Concord isn't good enough to justify being $40 in a free-to-play world

After eight years in development, Concord has landed. And a week after release, it’s safe to say that Firewalk Studios’ debut title hasn’t exactly burst onto the scene in a blaze of glory.

Breaking into the crowded hero shooter market was never going to be easy, especially for a game that isn’t free-to-play, and it certainly seems like Concord’s retro-futuristic riff on the hero shooter formula hasn’t quite found its player base just yet. To date, it has peaked at just 697 concurrent PC players on Steam. Even if it’s more successful on PS5 (Sony hasn’t revealed concrete figures), that’s not a good sign for the game’s longevity. 

That said, Concord shouldn’t be entirely written off. Behind the (divisive) art style, there’s a polished, if fairly safe, and content-light hero shooter to found. And there is decent fun to be had if you decide to step aboard the Northstar. Read my full Concord review to help you decide whether you should get involved or not. 

Concord: The Basics

• What is it? Concord is a new hero shooter from Firewalk Studios. It’s a 5v5, PvP title that tasks players with choosing from a roster of 16 “Freegunner” characters and then putting their weapons and abilities to use in various competitive modes.
• Who is it for? The competitive shooter scene, or anyone looking for a squad-based multiplayer game to sink their time into.
• What’s the price? Unlike many of its biggest rivals, Concord is not free-to-play and costs $39 at launch. There’s also a Concord Digital Deluxe Edition available for $59.
• What other games has the developer made? Concord is Firewalk’s first title, though developers from the studio have previously worked on big shooter franchises like Destiny, Halo and Call of Duty. 
• What games is it similar to? Concord plays similarly to other hero shooters such as Overwatch, Marvel Rivals, Rainbow Six Siege, Apex Legends, and Valorant, or Destiny’s PvP Crucible mode. 

Take your shot

Having already alienated some potential players with its aesthetic, Concord is going to live or die by its core gameplay loop, and I’m pleased to say that this is where the game excels. 

The gunplay is some of the strongest I’ve experienced in a long time; each Freegunner comes equipped with a primary weapon and a handful of unique abilities, and they all feel great to use.

Weapons range from standard guns like Emari’s minigun or Teo’s rifle to more unique fare like Haymar’s incendiary crossbow, Bazz’s speedy throwing knives, or 1-0ff’s push-and-pull Industrial Vacuum, and all feel like they have a real impact.

Freegunner abilities bring extra complexity, allowing players to alter the battlefield, boost allies’ resilience and, of course, deal big damage. When you’re in the thick of it playing alongside a well-composed team, Concord is a blast… but the experience isn’t flawless. 

The 12 maps available at launch feel well planned out; they contain plenty of flanking routes and vertical terrain to ensure characters of all mobility types can plan their assaults properly, but many are larger than the 5v5 action can support. In some matches, I spent more time running down empty corridors looking for a firefight, than engaging in combat with opposition players. 

Other issues persist elsewhere. Having to quit out to the main menu and re-join matchmaking when the “requeue” option just disappears post-match is frustrating, as is being forced to abandon matchmaking after upwards of five minutes of waiting because you simply can’t get into a game. 

Playing it safe

I mentioned Concord is content-light, and that’s not an exaggeration. At present, there are only six main game modes, which are all a mixture of respawn and no-respawn rounds, and all play like tried-and-true multiplayer shooter offerings. 

Takedown is a straight Team Deathmatch where you’ll rack up kills, Trophy Hunt is a slight variation on the format as you’ll be taking down enemies to pick up their bounty cards (first to 30 wins), and there’s also a series of modes that hinge on capturing and controlling marked zones in a given map. All of these are solid choices that let Freegunners put their skills to the test but some extras would certainly help Concord in the variety department. 

There are a couple of interesting twists at play here, but none feel all that substantial. Players who hop between the six Freegunner designations (Anchor, Tactician, Breacher, Warden, Haunt, and Ranger) in-game and play multiple characters per match can deploy static buffs like improved mobility, or faster dodges or reloads that will apply to any subsequent respawn or round. This incentivizes you to play with the whole roster rather than stick with a familiar favorite.  

