Chorus | PS5 Review
Chorus is a sci-fi space combat game developed by Fishlabs and published by Deep Silver. Released right at the end of 2021, it is currently available on Windows PC, PlayStation, Xbox, and for the purpose of my review I was playing the PlayStation 5 version.
Chorus puts you in the shoes of Nara, who’s a highly skilled pilot endlessly being haunted by her past from when she was a part of the powerful tyranny known as The Circle, that aimed to unite Chorus, while also aiming for galaxy-wide domination; quite the conflict of interests if ever I saw it. Unity and domination never quite work together. Nara used to be known as the ‘chosen one’ by the Great Prophet making her part of the elite few. However over time the Prophets agenda shifted and things took a dark turn. Initially things were done for the greater good but eventually Nara began following orders that were leading her down a path of extreme darkness; a void filled with death and destruction. Seeing this happening Nara chose to cut ties with The Circle meaning that she was stripped of her title and her Rites. As you progress through the various worlds you hear the stories of the other inhabitants and see their struggles and as you explore further you’ll find memories from Nara’s past which reveal even more of the story to you and give you a greater understanding of just how dark and grim life has been around Chorus. Early on you rebuild your relationship with a sentient spacecraft known as Forsaken and that's when the game really opens up and you begin to collect the Rites that will become incredibly useful.
In Chorus, Rites are essentially other powers that you have and as you progress through the game you regain use of these Rites, that were formerly stripped from you. The Rites take the form of special abilities and these range from a sort of telekinesis power to one that helps you to sort of drift. These become really significant in the intense dogfights and as you gather access to these Rites, the gameplay transforms and becomes something of its own.
Firstly, I’m not really a fan of games containing aerial dogfights or games which are space shooters. I’m not the greatest pilot - you’d never find me auditioning for Maverick or Goose any time soon and quite typically I find these games quite clunky and difficult to progress in. However, I found Chorus was the complete opposite. The controls were smooth and worked as intended; the mechanics made sense to me and the gameplay was just one big adventure after another. Typically these sorts of games are very linear as well and just plonk you into each mission whereas Chorus is entirely open world and each new galaxy that you visit is incredibly vast and has its own unique feel both visually and in terms of its atmosphere and general feeling. One of the key things that impressed me was how you really got a feel of the distance between everything and just how vast everything is. Every waypoint that you make it to isn’t a massive journey away in real time, but you really feel the reality of just how far you’ve travelled. Alongside this, the visuals are absolutely stunning and I really enjoyed just flying around and taking in the stunning atmosphere around me.
The combat is suitably challenging overall and ramps up in difficulty in some areas. Sometimes it felt unnecessarily so, but it was never so difficult I found myself getting frustrated. Usually, I was only failing missions because of myself not being a pro pilot but after a few attempts everything was generally achievable, so prior fans of the genre will have little to no trouble taking down everything that may come their way.
For anyone who likes a deep storyline, Chorus will certainly fulfil that. With about thirty hours playtime, loads of memories and various characters to hear from there is a pretty impressive amount of lore. The main gist of the story is fairly easy to follow but I will say at times I felt like some of the other concepts at play became a little bit convoluted story wise which is possibly my main critique of the game, but from experience of other sci-fi games that's fairly standard.
I am thoroughly enjoying Chorus and am especially happy to find a space dogfight game that I’m actually a fan of. Those looking for extreme realism in terms of the flight may be disappointed but anyone looking for a truly epic tale and to see some really stunning space themed views - Chorus is the one. With every mission I was anticipating what world shattering revelation could come next and feel truly involved and invested in the story.
Lj’s Rating: 4.5 out of 5.
For more information on Chorus please use the following links...
Fishlabs - Developer | Facebook | Twitter | Website
Deep Silver - Publisher | Facebook | Twitter | Website
Many thanks to Koch Media for the Review Key.
Chorus | Windows PC | PlayStation | XBox