Announced in the uproar of gamescom 2022, The Finals is a game that quickly garnered interest. It must be said that to attract attention, the developers have opted for trailers with explosive editing, not to say epileptic. Action, gunfights, explosions, color, vertiginous jumps, but also massive destruction of environments, in short, all the ingredients not to go unnoticed in the tidal wave that constitutes the genre FPS. Add to that a fairly devastating plastic and we better understand the enthusiasm around this competitive shooter developed by former DICE, the creators of the Battlefield series in particular. We were able to play it for almost 3 hours and here are our fresh impressions.
When you have several decades of experience in the business, you can land with a first game full of ambitions. This is more or less what happened with The Finals, the first title from the Embark studio founded in 2018 by industry veterans, having worked for DICE on multiple projects, Battlefield in the lead. Moreover, The Finals shares with the latter some similarities, such as the good taste for pretty graphics. It must be said that the first contact with the competitive shooter is attractive. The game is beautiful, it even has a lot of mouth, and above all, it offers beautiful panoramas which led us to do a little exploration to take advantage of the two maps that were offered during our hands-on demo, namely Seoul and Monaco. The capital of Seoul and its gigantic skyscrapers reminded us quite a bit of the artistic direction of a certain Mirror’s Edge, another game from the DICE laboratories. But in reality, what amazes above all while playing The Finals is this ability to blow everything up.
Almost all environments are destructible, from a single door to entire buildings, including walls, roofs and even the ground, it is possible to wreak havoc on the map in a matter of minutes. It’s obviously not new to be able to blow up everything in a video game (the destructible environments already date back to the first Red Faction on PS2 in 2001), but where The Finals goes much further is that by making these whole pieces of buildings, the level design then changes in real time. This allows you to create combat zones, but also new cover, or worse, dead ends that can become dangerous when you are chased. Suffice to say that a game is obviously never the same, given these sets that react differently to the attacks that are carried out by the teams and according to the class of characters that we have chosen. So it is true that the management of debris lacks a bit of naturalness, and these sections of cemented walls often give the feeling of falling like vulgar house of cards. But in the heat of the moment, we really don’t pay attention to it anymore…
BOOM SHAKALAKA!
During the first trailers of The Finals, many people have taxed the title of being a mix between Battlefield and Overwatch, but contrary to appearances, the title of Embark Studio does not fall into the trap of the hero to embody according to his look. , his style and his skills. No, in The Finals, characters are divided into three categories: Light Build, Medium Build and Heavy Build. Not only does the build of the character change depending on the chosen class, but the choice of weapons also differs. The so-called light characters have the ability to be ultra agile, with an increased ability to move and an arsenal that allows you to play more deceitfully with silent weapons, the ability to throw smoke bombs and even make yourself invisible at times. On the other hand, we will have to compensate with a lower resistance and little life gauge. Conversely, players who opt for tank characters will take enemy fire much better, knowing that their weapons favor defense with the possibility of creating protective domes, or even deploying a shield. It is also by choosing the Heavy Builds that it will be easier to blow up everything around you, using weapons of mass destruction. Then there are the Middle Builds, which are more versatile and have specific features like this healing weapon capable of regenerating the health of his teammates from a distance. We don’t know if the developers will rebalance after the beta, but clearly it is possible to send a soldier to the front while he is being healed from a distance, which grants him a kind of invincibility for the time of a few minutes.
Where The Finals manages to stand out from the competition is by playing on spaces, and in particular verticality. The title of Embark Studio pushes the player to move and even gain height. Also because the game promotes massive destruction and it is always more enjoyable to see a building collapse with a breathtaking view of the construction site. Everything is done so that we always aim higher, with the presence of zip lines, moving platforms or even aerial thrusters that constantly promote movement. The Finals is a fast-FPS anyway and there is clearly no room for campers who can be dislodged in no time, cover areas can be destroyed with a simple explosive or rocket launcher . The game is also not stingy with gadgets, accessories and decorative elements that can be sent to the opponent via the telekinesis glove. Because yes, The Finals also plays with levitation and it is even possible to take certain objects to protect yourself for a few seconds. Other tricks also allow you to create protective fields, such as the solidifying foam rifle which can also be used as cover in the middle of the battlefield.
Where The Finals manages to stand out from the competition is by playing on spaces, and in particular verticality. The title of Embark Studio pushes the player to move and even gain height.
The Finals is a game that is in constant motion, forcing players never to remain inert, due to its gameplay, its level design, its destruction system, but also by the events imposed by the map. In Seoul, meteor showers rain down on players to create chaos and bring about change. There is also zero gravity which shakes up habits and also pushes people to behave differently. Everything goes fast, sometimes too fast and this ultra-speed approach will probably put off a lot of players who won’t be able to follow everything that’s happening on the screen. Nevertheless, this proposal differs from the classic and standard FPS and the originality also goes through these drastic changes. In any case, one thing is certain, the fun is there.