Fishlabs, the German developer behind the space action game Galaxy on Fire, returns with works that will prove to be his masterpiece: chorusSince the team’s new space shooter first appeared at the Xbox show, the presentation immediately attracted people’s attention. In addition to the dubious title style, the trailer made me want to play it.
Chorus was launched today and I have been playing it for a few days. Although I am not ready to assign scores, I am here to tell you the good time I have been enjoying.
Chorus is a fairly simple space shooting game. You are on a ship, and you mainly use the weapons installed on your ship to solve the problem, or in this case, manifest in what appears to be programmable.
Space games don’t always strike a good balance between tight control and how easy it is to achieve some impressive operations. This becomes more complicated when you consider the control methods that developers consider when designing a game. Some people use the controller to play games like dreaming, but it definitely crashes when you use the mouse. Others are PC first, so they are designed around the accuracy of the mouse.
Chorus is a rare space shooting game, and both feel good to play. I chose the mouse because I like it better. You can set separate sensitivities for the inner and outer circle movements, and it is usually smart enough to help you a little when you are trying to keep up with fast-moving people.
The game is more inclined to the arcade aspect. For example, there are no buttons for up/down, which may make some situations awkward when you try to control the height while moving the target toward the target. Nevertheless, this is a restriction that will not hinder most operations.
The first thing you will notice (outside the flight mechanism) is Chorus’ sentient ship: Forsaken. This ship is both a partner and a companion, because it is a cool design that can carry your guns.
The protagonist of the game Nara has been talking to the Forsaken. They discuss bigger story beats, complement each other’s actions in the firefight, and point out the dangers you might miss in the fierce battle. This is one of the best qualities of the game. The different personalities of the two often make these chats interesting rather than predictable, revealing more information about each of them from beginning to end.
The most interesting mechanism of Chorus is Rites, which is essentially an ability that Nara can use. As a former member of the Technological Space Cult, she was taught to improve her senses and transcend the physical world.
These are embodied in the six powers, all of which are very useful and very interesting to use to the same extent. The game starts with scanning, which can highlight nearby collectibles or emit a wider pulse to mark nearby targets on the map. The latter is actually very convenient in most areas, because the game’s map seems to be an incomplete feature that was abandoned during the development process. The place where the target is hidden is usually a misty cloud, and its layout is never clear or unique enough to be used alone.
In general, Chorus does a poor job of arranging and tracking targets. It is common to mark secondary tasks and have the game automatically switch to nearby primary tasks when you are close enough. I have already had enough of this in a particular side mission, I just gave it up altogether.
The 3D markers tend to disappear quickly and require constant pulses to redisplay them on your HUD. This is a bit cumbersome, especially considering the size and density of these departments. More instructions can also be used on the target itself. Sometimes you will arrive at a predetermined location without knowing what to do next. Description rarely helps to solve this puzzle, you will need your own equipment to figure out what it wants, or give up and move on. The task menu is also a mess. It is a challenge to figure out what you are currently tracking and which tasks are derived from other tasks.
I like the sense of discovery in Chorus, especially because its different environments are the birthplaces of various sideline activities and the level of stratification in certain areas. You will usually get a transfer reward, and you will get farther and farther. However, occasionally pushing in the right direction can help.
The speed of introduction of rituals is not always obvious. Sometimes it feels like you have been playing for hours without discovering new ones, even if you seem to be near the end of the story line. What makes up for the sporadic structure of Chorus is the ceremony itself, which is one of the highlights of my time playing games.
The second ritual allows you to drift like Battlestar Galactica, using the power of your ship to complete some sharp turns, which is very useful when dealing with large ships and exciting melees. Other rituals provide unique advantages in battle, such as rituals that put you behind the enemy.
As you gain more of these abilities, Chorus will also introduce new enemy types to truly test your mastery of all rituals. Another highlight is the huge battleships, each of which needs a certain process to be dismantled. For some people, you need to destroy the shield generator and then manipulate your ship inside to aim at the core. Others have even more stages, which may take a few minutes to complete.
These moments are always exciting because they place high demands on you and at the same time provide you with an agent on how to approach them.
In the later stages of the game, different types of ships begin to appear together, usually in formations that operate at a lighter level to interfere, because heavier cruisers will attack the targets you should protect. Chorus occasionally mixes with mine-laying drones and other unique types that need to be handled in different ways. Some later battles will make you constantly switch between rituals while trying to stay alive.
The ceremony also has a narrative purpose. The more Nara’s darkness in the past she could reconcile, the more they would reconcile. This happened gradually in the course of the story. The actors usually portray the struggle well, even though some of the scenes may be a bit too dramatic without delving into the core of her trauma. Forsaken also has his own Arcar, which is my favorite one in the whole story.
The process in Chorus is quite linear. Except for the powers stipulated in these stories, you will not get much other income, and you will not meet anyone else in the world. You can upgrade your ship with components found in the world and provide it as a mission reward, but you will see it in a few hours in the game-the rest is just a better version. The same is true for weapons; the three types you will get at the beginning are all types-the rest are just their different variants.
This is not a blow to the game, but it does hinder diversity, especially since the combat is so satisfying, you will want to try out weird science fiction weapons.
I need to play more games to see the end of the story, but I am confident to recommend Chorus based on its mechanics and the amount of content you can access. It also runs very well on the PC, so that if I can get clearer textures, my performance will be worse.
Test version: PC. The code provided by the publisher. It can also be used on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S and Stadia.
