Sony's upcoming hero shooter, Concord, got its first public showing over the weekend, with an early access beta available to select players ahead of a full-fledged open beta later this week. And despite having some stiff competition to overcome, the PS5's sci-fi FPS got some pretty positive reactions.
Perhaps the most telling of those is from Overwatch senior animator Kyle Disanjh, who says that the rival hero shooter is "a great surprise so far," with "distinct" characters and "fast and kinetic" combat. Overwatch's position in the hero shooter market is in no doubt, so a nod from one of its developers is pretty good news for Concord. Disanjh wasn't, however, the only dev with something nice to say, as Insomniac lead engine programmer Elan Ruskin took time to highlight the soulful character change animations.
Concord is a great surprise so far! The characters are distinct and really fun to play. Combat feels fast and kinetic, definitely worth checking out. Stealing a weapon buff from an enemy here and blinking behind them to kill them, escaping with a flashy dodge. Felt great. pic.twitter.com/GWrcPos1ehJuly 13, 2024
Plenty of other people have had their hands on the game over the weekend, too. Second Wind's Nick Calandra mentions "solid gunplay," and diverse heroes, suggesting that PlayStation could have "another multiplayer winner on their hands." Elsewhere, Kinda Funny's Parris Lilly and Blessing Adeoye Jr. were also impressed. Lilly said that there's room for "some tweaks to TTK and weapon balancing," but Concord "has a chance in the already competitive and crowded PvP scene." Adeoye Jr., meanwhile, simply said that "Concord is actually fantastic. Exactly what I wanted it to be."
And it's not all gunplay. Journalist Stephen Totilo has highlighted that Concord looks pretty good too, highlighting cosmic-themed loading screen art that's both extremely pretty and that speaks to some entertainingly fleshed-out science fiction worlds.
Concord sure is a pretty game (and I’m not getting thrashed in it just yet, thankfully). pic.twitter.com/VmZ9xpjmH7July 13, 2024
Concord's early access beta is over, but there's another open Concord beta kicking off on July 18 and running until July 21, which should give you a chance to check out the hero shooter if you missed out this time around.
Concord is just the start of a hero shooter revival that I still don't entirely understand.
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