PlayStation has made clear its desire to get more live-service games in its first-party line-up, and Firewalk Studios’ Concord is among that first wave of games. Featuring a cast of mercenaries just trying to get by in the dangerous galaxy, Concord takes clear inspiration from Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy while looking to put its own spin on the hero shooter genre.

Jumping into Concord’s Early Access Beta, I was greeted with a cinematic featuring several of the game’s playable characters. The developers recently stated that new cinematics will be released weekly, telling the story of the world as a companion to the game’s live-service elements. It’s an interesting way to go about endearing an audience to characters in a game that doesn’t have a conventional story mode.

Before jumping into a game, I browsed the roster of playable characters, known as “Freegunners.” As players level up, they’ll earn rewards to spruce up their profile and show off their prowess. Each Freegunner has an individual level that can be progressed through playing with them and completing challenges. This unlocks weapon cosmetics and Freegunner skins to make each character your own.

Before a match starts, you select the Freegunner you want to play as. Similar to games like Overwatch and Valorant, only one player can play as a given character on a team, so you’ll need to be quick if you want to lock in your main. I gravitated towards Teo, as he was the standard soldier archetype, equipped with an assault rifle, frag grenade, and smoke grenade.

The time-to-kill in Concord is deliberately long, as fights are designed to be back-and-forth affairs where players can use their abilities and collaborate with their teammates. There were several instances where I was either outnumbered or outmatched, and was able to toss a smoke grenade to escape or stall time until back-up could arrive. The ping button was my friend, and I was constantly telling my allies whenever I spotted an enemy.

I also really enjoyed playing as Bazz, a Freegunner who doesn’t actually use guns at all. Instead, she has an arsenal of throwing knives that she chucks at enemies. She’s a shifty character that adds a level of unpredictability to every engagement.

It’s clear that Firewalk put a lot of work into individually crafting every member of the Concord roster. They all feel like they could be the protagonist of a different game, and you’ll frequently hear them call out unique voice lines to each other or acknowledge the world around them.

There is also a decent offering of game modes available in the beta. I played a lot of Trophy Hunt, which is essentially like Kill Confirmed from the Call of Duty series, where you must collect an item after killing an opponent in order to score points. There’s also Cargo Run and Clash Point, which are more objective-based game modes.

I’m apprehensive about every announcement of a new live-service shooter these days, but Concord makes a solid first impression thanks to its charming characters and straightforward gameplay. I’ll be jumping back into the Open Beta and the full release in August to form a full opinion.

This preview is based on the Concord Early Access Beta thanks to a code from PlayStation Studios.