A First Look at Concord: Blasting Across The Galaxy

Jumping into the Concord Beta was a bit of a strange turn of events for me. In a little over one week, I went from not being the biggest player of hero shooters to trying out two upcoming ones almost back-to-back. It’s been genuinely interesting to see what the genre is promising to shake itself up after Overwatch dominated the scene back in 2016 and seemingly set the bar for how these games should be made—although Team Fortress 2 arguably did it first.

Much like with FragPunk , Concord was definitely a great second place to start experiencing the hero shooter genre because it feels so fundamentally different from everything else on the market right now. In a lot of ways, it almost harkens back to an older time of simple action shooters where all you had was a gun, your wits and a reliable team to secure victory.

Most of my time in Concord playing was spent between the Takedown and Trophy Hunt modes. Both modes were pretty straightforward: Takedown was your standard Deathmatch, where the first team to reach 30 kills wins, and Trophy Hunt required the pickup of player tokens after each kill.

But the real selling feature of Concord is definitely its cast of characters. It seemed like a very obvious joke within the gaming discourse that this game was positioning itself as a Guardians of the Galaxy hero shooter, but there is some degree of truth to it. Concord features a number of interesting and uniquely designed characters—which, much like Wild Bastards , is definitely helped by its grand space setting.

“But the real selling feature of Concord is definitely its cast of characters.”

It definitely adds a distinctive flair to the game’s setting and theme that really sets it apart. Whereas in Overwatch, almost every character is just a human with special abilities, Concord can lean a bit more into the fun side of this by designing interesting characters around unique biologies. Star Child—who is probably most comparable to Drax the Destroyer—is a massive, musclebound fighter from a warrior race, so it only makes sense that he’d wield a massive shotgun, and his abilities would have him rushing headfirst into enemies.

Meanwhile, Lennox—who is easily the Starlord of the bunch—is a reptilian humanoid. So, while he wields both a heavy revolver and a faster six-shooter to lean into his intergalactic cowboy persona, his biology gives him a unique healing ability—because he’s a lizard, you see. It may seem painfully obvious, but it really does add a lot of charm and likeability to each character. This is built upon further in the small ways they deliver dialogue, the way they control, and even the unique dodge animations each character has.

“Concord can lean a bit more into the fun side of this by designing interesting characters around unique biologies.”

Concord creates a solid foundation for itself with its gameplay fundamentals that really evoke the roots of online shooters. Battles feel tense and exciting, with fast-paced shootouts that prioritize ability over character choice. There’s a lot of versatility to the movement, and shooting is tight and responsive. So far, the game felt very unencumbered by objectives and complex game types. It felt very fitting to the kind of Wild-West in Space vibe Concord is trying to achieve.

Furthermore, Concord is clearly trying to achieve a cinematic sense of style to complement its gameplay. There’s a particular charm to the way games start with your Flagship approaching a planet, informing players which star system they’re in before a transport vessel brings them down to where they’re going to be shooting it out. It adds a lot to the theme of the game and makes each battle feel big and dynamic. Add to that the interesting architecture and details each distinct planet has, and you’ve got a game with endless possibilities for fun arenas.

It’s still early, but Concord is shaping up to be something that I’m sure a lot of fans of the hero shooter genre are going to love. Presently, it feels like a more back-to-basics kind of shooter that adapts the 5v5 multiplayer formula in an interesting and fun way.

Players can look forward to Concord’s full release on August 23, 2024 , or jump into the Open Beta on July 18th, 2024, with the pre-download taking place on July 17 at 10 am PST/1 pm EST.