Concord review roundup: 'The bones of a fun multiplayer game, but it's missing the meat'
Concord isn't the hit Sony will have been hoping for with critics
🥱 Concord has a Metacritic score of 65 from 24 critic reviews
😐 The game has received mixed or average reviews
🦸♀️ Concord is a 5v5 hero shooter in a similar vein to Overwatch
💰 The game is available on PS5 and PC for $40
Sony’s foray into the live-service multiplayer hero shooter genre has fallen flat with Concord, which is already struggling for player numbers on Steam.
The game has achieved a Metacritic score of 65 after 24 reviews, with 88% of critics giving the game a mixed or average score. Here’s what outlets had to say.
Game Rant was generally positive in its review, saying, “Those wanting to roll the dice on Concord will find an excellent FPS full of exciting abilities, intense battles, and eye-popping visuals. The game's character designs, premium price point, and general lack of interest from the public may make it so Concord never really gets a chance, and so potential consumers need to weigh the risks of investing $40 on a game that may be dead before too long. Personally, I am glad to have played Concord and I will continue playing it as much as possible, and will be sad if the day comes when its player count dwindles to the point where it no longer makes sense to support it. Hopefully, Concord defies the odds and becomes one of Sony's long-lasting live service experiments.”
Push Square felt similarly in its Concord review. “Concord is a clean and well-meaning first-person shooter, with no shady business practices to boot. Its lack of real identity is an issue, and it’s difficult to determine just how much Sony is going to get behind it long-term. However, there’s a polished and beautifully presented experience on offer here, with some interesting tactical team-building systems and sublime animations. Firewalk’s debut may not be out of this world, but it’s genuinely pretty good overall.”
VGC was less impressed and lamented the game for not being free-to-play. “Concord is an enjoyable shooter, kneecapped by a $40 price tag and a bland cast of characters. When it arrives on PlayStation Plus, which feels almost certain at this point, it’s worth picking up, but only with the enthusiasm you'd treat any other free-to-play fare.”
Gamereactor UK shared VGC’s sentiments saying, “It's passable, all the way through. The matches are okay in terms of entertainment value, the game feel is okay and the developers have done a decent job of building their own hero party based on the fact that Blizzard is behind, but there is also a lack of intrinsic value here and given that they have borrowed so freely from Paladins, Overwatch and even Lawbreakers and thus failed to build their own identity, there is no reason for me to continue playing - when I can continue to enjoy the originals instead.”
Digital Trends also wasn’t impressed and wrote: “Concord has the bones of a fun multiplayer game, but it's missing the meat.”
Concord has gotten off to a rough start as a live-service title, especially on Steam. Developer Firewalk has promised at least three seasons of content, but it’ll have to hold on to the small player base it’s got if it has any hope of reaching that goal.
Check out the upcoming PS5 games and upcoming Xbox Series X games to see what’s next for Sony and Microsoft’s consoles.
Up next: Star Wars Outlaws review roundup: 'Doesn't quite fulfill its potential'
Adam Vjestica is The Shortcut’s Senior Editor. Formerly TechRadar’s Gaming Hardware Editor, Adam has also worked at Nintendo of Europe as a Content Marketing Editor, where he helped launch the Nintendo Switch. Follow him on X @ItsMrProducts.