Summary
- Concord, an upcoming Sony first-party title, will launch on PS5 and PC on August 23, 2024 with 16 characters, 5 of which have been revealed thus far.
- 1-Off is a large yellow robot with a black hole-like weapon, while Haymar uses a single-shot crossbow and leans into aerial movement.
- Vale is a sniper, Lennox is similar to Overwatch 2's Cassidy - albeit with a healing ability - and Star Child can briefly become invulnerable.
Concord is an upcoming Sony PlayStation first-party title that will make its way to the PS5 and PC on August 23, 2024. The live-service shooter is set to have 16 characters at launch, with 12 marked as the Default Squad and four labled as Free Agents. Considering the diverse character roster and developer Firewalk Studios' intention to keep the story as a core component of its game, Concord is poised to be a stellar addition to the Hero Shooter genre.
While the 5v5 FPS game has drawn mixed reception from fans due to how clearly it wears its influences on its sleeve, with the most obvious being its Guardians of the Galaxy vibes, which are emphasized through Concord’s vibrant color palette, the Freegunners being sort of protectors/mercenaries of the open galaxies, and the game’s humorous tone. While Firewalk Studios has yet to reveal in-depth information about the 5v5 shooter's full roster, it did confirm five core characters, detailing their mechanics and abilities.
Every Trailer From The 2024 Playstation State Of Play
There were a handful of games announced at the 2024 Sony Playstation State of Play, here's a rundown.
PlayStation 5v5 FPS Concord’s Confirmed Character List So Far
1-Off
1-Off seems to be the classic “gentle giant” in 5v5 Hero Shooter Concord’s character roster. At the moment, all the evidence leads to him being a strong tank, coming under class Anchor, but also someone who is undeniably personable and up for social calls. In Sony PlayStation’s State of Play from May 2024, one cinematic had him inviting Vale and another character over for a game night with the crew.
On the gameplay front, 1-Off’s presence seems impactful on the field. He has a long-range minigun that works indefinitely or on a cooldown mechanic. Instead of bullets, it sends out gusts of air that can not only damage enemies, but also hamper their movements and deflect their projectiles. Concord’s gameplay overview and cinematic trailer also showcased the minigun drawing in air instead of expelling. This helped 1-Off’s weapon work essentially like a Black Hole, drawing in and neutralizing enemy fire. Given its incredible impact, it would seem natural if this is a character ultimate in Concord, rather than an alternate fire mode.
Meanwhile, 1-Off also has a melee stomp that can deal quite a bit of damage. In terms of throwables, the robot seemingly comes with two - one is a plate that creates a vertical vortex and deflects projectiles and movement, and the second is Trash Bag, a "trash bag" that detonates and sets off a small shockwave.
Haymar
Although Concord is getting flamed for its character designs, the seems pleasantly diverse. Among the Freegunners present, Haymar comes under class Warden and appears to be one shining example of variety, as her gameplay mechanics seem geared toward that of a glass cannon. To begin with, she seems to be one of the few characters that uses aerial movement as a big part of her kits. Haymar’s agility also comes from a dash ability that can be used to quickly jump in or clear out of situations. While it is not yet known if she will have more fancy moves, there is a chance for this to be the case.
On the offensive side of the spectrum, Concord's Haymar comes with a crossbow that needs to be reloaded after each shot. This seemingly implies higher damage potential at the cost of rate of fire. Further, she also comes with a cooldown-based Blinding Flash ability. Haymar's kit also contains an ability that draws inspiration from Phoenix, one of the best Agents in Valorant for new players. Her charge-based Wall of Fire ability does as it says, creating a line of fire that can hold off areas and highly damage enemies on throw. While it is confirmed that Haymar is not the only aerial combatant, as the trailer showed a rocket-wielding Freegunner with similar mechanics, she could still be a lot of fun.
Vale
Concord’s character roster classifies Vale as a Warden. In-depth information about character classes isn't available at the moment, but Vale’s abilities and mechanics imply the class is more about directing the bigger picture and dealing damage from a distance. Additionally, the Freegunner also comes with dodges.
Vale plays the role of a hard Sniper in Concord’s character roster, much like Widowmaker in Overwatch 2. It is unknown if she will have an alt-fire with a faster rate of fire like her Overwatch 2 counterpart, but that doesn’t seem to be out of bounds. What she is confirmed to have is a throwable in the form of an attachable explosive trap that is triggered when someone runs through its lasers. To make her less of a sitting duck among Concord’s character roster, Firewalk Studios has given her a double jump on top of her fancy footwork. While this doesn’t allow her complete leeway in moving around in the air, like with Haymar, it will surely help players to get to a better vantage point in order to take out difficult targets.
Lennox
Concord’s character roster is definitely diverse and seems fun, but the game has been met with a mixed reception for being an “inspired” work. Lennox is, perhaps, one of the reveals that is fueling this debate the most. Based on the gameplay overview trailer, this Warden’s kit looks very similar to an Overwatch hero, while his humor and mannerisms give credibility to the fact that Concord looks like Overwatch meets Guardians of the Galaxy.
This Freegunner comes with two revolvers. The “heavier” one comes with tap-shooting and probably has higher damage, while the “trimmed down” one can fire off multiple shots very fast. Also, he has a throwable that is drawn to targets and explodes once stuck. These particular components share quite some similarities with Overwatch 2’ s Cassidy. One key distinguishing factor is that Lennox also comes with a self-healing ability, which can be seen quite clearly since he glows green after a dialogue trigger. It’s not currently known whether he will have any movement-based abilities.
Star Child
Star Child comes under the Breacher class in Concord’s character roster. It may just be a name, but there are enough reasons to believe this Freegunner forms the first line of fire. To start with, he comes armed with a powerful shotgun, one that the gameplay overview showed will have a devastating impact in fights. Further, not only does Star Child seem to have a higher movement speed than a character like 1-Off, but he also comes with a lunge type move that can help close the distance for a shotgun or melee finish. Further, his and other characters' base appearance show the potential in Concord's skins.
Star Child’s greatest ability in Concord seems to be Diamond Skin, which sees him becoming invulnerable to damage. This can help him stay alive while opening up the frontlines, or it can just as easily be used to make a strategic retreat. Further, this Freegunner also has a great run where he can shoulder-charge enemies off or jump from a height and deliver a high-impact groundwave smash. Star Child is yet another reason why Concord looks like a melting pot of Overwatch 2, Star Wars, and Guardians of the Galaxy.
5v5 FPS Hero Shooter Concord’s Character Roster Shows Great Potential
The full version of Concord will include 16 Freegunners, with four being Free Agents and the rest coming under the default squad. Apart from the five detailed above, the gameplay overview and cinematic trailers briefly showed other characters as well. Although they weren’t explained in detail, the videos did a fine job of whetting appetites. For example, there was one Freegunner with what looked like an assault rifle and a thermal vision ability. The gameplay overview also showcased a female character with an afro who has a melee kit and impressive agility. The cinematic trailer showed one character who can cast a shield, with these teasers giving players an idea of what some of the currently unnamed characters can do.
Going beyond Concord’s diverse character roster, Firewalk Studios’ has also revealed that it plans to support the live-service title with weekly cinematic vignettes and overarching character story beats. More information about the characters themselves, their background lore and abilities, and the scope of in-game microtransactions in Concord is yet to be revealed. Still, Firewalk Studios’ plan to add narrative depth to Concord’s character roster is a mark of great potential.
Concord
- Released
- August 23, 2024
