Michael “shroud” Grzesiek is a well-known streamer and former CS:GO professional. He is considered an aim god and is a legend in the shooter genre. In March 2023, shroud announced that he was making his own game. Gameplay for this game can now be seen for the first time.
What kind of game is this? The game from shroud is a tactical shooter called Spectre Divide, which is set to be released as a free-to-play title on Steam and is being developed by Mountaintop Studios. On August 3rd, you had the first chance to take a look at the gameplay in a short stress test.
A release date for Spectre Divide is not yet known. However, Steam says “coming soon”. The stress test could also indicate an imminent release. Many developers use such tests to put the servers to the test shortly before release.
Tactical shooter with a unique approach
What is the game about? Spectre Divide is in part a classic tactical shooter like Counter-Strike or Valorant: one team attacks, one team defends. The attackers’ goal is to plant a bomb. The defenders’ goal is to prevent the bomb from being planted or to defuse the planted bomb.
You also collect money with each round you play, which you then use to buy weapons and gadgets/abilities. These range from flash grenades to protective barriers and smoke grenades. However, there is no respawn. If all players on a team are eliminated before the bomb is successfully placed or defused, the round ends.
Despite the similarities, the gameplay is very different from CS2 and Valorant. Instead of 5v5, Spectre Divide is played in 3v3. On top of that, you use the scope much more and are also precise when shooting while moving. The big special feature of the shooter, however, is called “Duality.”
In the video you can see a detailed explanation of the game principle:
Spectre Divide gives detailed insights into the gameplay of the shooter
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Duality: Two bodies, one brain
What makes the game unique? Spectre Divide differs from games like CS2 in various aspects. The biggest difference, however, is the so-called duality system: each player has two bodies that they can control during a round. The second body is called Spectre.
The second body opens up various tactical possibilities. For example, you can defend the A spot with one of your two bodies and place the second body on the B spot. If the opponents then attack B, you can quickly switch to your Spectre on B at the touch of a button and support your teammates in defending.
Your Spectre also offers you a second chance. Although there is no respawn in the shooter, if your first body dies, you can continue playing with the second body.
Spectre Divide uses a style that, according to the developers, is based on anime from the 90s. The setting and the graphic style are therefore not realistic and also differ significantly from CS2. In the comments on YouTube, some players write that the shooter looks like a mixture of Valorant and Borderlands. CS2 fans might not like the style so much.
While Spectre Divide could become a competitor to Counter-Strike and Valorant, Sony’s new hero shooter Concord is more likely to face comparisons to Overwatch. Unfortunately, the open beta could not convince MeinMMO editor Dariusz of the game: Sony’s new shooter for PS5 and Steam needs to change a lot if it doesn’t want to die within a week