Review
Played on: Xbox Series XReleased: 2021
Following my own the footsteps into the world of space combat after Colony Wars, read my review here, I got a tip on Twitter that there’s a recent space shooter in the same vein. Released last year, Chorus has been praised by many as an excellent space combat game. I decided to give Gamepass a search, and there it was!
Although I hadn’t planned to play this title, I was quickly hooked and ended up playing it intensely for the following weeks until completion. It’s been a great ride!
I always admire a game that puts its gameplay in the driver seat, sporting a smooth and incredibly responsive 60fps gameplay for my Series X. The first thing I noticed in Chorus's opening level was how well it controlled. It’s nice to see such intuitive controls too, even though the ship movements look advanced, it’s easy to pick up and play.
At first, Chorus lets you have control over the ship in a simple manner, easing the player gradually into its gameplay. The weapons system only offering its gatling guns at first. Later, it starts adding more layers of complexity to its gameplay.
The ship gains new manoeuvres it can perform, such as drifting. Which is clumsily introduced in a confined area, however, once begin using it out in the open, it becomes second nature. Speed towards an enemy or turret, hit the drift button and you'll slide sideways, passing by the target with your nose pointed towards them, excellent for firing your weapons, then straightening out and speeding away.
Other abilities allow you to teleport behind your enemy or speed boost attacks that smash everything around your ship. Chorus cleverly adds these more complex abilities at a slow rate, while at the same time making the enemies trickier to take down.
There's a healthy number of enemy ship types, with their own distinct attack patterns and defensive systems. Be it small fighters, that your gatling can easily chew away, or larger and more heavily guarded spacecraft, that lay mines around themselves, requiring you to use lasers to get rid of their shields before attacking. As you progress through the story the new enemies will require heavier firepower in form of rocket systems too.
Other abilities allow you to teleport behind your enemy or speed boost attacks that smash everything around your ship. Chorus cleverly adds these more complex abilities at a slow rate, while at the same time making the enemies trickier to take down.
There's a healthy number of enemy ship types, with their own distinct attack patterns and defensive systems. Be it small fighters, that your gatling can easily chew away, or larger and more heavily guarded spacecraft, that lay mines around themselves, requiring you to use lasers to get rid of their shields before attacking. As you progress through the story the new enemies will require heavier firepower in form of rocket systems too.
I really appreciate the game for keeping itself to three distinct weapon types: rapid gatling guns, laser cannons and a rocket system. Each with multiple versions for purchase and upgrades within. A great way to avoid overwhelming the player. In a way, this simplicity echoes the seem feeling I had about Colony Wars.
This is, after all, arcade styled space combat, but be warned that the difficulty of the battles can become steep. Rapidly your shields will be pulled away and you’ll be shot down in no time. Consider knocking it down to easy if you find it daunting and being constantly killed. Becoming skilled in it's gameplay is more about the way you manoeuvre your ship, rather than insane aiming skill.
At first glance, Chorus seems like a massive open world, with large asteroid belts to fly about and lots of side missions, but don't be overwhelmed. It’s cleverly built up with bite sized areas. Side missions are quickly completed and aren't as numerous as you think. These smaller open areas are fast to traverse, with only a handful of places to discover and stuff to collect. I found it pleasantly sized, completing almost all the side missions and main campaign clocked me in at 20-25 hours.
What a view Chorus is! Especially when you reach the first open area after the tutorial stage! Each open area has a distinct environmental design, with lovely sunsets, space stations, asteroid belts and spaceships buzzing by. Visually, there’s a heavy usage of sci-fi styled effects, overdone coloured lighting and blinding lasers in battle.
This is, after all, arcade styled space combat, but be warned that the difficulty of the battles can become steep. Rapidly your shields will be pulled away and you’ll be shot down in no time. Consider knocking it down to easy if you find it daunting and being constantly killed. Becoming skilled in it's gameplay is more about the way you manoeuvre your ship, rather than insane aiming skill.
At first glance, Chorus seems like a massive open world, with large asteroid belts to fly about and lots of side missions, but don't be overwhelmed. It’s cleverly built up with bite sized areas. Side missions are quickly completed and aren't as numerous as you think. These smaller open areas are fast to traverse, with only a handful of places to discover and stuff to collect. I found it pleasantly sized, completing almost all the side missions and main campaign clocked me in at 20-25 hours.
What a view Chorus is! Especially when you reach the first open area after the tutorial stage! Each open area has a distinct environmental design, with lovely sunsets, space stations, asteroid belts and spaceships buzzing by. Visually, there’s a heavy usage of sci-fi styled effects, overdone coloured lighting and blinding lasers in battle.
I really enjoyed how good Chorus looked and the art style they went for was very appealing. It's how I imagine a modern Colony Wars would be! The large battles, with lots of spaceships firing and speeding about, are impressive and intense to take part in.
I enjoyed the opening story of Chorus and that the main characters, Nara, was formerly part of an occult, named the circle, that seek to dominate and enslave the universe. This shift going from bad guy to hero, makes way for interesting encounters with people fearing her, but then gaining her respect as she joins sides to defeat the circle and its prophet leader.
I enjoyed the opening story of Chorus and that the main characters, Nara, was formerly part of an occult, named the circle, that seek to dominate and enslave the universe. This shift going from bad guy to hero, makes way for interesting encounters with people fearing her, but then gaining her respect as she joins sides to defeat the circle and its prophet leader.
Although I initially liked the story, I found it to become a little convoluted about halfway. Although there’s an interesting bonding and story of your spaceships A.I., how he became who he is and what relation he has to Nara, the main plot about the prophet is on the over complicated side. It often feels as is the story is above my comprehension, it waffles on with rather little visual aid to explain, other than dreamy sequences.
A lot of the story scenes depict Nara talking inside her cockpit, but overall, the game lacks a personal touch. There’s a cold and sterile feeling to just seeing spaceships, space stations and asteroids all the time. With little human interaction other than over radio comms with the people you help, it made it a little hard to bond with Nara as a person troubled by her actions. Some organic feeling is lacking, especially when they want you to care about the main character.
A lot of the story scenes depict Nara talking inside her cockpit, but overall, the game lacks a personal touch. There’s a cold and sterile feeling to just seeing spaceships, space stations and asteroids all the time. With little human interaction other than over radio comms with the people you help, it made it a little hard to bond with Nara as a person troubled by her actions. Some organic feeling is lacking, especially when they want you to care about the main character.
Chorus’ strength lies in its fast and truly entertaining ship manoeuvring, the epic space battles and intense dogfights with enemies. It’s probably the best space combat title I've played as such. I just didn’t tire of engaging battles, steering the spaceships away from enemy fire and moving about cleverly to get the upper hand on the enemy pilots.
The varied types of enemy ships really bring out variation in combat, plus it keeps you at your toes, never allowing you to completely settle in a brainless comfort zone of blasting down enemies too easily. The upgrade system for your ship is a little underplayed, but it’s simple enough and allows you to tailor the three main weapons modes to your playstyle.
While it may be an overshadowed release, Chorus is impressive in scale and visual quality. It might lack a polished and high budget cinematic presentation for its story, but comes out on top when it comes down to excellent gameplay.
While it may be an overshadowed release, Chorus is impressive in scale and visual quality. It might lack a polished and high budget cinematic presentation for its story, but comes out on top when it comes down to excellent gameplay.
