Concord recently had it’s first gameplay reveal, and it’s looks like a good mix of Destiny 2 and Overwatch gameplay. If you are a fan of Destiny 2 PVP, I think there are plenty of reasons to be excited about Concord, and today I am going to get stuck into the details about what we know so far, and why I think this is going to be a great game for all Destiny 2 fans.
What is Concord?
Concord is a dedicated PVP, 5v5 first-person shooter set in the Concord Galaxy. It draws inspiration from Sci-fi, anime, fims and TV. At it’s core it’s a PVP game with a mix of game modes including objective and classic deathmatch.
The developers Firewalk Studios also have an interesting take on narrative, planning a weekly story update. Much of the marketing around this game has focused on the narrative elements, with people asking “Why don’t you just make a single player game, or have a single player mode”. I think the answer to that one is simple, if you have a PVP and PVE mode in the same game, then you have to balance everything to work across variosu game modes. This is dedicated PVP, so the team only needs to balance and tune across the PVP game mode. This dedicated PVP, and the team’s connections to Bungie are why I am excited for the game.
Bungie connections
Firewalk Studios started in 2018 with Ryan Ellis, Tony Hsu and Elena Siegman leaving Bungie and Activision as part of video game incubation company ProbablyMonsters. Ellis and Siegman were former Bungie employees as creative director and producer, whereas Hsu worked at Activision as general manager and senior vice president of the Destiny IP. In April 2021, it was announced that Sony and ProbablyMonsters signed a deal for the former to publish Firewalk’s first project as an AAA multiplayer title for the PlayStation 5. Then in April 2023, Sony announced its intentions to acquire Firewalk from ProbablyMonsters for an undisclosed sum. Josh Hamrick, instrumental in Destiny 2’s PVP, also joined Firewalk Studios. Josh is one of the main reasons I am interested in Concord.
Narrative
In Concord, you play as the crew of the Northstar—a group of guns-for-hire known in our galaxy as Freegunners. The Freegunners roam the stars taking high-stakes jobs on worlds across Wild space, where they face other fiercely competitive Freegunner crews. From match-to-match, you’ll form your team of Freegunners with other players and battle it out with rival crews to take home the reward across a variety of maps and modes.
Gameplay
Here’s some info from Ryan Elis, from Firewalk Studios talking about the gameplay.
From the very beginning, we wanted to make a tight, well-balanced FPS that feels great to play from the moment you pick up the controller. While our core gunplay will feel familiar to shooter fans, the versatility and variety of each Freegunner and their abilities makes it so aim and thumbskill alone aren’t always enough to come out on top. Each Freegunner’s abilities are designed to make it so that players of a wide range of skill levels and play styles can be effective—even those that are new to the genre—while providing additional challenge and depth for those looking for high-stakes, high-sweat competitive play.
From powerful mystics and towering robots to skilled gunslingers and snipers, we want each Freegunner’s personality and gameplay abilities to come alive in every element of how they play and the strategic considerations they create. Some Freegunners’ abilities are made for in-the-moment tactics, including casting walls of fire, throwing exploding knives, or lobbing trash bombs. Others can have an enduring impact on a match, like deployable walls that can block entire lanes, explosive traps, bullet-blocking domes, speed-granting spores, and more that persist across rounds and respawns.
Inspired by some our favorite fighting and strategy games, all of these abilities and mechanics come together to create a unique asymmetry to the characters and opportunities for improvisation that make every fight and every match-up a chance for something different and unexpected to happen.
Regarding the gameplay, it’s clear that some of the characters are inspired by Destiny 2. We can see the dodge reload, plus the throwing knife and the revolver that looks very similar to Last Word. Plus we have a character floating and throwing down a wall of fire that looks very similar to a Solar Warlock. We’ve always wondered what dedicated Destiny 2 PVP would be like without the burden of PVE balancing, and this could be it.
Game modes
Concord is going to launch with 6 game modes.
Takedown – Each kill players and their team achieve will net them points during the game. The team with the most points at the end is the winner. This is your standard deathmatch.
Trophy Hunt – Killing enemy crew members will drop tokens, and collection of these tokens will earn points for the team. The team with the most points at the end wins. This is similar to kill confirmed in other shooters.
Area Control – Three capture zones will spawn on the map, and maintaining control of these zones will net players points. The more zones a team simultaneously controls, the more points they accrue. This sounds familiar to Control in Destiny 2.
Clash Point – Teams will have to locate and defend a designated zone on the map from the enemy crew, or just eliminate them before they get the chance to contest. This sounds very much like King of the Hill.
Signal Chase – Teams will have to locate and control various zones on the map within a limited time to earn points.
Cargo Run – Teams will be split between trying to safely extract valuable cargo, or trying to steal the enemy crew’s cargo.
Evolving Universe
The Concord galaxy is full of danger and adventure, and we’ll be unwrapping more in the coming weeks and months. At launch, Concord will have a roster of 16 distinct Freegunners to learn and master, and the Northstar crew will grow over time through regular, free post-launch updates that introduce new playable Freegunners, maps, modes, cinematic vignettes, and more.
Alongside getting to know the crew of the Northstar through gameplay, you’ll also have an opportunity to see their stories unfold through cinematic vignettes that will premiere in-game, starting weekly from launch. These brief cinematic vignettes will feature ongoing narrative arcs that grow the characters’ stories, relationships, and unpack the broader Concord galaxy and life as a Freegunner.
Much has been said about the cinematic vignettes, and it’ll be interesting to see how Firewalk keeps up with the cinematic vignettes. I think it all comes down to the gameplay, if this game is fun fans are going to want to get into the story. If it’s not fun, then the cinematic vignettes don’t really matter. Personally, I am hoping they get off to a good start.
Open and closed betas
We have 2 beta’s coming up, one closed for players who preorder, then an open beta for everyone. If you’re interested in the Closed Beta then you can play from 12-14 July by pre-ordering Concord on PlayStation 5 and PC. The Open Beta follows on 18-21 July, where everyone will be able to jump in.
Concord is set for release on 23rd August 2024 on PlayStation 5 and PC, and for all you Destiny 2 PVP fans out there, I think this is one you should keep your eye on.