Concordis PlayStation’s entry into the world of competitive hero shooters. Unfortunately, the market for this genre is extremely volatile, and just being a good experience doesn’t cut it anymore; you need to have constant updates and clever ways to retain users if you’re going to succeed as a living game.
While Firewalk theoretically has the backing to make Concord a success and has crafted a sound multiplayer suite, there is definitely room for improvement. If it is able to implement some key changes in upcoming content drops, it can transform the game from a generic-looking wannabe into a must-play multiplayer title.
5Faster Leveling
Unlock Customization Options Faster
It becomes apparent after a few matches of Concord that characters progress rather slowly. Sure, the first few levels might zoom by, but before long you’ll settle into the game’s plodding pace as the XP required to advance grows greater and greater. This can become frustrating, as the only way to unlock more cosmetic items for your favorite freegunners is to continuously level up.
Furthermore, the job board system designed to give you additional XP payouts feels flawed. You can earn thousands of experience points by completing a series of weekly or daily challenges, but the individual tasks you must complete offer paltry rewards in comparison.
On the face of it, this seems like an easy problem for Firewalk to solve; simply adjust the rate at which experience is rewarded for completed matches and increase job board bonuses. While that is a solution they should investigate, they could also introduce limited-time events like double-XP weekends.
It would drive a lot of people to the game, letting them grind out their characters at a higher clip, while at the same time helping boost player numbers and engagement.
4Better Cosmetics
It Shouldn’t All Be Recolors
On the subject of grinding for cosmetics, it’s hard to feel like what’s on offer is worthy of the time players are asked to invest in the game. If you open up the Freegunners menu, you’ll be able to customize the appearance of each character to your liking, as well asany variants you may have. You may be disappointed to discover, however, that all your skin options seem to boil down to recolors of the same design.
Even your weapons are subject to this treatment, asking you to make the tough choice between a gray gun or a brown gun.
Given that Concord has faced criticism for its off-brand Guardians of the Galaxy appearance, it’s saddening that the art team wasn’t able to give the character’s any unique visual flavor. As more content is added to the game, it would be awesome to see the team lean into the opportunities they have with a science-fiction aesthetic, crafting interesting new costumes and weapon designs for players to grind for.
3PvE Content
Take A Page Out Of Overwatch’s Book
When Concord launched, it came with no single-player or cooperative content; the only way to play solo is to jump into training mode, where you can practice using each freegunner and blast away at targets. Despite the lack of a traditional campaign, Firewalk remains committed to the idea of sowing a narrative within Concord’s world, mainly through the form of weekly CG vignettes.
While retroactively adding a story mode of some kind is likely off the table (not to mention prohibitively expensive), the developers may want to consider adding PvE content of some kind in the future. Other hero shooters such as Overwatch have found a great deal of success in this arena, and it could bring new players into the game.
Additionally, it would give Firewalk another natural opportunity to infuse lore into their world, making the game more attractive to the story-hungry players PlayStation has cultivated over the years.
2More Unique Game Modes
Where Are The New Ideas?
As you peruse Concord’s multiplayer playlists, you’ll find many of the standard first-person shooter modes, such as Team Deathmatch, Kill Confirmed, and Domination, albeit with different names. What you won’t find, bizarrely, is anything new.
There’s no game mode in Concord that you may’t find anywhere else, contributing to the question ofwhy the game exists in the first placeif it can’t offer any unique ideas in an already crowded genre.
Firewalk is made up of ex-Bungie and Activision developers, so there’s an impressive shooter pedigree at the studio, and that shows in the gameplay. However, without any interesting modes to call its own, Concord actively courts comparisons with its direct competition.
When the game introduces new content in the future, it will become easier to recommend, and may draw in fans looking for innovation within the shooter space.
1Going Free-To-Play
Ensuring The Game Has A Future
Time to address the elephant in the room: Concord’s price. In a gaming landscape where free-to-play has quickly become the standard for most multiplayer games, it’s a particularly gutsy move to charge a premium for a brand-new IP.
Given the amount of titles battling for your attention at any given time,having no barrier to entry helps entice people to join your playerbase, after which you can sell them cosmetic items and battle passes. Games like Overwatch 2, Valorant, and Fortnite are free to try right now, and thus much more attractive to those on a budget than Concord.
While Firewalk should be applauded for charging for its game up front so as not to nickel-and-dime its audience later on, it can’t be ignored thatthe game stands a much better chance of living if it drops the price tag altogether. Doing so will bring a lot of hesitant players willing to try a free game into the fold, after which Concord’s gameplay can speak for itself.
If going outright free-to-play isn’t an option, Sony should consider offering the game on PlayStation Plus. Any injection of users can help facilitate positive word-of-mouth, resulting in greater long-term success.
