Ever since Chorus first broke out of hyperspace during Microsoft's Xbox Series X showcase last year, Fishlabs' enigmatic space shooter has been a tricky thing to pin down. The first trailer gave us a taste of its high speed combat and third-person battles, but its deep, ominous narration, hints of a mysterious cosmic power, and that final image of a planet being sucked into a black hole almost looked like it was verging into horror territory rather than plain sci-fi. Having now played around an hour of Chorus, I can safely say it's very much a pure breed of space combat shooter, following in the same, adrenalin-fuelled vein as EVE: Valkyrie and Star Wars Squadrons.
Forsaken, the sentient ship you control in Chorus that's piloted by the rebel cultist Nara, is probably a similarly slippery thing to nail down in the eyes of your enemies, too. Thanks to one of Nara's special Rite powers, bestowed on her by that aforementioned cosmic power you'll be hunting down over the course of the game, Forsaken is able to shift and teleport right behind enemy ships for brutal, bullet-ridden takedowns. It's immensely satisfying, and can also make for daring, last-minute escapes from incoming crosshairs. But you'll need much more than Nara's crafty Rite powers to survive Chorus' unforgiving dogfights. Forsaken went up in flames more times than I care to admit in my hour of hands on time, but I'm very much looking forward to going back for more when it finally launches on Steam and the Epic Games Store on December 3rd later this year.