REVIEW: Chorus is a union of robust space combat with spectacular scenery

Chorus is a space combat game developed by Fish Labs, known for developing the series of mobile games galaxy on fire. Proving that the genre is still very relevant, this title fulfills its role well with excellent interstellar combat, but with some flaws in presenting an overly ambitious story that can disrupt the gameplay of more demanding players.

Available to Xbox One, Xbox Series X e Series S, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4 e PC since December 2021, the title reached the Xbox Game Pass in June. So, we did a complete analysis for you to know if it's worth playing or not.

Discovering the world of Nara

The start menu is Chorus's first positive point, as it welcomes us with a large orchestra composed by the Portuguese Pedro Camacho, who applies great spacecraft noises between the instruments.

After choosing the difficulty level of the experience, we'll see you in control of the pilot Nara, former member of a mystery cult — The Circle. After destroying an entire planet, she leaves the institution knowing she would be branded a heretic. The first impression is: in the midst of guilt, trauma and a sense of duty to her current allies, ending The Circle becomes her main objective.

In the first moments of the game, some tutorials guide us, as several dialogues with characters that inhabit the galaxy of Nara appear through audios that make the interaction very impersonal. What stands out the most in the midst of all this is that the protagonist often whispers to herself. It would be some kind of resource that gives evidence of a possible dissociation/psychosis due to the trauma (as in Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice) or just a method of sharing Nara's true thoughts with the player?

Regardless of the answer, it's curious that a title like this focuses so much on the story that, at first, it's intriguing. The voice cast does a great job, but not for less, as we only depend on this feature to get to know the history of the people we meet in the side quests.

The visual effort is masterfully placed on the horizons and detailed space stations. With that in mind, we can continue our exploration with the feeling that we will find good times ahead.

A Chorus story

Nara is on a mission to destroy the dark cult that created her, the circle, a group of fanatics who promote the extinction of humanity, led by a man known as the great prophet. The desire to end the institution arises after Nara blows up an entire planet, putting her in front of immeasurable guilt. It is worth noting that we know all this through cinematics, without “living in the skin” everything that Nara went through, which can reduce the impact of what happened from our perspective as a player.

Your search for redemption takes her across the galaxy and beyond the confines of reality. That said, it can be tiring to play around 20 hours of campaign listening to a repentant war criminal. Virtually all of their conversations culminate in regret for having obeyed the orders of their former boss. The interior monologue during conversations, which is not heard by NPCs, only us players, is a nice feature, but it also achieves unnecessary repetition.

Nara is often emotionless, likely due to her violent training as a cult warrior and elite pilot. In this way, the character fulfills her purpose within the Chorus narrative, but without much shine. Next to her is sentient spaceship called Forsaken, affectionately nicknamed Forsa by the apathetic protagonist. Artificial intelligence harbors feelings of distrust, as it was abandoned by Nara during their time together with the Circle.

In short, the premise of Chorus is simple: humans, together with the defector of the evil organization, must resist the brutal acts of the enemy. A powerful narrative could be told within the genre of space shooter here, in a supposed open world that could also be spectacular. However, these two requirements were not well executed in Chorus.

Gameplay 

We got to the good part! THE gameplay is the flagship of Chorus. In a title designed to be a suspenseful experience, involving a religious sect, you will encounter a wide variety of enemies as you progress through the story. The coolest thing is the learning curve, as new commands and special powers appear and add dynamism to combats. With a little persistence, you are able to master the combat system in a few hours, guaranteeing an exciting satisfaction with the game.

Another highlight are the side quests, which make it possible to participate in races, scavenge for debris, escort ships, control massive warships, and much more. In addition to being interesting, they provide money, very useful for equipping the ship.

Forsaken can be armed with missile launchers, machine guns or laser cannons, in addition to having three slots all with mods, which can be used to alter the ship's performance in combat. However, ship modification doesn't require much strategy, as the game only provides upgrades, without considering what might be more suitable for different situations. Another thing that could be better are some of the scenarios that are too dark, making navigation difficult.

The game takes place in a open world, thus, players can complete various optional missions. There are moments extremely immersive, capable of giving the feeling that we are snipers. In others, you feel good about helping others, such as meeting someone who needs help fixing their aircraft. No need for combat, just nice little moments of the human experience that breathe new life into the gameplay.

Since we're talking about Open-world, Showmetech has a list of 20 open world games to keep an eye on in 2022 that might interest you, see?

Going back to the analysis, while exploring Nara, she will find several ancient temples, places that require solving puzzles. It is also in these moments that the character acquires rite powers, creating combat skills. In other words, the space combat gains a touch of witchcraft, very cool for the gameplay.

Chorus Scenarios and Visuals

the map of Chorus is open-ended, with new star systems unlocking as you progress through the story. In this way, different types of terrains and horizons are presented, from huge cities of space stations to worlds formed by mountains of ice. Ah, aliens with numerous tentacles are also part of the view. Amidst the explosions, shooting effects and stardust, everything looks very beautiful.

In the darkness of space, the Cult clings to red, which ends up passing a vibe bem Stranger Things in some moments.

Chorus worth it? 

Story development issues and uninteresting characters aside, a title that had a narrative with high potential makes up for all the flaws in its combats. Much like fighting games where the cutscenes serve to introduce the next battle. And it's okay!

Oh, and let's not forget the high-quality sound editing and exciting soundtrack by composer Pedro Camacho. With an average gameplay of fifteen to twenty hours, there's no time to get bored. Developers deserve respect for creativity, trying something different within such a narrow genre. Therefore, Chorus could be the next reference for the space combat games.

Chorus is one of the games that arrived in June on Xbox Game Pass.