamDB, “Concord” only saw a peak of just under twenty-four hundred players, and that was on its first day of the open beta. It only dwindled quickly from there. In our time with the beta, we were still able to find matches pretty quickly, and we had crossplay turned on. So, the question now is “are PC players and PS5 players two different audiences in ‘Concord’s’ situation?” Sony doesn’t share player numbers for any of their games, and in the case of “Concord”, the publisher has gone radio silent. Even at ChinaJoy 2023, “Concord” was shoved behind PlayStation’s booth, being nothing more than a banner with very little PlayStation branding.
Launch
Overall, there’s no telling if “Concord” is going to pop off. Even with its strong points in gameplay and feel, players don’t seem super invested in its characters nor its world. If you still want to check the game out for yourself, “Concord” launches on August 23, 2024 for PlayStation 5 and Windows PC. The standard edition will run you forty bucks while the Digital Deluxe edition charges a twenty-dollar premium and nets you early access three days before launch as well as two cosmetic packs. Maybe Sony’s bets will pay off, but something tells us the odds are not in “Concord’s” favor. Here’s hoping we’re wrong.
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