The roster also gets a little extra depth thanks to “Variant” versions of the core lineup. These are duplicates of the 16 Freegunners who pack alternative passive abilities, like a Variant Teo who’s equipped with extended mags and extra grenades, rather than base Teo’s temporary post-dodge speed boosts. 

After a little time in-game, you’ll unlock the Crew Builder. Players can bring up to 12 particular characters into a given match (including up to 3 Variants), with 4 additional randomized “back-ups” to choose from. These systems could add depth as the game continues to grow, but, anecdotally, I didn’t see all that many Concord players switching between more than maybe two characters per match.  

Joining the fight

 One of the critical areas Concord fails in is that it doesn’t do a good job of bringing in hero shooter newcomers. A training mode runs you through the basics of moving, shooting, and ability-slinging, but it only does so with three of the starting 16 characters.

Otherwise, the only way to get to grips with the remaining Freegunners is either by stepping onto an empty Practice Range with static enemies, taking on a handful of throwaway time trails, scrolling through a lengthy How To Play codex (written in obnoxiously tiny font), or just stumbling through a few matches with your chosen character. 

None of these feel like the best way to bring people on board, and seeing as the player count doesn't exactly seem to be thriving, this could well be a barrier to Concord's future success. 

Lore, what is it good for?

Though the game looks nice in motion, the art direction certainly feels derivative and, frankly, a little ugly in places. The planets are impressively rendered and a lot of care has gone into bringing the universe to life, but the actual characters themselves don’t feel all that memorable. That's a huge problem, as Firewalk is clearly very proud of the elaborate sci-fi cast they’ve assembled, and they want us to care about it, too… but I just don’t think I ever will. 

The game promises to tell an evolving story in between rounds with weekly cinematics, but the initial batch left me utterly cold; I’ve not found a character I genuinely care about, which isn’t a good sign for my long-term investment. Logging in to see the title card for the latest cutscene read “Name_Final_Final_02” makes this whole story set-up look rushed.  

Aside from these weekly vignettes aboard the Northstar, the other major way to learn about the universe is by making use of the elaborate “Galactic Guide”. This barely interactive virtual encyclopedia is a map of the Concord universe, populated by text dumps. 

It seems a strange choice to try to cram in narrative development in this way, as I highly doubt the average Concord player wants to build up their lore level by scrolling over a big map and reading a codex’s worth of lore about characters, factions, and planets. It’s a poor substitution for proper storytelling and something that many players might skip entirely.

Money talks

Unlike its free-to-play competitors, Concord has launched with a $39 price tag, which has proven a bit of a sore spot (and might account for that low player count). There are already plans in place to introduce additional Freegunners, maps, modes, rewards, and worlds later down the line (at no additional cost), with “Season 1” arriving in October 2024, but these post-launch plans could be too little, too late.

With the plethora of character unlocks on hand, it’s no surprise that cosmetic microtransactions are in the pipeline; this is a live service game, after all. Don’t fret too much, though; Concord’s Director of IP, Kim Kreines confirmed to VGC that these purchasable options would be ‘purely cosmetic’.

And since there are already hundreds of progression-based unlocks in place — character and weapon skins, accessories, and even player ID stats for bragging rights — there looks to be plenty to keep dedicated players who don’t want to spend any money occupied for some time.

Concord verdict 

Concord feels great to play, but is light on content. Right now, I’m not entirely sure the tight gunplay is enough to justify a strong recommendation. Throw in some early frustrations like lengthy queue times and lacking narrative elements, and I’m left feeling that it’s merely an acceptable package at launch.  

You can almost certainly get a comparable experience from one of the many other hero shooters on the market… without having to pay a premium to hop on board, and the few unique features — its Galactic Guide, the Crew Member bonuses, and those weekly cinematics — don’t feel like enough to warrant jumping ship from another live service title.

Should Concord survive long enough to add extra game types and more Freegunners, there’s the chance it could grow into a much stronger online shooter experience, but, as it stands, it’s a slim and only occasionally entertaining package.