In the world of competitive gaming, there is plenty of competition to go around. With the likes of Valorant, Call of Duty, APEX, and Overwatch 2 dominating the field, it is sometimes tough to make room for something new, even though it might contain familiar traits that you would find in the previously mentioned titles. I’m sure there are several games out there that can tell you that storyline.
Now, that doesn’t mean there isn’t room, especially if a new game has the right elbows to make room. Developer Embark Studios and publisher Nexon, Co., Ltd. are hedging their bets on a fast-paced first-person competitive shooter called THE FINALS to force that room in the competitive gaming scene. The game hedges its bets on a simple concept of collection and deposit while forcing the gamer to rely heavily on teamwork. All the right elbows to make some room in an already crowded competitive scene.
Now, we were privileged to sit in on a preview of the game and what we got out of it was just one word – fun. Do you need more than that? The answer is no.
Sit back, make sure you withdraw as much as you deposit, and let’s get cracking on our preview of THE FINALS.
Getting into the scrum
I am not a competitive gamer by trade. While I obsessively enjoyed games like Call of Duty and Battlefield in my youth, shifting into a higher gear with the likes of Valorant or Overwatch 2, hell even APEX, is way too much effort. Plus, I would let down teammates who might otherwise take those games seriously. I don’t have the time to make a career out of competitive games at my age, and I’m at peace with that, but I do have time to enjoy a game that lives its life like it was filming a sequel to The Parent Trap.
I can see THE FINALS living in both non-competitive and competitive gaming worlds. For the two-hour play session I had, I picked up on the game pretty damn quickly. The first thing that makes this game so accessible to competitive and non-competitive gamers alike is how fast it moves. While the maps are Battlefield-esque size in scope, you run through so many different buildings and scenarios that you feel like everything is tightly knit and the landscape is changing quickly. For example, I was first dropped into a casino map that felt like a series of Vegas casinos. Slot machines were everywhere, large multi-level rooms were quickly accessible, and everything in the environment felt like it was pushing the pace and welcoming the impending chaos of team battles at every given second. It was good chaos that made you want to keep moving and watch behind your back. And believe me, you’ll want to watch behind your back, especially with the first mode I happened upon.
The game mode that I was introduced to was called Bank It. With this game mode, you raid money safes in a snatch-and-grab job, try to find a machine somewhere on the map (and they change rapidly) that you can dump the dough, and do all of this without dying. If you die, your money can be snatched by another three-person team, something you do not want. The goal of the mode was to be the team with the most amount of money left over at the end of the game. It’s simple, it’s also heavily strategic when talking with teammates and guarding your goods. And, again, this all adds up to a fast-paced game that doesn’t feel like you’ve been there for 10 minutes playing (there is a countdown – which increases the chaos) and one that you want to jump back into as soon as it’s over.
What’s remarkable about all of this is how easy the game is on the surface, including customizing weapons, gaining upgrades, and pushing along various ways to arm yourself for the gameplay. There are so many clever weapons, such as gas, grenades, and a series of firearms. You have plenty of choices when it comes to weapons and secondary items. All of it seems straightforward, and at the same time, it’s uber complicated with what competitive approach you should be thinking about during a match. The game has a shit-ton of high sensation value attached to it where your senses will be engulfed with the environments and your constant need to outthink your opponent. The latter of the duo there is where the complication of this game becomes your goal.
The environments are so wide open that you will have to work with your teammates to keep an eye out for enemies approaching, work to develop the best approach strategy for snatching money, including the best weapons to arm yourself with, and find a good route to go to deposit the goods without being taken out. And while this explanation may seem easy, the game is essentially making you fly blind while trying out strategy. You never know where the enemy is going to pop out, and there are so many shortcuts and escape routes that even when you’re evading, you still have a chance of being invaded by the competition. It’s intense, especially with the multi-tiered map levels, but fun as hell all the way through.
I cannot state that last paragraph’s sentence enough, the game is fun. I can’t remember the last time I had fun with a competitive game. I can’t remember the last time I felt equal during a competition with players better than me. Even when I lost in THE FINALS, it still felt like a success because I didn’t walk away thinking I sucked at the game. You’re back too quickly into the scrum after dying and after matches are over, which doesn’t allow time for frustration and unhappiness. Honestly, I just want to play this game again after re-reading this preview.
It has been a long time since I felt this way about a competitive game, even ones that I’m decent at playing. THE FINALS dug up some old Battlefield and Call of Duty vibes that I didn’t know I missed until I played through this preview. The need to get going again with the game is a welcomed one, and one that I will certainly be satisfied with when this holiday season ends.
On that note, let’s wrap this preview up.
Conclusion
THE FINALS from Embark Studios is a fast and fun competitive game that welcomes all types of gamers. You don’t have to be hardcore to enjoy it, and that’s a driving reason I’ll come back to it. With huge environments, easy-to-pick-up-and-go gameplay, a variety of weapons and customizations, and the forced, yet good necessary need for teammates, THE FINALS has a bright future ahead of it. It certainly has enough oomph to make room among the current competitive greats.
Check it out when you can.
