You really shouldn’t have already written off Concord on PS5 and PC; it's the fascinating mix of Team Fortress 2 and Destiny that you never knew you needed

The Concord beta is opening its doors this weekend for everyone, and I can't wait to jump back into it after last weekend's test, which is something I wasn't expecting to say.

I was as baffled as most viewers by the game's confusing reveal in June, which spent a few minutes trying to convince players we were learning about a new AAA, single-player sci-fi adventure only to drop a first-look gameplay on us that looked like every riff on Overwatch that's come and gone without glory for the last eight years or so. After spending five or six hours with the beta, however, I'm really vibing with its identity and firmly believe PlayStation and Firewalk Studios just fumbled the initial marketing push.

Mind you, even a cheeky alternative to Overwatch, now dubbed 'Overwatch 2' and offered as a free-to-play title in hopes of returning the IP to its former glory after several creative missteps, would be half-attractive with a firm, solid playable approach that came across as different enough. That first gameplay reveal, however, felt like a mix of "we have Guardians of the Galaxy at home" meets the Overwatch clones that have struggled to make an impact over and over again. Moreover, the $40 price tag on Concord is scary even if the promise is avoiding shite MTX altogether in the future (press X to doubt).

It's easy to see where PlayStation and Firewalk are coming from though. Earlier this year, Helldivers 2 surprised even the biggest sceptics when its premium approach to old-school co-op carnage paid off in large numbers and gave us some of the funniest and most genuine online interactions we'd seen in a while. While post-launch support on that game might've slowed down a bit before another big push (maybe a third enemy faction?), it remains healthy across PC and PS5. After shelving and delaying several unannounced live-service projects and even nuking the long-in-the-works multiplayer game set in the Last of Us universe, PlayStation is scrambling to land more live-service wins with whatever it has left, and chances are we'll be getting the games that were the furthest along in development rather than the most attractive ones.

If we run with that idea, then Concord isn't the best PlayStation Studios has to offer, but there might be something here with the potential of finding a community if the cards are played in the right order and certain streamers and youtubers react well enough to it. Sorry, but that's how online works either live or die these days. You gotta win over those people, especially when we're talking about a premium release versus free-to-play slop like The First Descendant.

After spending some time with the generous roster of characters (the full thing planned for launch, actually), maps, and modes available in the beta, I've reached the conclusion Concord is more of a blend of Destiny 2's PvP (but good) and Team Fortress 2's class design, which remains one of the best you can find in free-to-play games today. Roles are far more defined than in the current iteration of Blizzard's hero shooter, which kind of 'flattened' much of the unique feeling of each class type over the years, and there's a renewed focus on teamwork and stacking passives (and not just active abilities) on top of each other versus whatever Bungie is doing with D2 these days outside the game's co-op side (its main component).

So far, Haymar, a mage-like gal with a single-shot crossbow with great splash damage, and It-Z, a mischievous run-n-gun Goblina with awesome mobility and sneak capabilities, are my favorite Freegunners, but I've found a lot of love in most characters' kits, and that's quite uncommon (at least in my case) when looking at a roster with more than a dozen characters. The most exciting thing about Concord is that each character feels like its own thing and isn't constrained by larger class archetypes. Plus, it's all about how you juggle their unique weapons and skills, since ultimates aren't a thing in this game (something that will surely receive criticisms from the typical hero shooter crowd).

When coupled with the Halo-like movement and pacing of matches, Concord actually feels like an old-school (at least PS3/360-era) shooter rather than another entry in the long list of Overwatch/Paladins wannabes. Of course, this might not be everyone's cup of tea, and Firewalk's approach to an ongoing seasonal narrative seems mystifying at first glance, but there's a solid game at the center of Firewalk's big bet, and I now find myself rooting for it to find its audience. That price tag may be the biggest problem it has to face, plus PC players surely won't respond well at all to the PSN account requirement, so this weekend's open beta might be the most important piece of marketing ahead of the full launch next month.