Concord Preview: PvP Shooter with a Great Potential

Concord Open Beta Details

In addition, Sony and Firewalk have announced the dates for the Concord beta testing:

• Early Access "beta" via pre-order - July 12-14
• The open "beta" is from July 18 to 21

All 16 freegunners will be available as part of the trials. For early access will be available 4 maps and 3 game modes, and during the open test will appear a fifth location and another mode with area control. In addition, gamers will be shown the first cinematic video, which is designed to reveal the lore of the project.

Concord Preview Details

Let's get to the previews. Here are the comments about Concord from those who have played the game:

• Concord is a heroic shooter with 5-on-5 battles, with elements from Destiny, Halo, and Overwatch. For example, from Halo, the game features flying jumps, as if the hero weighs nothing.
• Shooting plays an important role in the gameplay, but quick reaction and high accuracy are not the most important things here. Success depends on a competent team selection, an understanding of the character's abilities, and at least a bit of skill of the user.
• Mercenaries don't have clear-cut roles like support hero or tank. Instead, each freeganner has a set of skills (two skills and a passive, but no ultimates) and weapons with which they can lean toward one archetype or another depending on the situation. It takes a long time to kill, so the freeganner skills have time to show themselves in all their glory.

• The gameplay of the shooter should not get boring also thanks to the system of combat characteristics. Each mercenary has a whole set of such traits, which are similar to perks. For example, Lennox, who suffers from long reload times, will learn to automatically load bullets into his revolver's drum when dodging an attack.
• Many modes from Concord don't feature respawning, which can make the game especially challenging for newcomers. In addition, the balance in the shooter from Firewalk is too customized for team play, says a journalist from IGN. If in titles like Apex Legends or Halo in one vs. two battles, a gamer can still outwit two opponents and win, then in Concord it's almost impossible to do such a thing. The game has other balance issues as well - some of the characters from the demo were too strong.
• During the event, members of the press played the game on PS5. In their opinion, the aim assist worked too aggressively for some guns. "So we may see some tension between console and PC players in the future as to which side has the upper hand," wrote a PC Gamer writer.

• Firewalk puts a serious emphasis on lore and narrative. For example, gamers will be able to refer to the galactic directory, a vast map with colorful planets and points of interest. The gazetteer acts as a massive library of information about in-game history and more. To some journalists, it seems that most users will pass this feature by. Firewalk's approach to lore would be much better suited for a single-player project than for a multiplayer one, Game Informer's author believes.
• In general, journalists were satisfied with Concord. The project has excellent shooting, plenty of opportunities for team interaction, dynamic gameplay, and a bunch of characters with unique features. They saw great potential in it, and it depends only on the developers whether they will be able to reveal it.

GameSpot's Jake Dekker also shared his preview on Concord: "After seeing Concord's gameplay premiere last month and the audience's sluggish reaction to it, I would have said that Firewalk Studios' debut title would likely flop. However, after spending a few hours with Concord, it's clear that PlayStation and Firewalk have laid a solid foundation for their sci-fi multiplayer shooter."

Director of Intellectual Property Kim Kreines said the video reflects only a fraction of what Firewalk has been working on for years. So the team is not upset by the mixed reviews from the community.

Concord will see the light of day on August 23 on PC (Steam, EGS) and PlayStation 5. To play on PC you will need a PlayStation Network account.