REVIEW: CHORUS Uses New Flight Patterns On A Familiar Path

I love flying games. I love the ability to soar around and have the freedom of moving in any way that I want. However, I have a hard time thinking of games that gave me the swift and seemingly seamless experience of flight. Many have come close but fall short when in a dog fight or others suffer from long stretches of nothingness. Chorus, on the other hand, is easily one of the best, if not the best, flying experiences I’ve had in a game. While it might falter a bit in the quest progression or poor pacing, it stands as a good game that never feels like a spaceship gimmick.

Let’s talk more about flying in Chorus. I used a PS5 controller on PC and the flying maneuvers, speeds, and systems came extremely naturally to me. It was so easy to zip around from place to place, make hard turns and wiz past objects, it felt like I had already logged in 15-20 hours into it. I’m not sure how much I was doing on my own or how much the game helped me, but either way, I felt like I was in control and was a master of flying right off the bat. The dog fights at first feel clunky and like an awkward game of cat and mouse. But as players progress, they will unlock a slew of abilities that make space battle a thrill and joy. I do wish some of these abilities came earlier in the game because those first few missions and dog fights were not all that enjoyable. Overall, if you want a game that rewards daring flight maneuvers and throws players into the pilot's controls, Chorus can easily do that.

Most games like this have some story elements that give bare-bone reasons to go from point A to point B and kill all the enemies in between. Chorus isn’t groundbreaking or intensely gripping, but it does have a lot more personality and intrigue than games in this genre. I found the story to give me a good enough reason to play, but I would have kept playing anyway because of my enjoyment of the core gameplay. Our main character does a lot of the leg work in being both informative and trying to be interesting, but I never found her to be so likable that I cared what happened to her (or the other people for that matter).

Chorus is an ambitious game that puts players in control of one of the best flying experiences ever. Between the smooth movements, game-breaking maneuvers, and fun bosses, there is a lot to enjoy. But, the objectives, slow pacing, and less-than-engaging story hold the game back from being a great experience overall.