INTRO = 07-30-2022.
Been playing Chorus (stylized as CHORVS) on PC Game Pass. I'm already some 3 1/2 horus or so into this one - so yes, I got some thoughts here on what feels and plays like basically the New Freelancer. If you liked or loved Freelancer, which was an open-world 3rd person spaceship-shooter - well, more like open-galaxy with a 3rd person camera behind your spaceship in this spaceship-shooter, to be specific - you're going to dig this.
OUT OF THIS GALAXY.
You play as Nara here, who was once an elite pilot for a Cult-like group that is trying to takeover the Galaxy and control everything & everyone. She has some grief over something she did in the past, without giving away too much here story-wise - and this Cult is coming after her and your friends, since she's living a life of Exile away from the Cult. She often speaks and thinks to herself - often in a whisper here, BTW - so the player knows her thoughts. She also is using her memories to put all this story & character development stuff together for the player. While the story's decent so far, it doesn't seem spectacular yet or gotten to that point...if it'll even get there. Though, the voice-acting here is good and mostly that stuff happens in-ship in say small boxes w/ communications & pictures/avatars, similar to what games like Freelancer and Egosoft's X series of space-sims do. You do have some cut-scenes here & there and se some character models like Nara in her ship in detail - but mostly, most stuff happens while in-ship when in-game.
THE GALAXY IS YOURS.
This game is very similar to games like Freelancer, as an open-world spaceship-shooter with the 3rd-person camera behind the spaceship. No first-person camera here, as it's all behind the ship. Combat with the gamepad (Xbox 360 for Windows USB-based gamepad) is fine and it all extremely well. Like most modern PC games, you can remap the the keyboard/mouse and also even the gamepad controls - so you're surely find something that will work for you here. Also, there are a handful or so of numerous presets for the gamepad for controls, if you want to use those too. Regardless, I found something that works for me and it's pretty good.
CONTROL.
The gamepad of course rumbles and feels weighty quite a bit, when say rolling and dodging with your ship; when you speed-up and/or use your afterburners; using jump-drive to fly super-fast (to get to destinations much quicker, since you're in a huge open-galaxy/open-world here); and shooting enemies in some awesome dogfighting-style of spaceship combat. All of this feels great w/ the X360 gamepad, despite of course the analog sticks not being the most accurate thing in the galaxy here (since you will be aiming, shooting & flying here) - though, for aiming purposes when need be, the mouse of course is much better for that - even though you'll be missing all of the rumble and controller effects from the X360 gamepad. Certainly, this all is definitely something the game gets right & is great at: the combat, flying, and ship mechanics, as everything feels super-fluid, smooth, and great. This is one of the biggest thrills and best things about this game, as everything here is awesome on all of this.
MISSIONS.
Even when some of the missions do the same old format of say Kill X enemies (such as ships, turrets, and other stuff); find X things; go to X area or areas; etc etc. format - it's hard to fault the game a ton for this so far & so early on here, especially when it's hard to be sick of the combat; the combat's is so damn good & smooth; it's excellent. Maybe in a sequel or spiritual successor of sorts they can say do more with say the mission types that are often side-missions, but the main missions are also pretty good & more than the usual format, usually having their own level design and whatnot to them. A few side missions even gave me a choice to fight enemies or just pay off the enemies, so I didn't have to battle them - and the result was different...so I hope to see more of that in this game, though it ain't expected.
CHORUS 1: FOUNDATIONS.
This game certainly has a great foundation here given everything I've said - especially in the last paragraph. So, hopefully given this foundation here - hopefully especially for (hopefully) later in the game, for possible expansions, and/or sequels...namely, they'd probably need more variety in the missions; especially the side missions. Regardless, everything here is very accessible, very straight-forward, not over-bearing, and not overly complex - unlike say some space-sims like Egosoft's X series, which can have a very tough learning curve. So, if you've never done an EgoSoft X space-sim or never done Freelancer, this is the perfect space-shooter for you and it's loaded with tons of awesome action.
UPGRADES.
As usual per these type of space-shooters like Freelancer - you can upgrade your skills, equipment, ships, and whatnot. While I haven't seen many different ships here to purchase (not sure if this will happen later), there are options to upgrade a few things in a RPG-lite type of manner, like you'd see in other space-shooters like Freelancer. You have some specific skills tailored to your character and weapons that you'll get, from doing certain main missions and/or side missions. And it seems like this game doesn't throw all of its skills and/or stuff at you at all once, so...stuff so far seems spaced-out a bit and well enough that one you might be wondering "When am I getting the next weapon or skill?"...well, then here it comes!
PERFORMANCE.
At 1080p with DLAA On & RT On, the few character models here (like Nara) and also the game-world and its details on the rocks, the space-stations, the asteroids, the galaxy, and everything out there in space - yeah, this all looks fantastic and outstanding. I've been wanting a HD-style Freelancer type of game for a long time - and well, certainly, this fits that bill in many ways. Graphically, it looks stunning, flying out there in space.
BLAST.
3 1/2 hours in or so, this game's a blast so far. It feels like a modern Freelancer, in many ways. Hopefully, this game's format & mission structure improves with more mission variety & choice in especially the side quests - but, I ain't expecting the moon & galaxies here on that. With a great foundation here in so many ways w/ the controls for the flying, combat, and accessibility of it all - so far, this game's a blast & a real winner. So for now, I'm singing this game's song & praises here in Chorus, right along w/ this game's very own Chorus.
