The first of two scheduled beta tests for Sony's competitive hero shooter Concord is now underway. This one is for pre-orders (and PlayStation Plus subscribers) and includes both the PS5 and PC versions. The next beta will run from July 18 to 21 and is open to all.

This time you have to create a PSN account from scratch - Sony won't make that mistake twice - but that annoyance aside, Concord is running smoothly on my slightly older RTX 2070 Super.

I liked Concord when I played it at a recent preview event, but was unable to try the PC version at that time. Returning to the comfortable embrace of mouse and keyboard hasn't made me an FPS god against PlayStation players, but at least I'm not hitting the wall anymore.

The developers at studio Firewalk, many of whom are ex-Bungie, say they are seeking a balance of "aim and brains" that allows players to succeed with either good shooting or good tactics and team play. It's a little too early to tell if they've achieved that, but the 16 characters certainly have a diverse kit. Playing an entirely new hero shooter is a strange experience: one minute you're doing well as Regular Soldier Guy, and the next you're running around the map as Mushroom Man, decorating it with spores.

The cutscenes in Concord's storyline are still a bit of an eyesore, but aside from trying to be ho-hum, the presentation is solid; the only thing I really don't like about the UI is the scoreboard for matches, because it's hard to see your performance at a glance compared to your teammates (honestly Let's face it, that's the only reason to press Tab during a match). Other than that, I like the flat red-orange color palette and wailing synths; it's clearly inspired by the 70s, but it doesn't lean too heavily on it to the point of being stale.

At the risk of justifying my own opinion by picking and choosing which social media posts I agree with, so far the reception seems relatively positive. The subreddits, of course, already have one foot in the door, but they seem satisfied. The top post goes like this: "Welp, this match is tight as hell." As I write this, the haters are probably formulating their rebuttals. There will be a great debate over the weekend.

I would not recommend pre-ordering "Concord" just to play this beta. If you have friends who are participating in this beta, please give them a shout. For more information on the entire beta, click here.

Concord will be available August 23 for $40, the same as Helldivers 2.