Shooter games are entirely flexible when it comes to the gameplay they provide. Team-based online shooters are the ones that draw the most interest, thanks to their booming popularity and competitive scene. We used to have not-so-serious online first-person shooters back in the day, but the times have changed. We now have more serious and individual-dependent online shooters, which put more stress and thought behind every single action.

The prime example of the competitive aspect being more prominent is obviously Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Valve has been implementing fixes and balances since its release in 2013, although nowadays it's called Counter-Strike 2 after its engine being ported to a newer one. While there are a lot of multiplayer shooter games out there, how does one find one that sticks the landing on the game balance and competitiveness while keeping the fun aspect in that? Well, there are a very small number of titles out there, and it should be noted that I am talking about the ones that do not implement forced pay-to-win items.

Embark’s new online shooter, THE FINALS, came out of the blue; I vividly remember when it first appeared on everyone’s dashes, and of course, everyone was interested in it due to its flashy appearance. It is a free-to-play game; after all, it means a new title to add to your library, but hey, it has to be something valid before you decide to dive into it. That’s why Embark had a test phase before releasing THE FINALS to the masses. To briefly say, it is quite a refresher on the aspect of online shooters out there, and it is totally worthy of a try.

The theme is what welcomes players first, and it has to give a great impression so that the player count can rise slightly over time. Set in an alternate universe where people’s holograms- at least that’s what I am assuming, more on that later- are thrown into a huge arena. In this arena, teams of three are racing towards getting the highest payout by finding cash boxes and cashing them out at various ATMs and vendors in the vast buildings. Once the set amount for the cashout is met with one of the teams, the winner is decided.

The premise of THE FINALS might seem easy to understand, but if you decide to hop on it, you might have a hard time finding where the cash boxes are and what you have to do before earning objective points. The first suggestion from me while playing is to stick with your teammates all the time as a team; you hold stronger firepower and stability. The loadout of each player is also important, but loadout is something I would rather talk about from its own perspective.

The theme also provides that optimistic future with cyberpunk elements, so it is not all depressive or die-hard like other multiplayer games tend to be. After all, it is just a casual game unless you are queueing up for ranked matches. The gameplay of THE FINALS might also require some getting used to as it feels more arcadey rather than being serious, like Counter-Strike 2 or Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege. As stated earlier, teams are made of three people, and there are two different modes in casual matches: Quick Cash and Bank It. There are also ranked modes to go through, but those require Battle Pass in order to be played.

The first mode has a 3v3v3 setup where you must deposit all the cash you find in boxes, and the limit is $20.000. Each box is $10.000; therefore, scoring twice in the machines can easily lead to a win. However, teams can steal the machines by hacking them back to add cash to their account instead. These machines can suddenly spawn in other spaces too, which makes teams reposition to other places. It is a rarity that three teams would clash with each other at the same time, but it is still a possibility.

In the other game mode, the cash is again relevant; however, the win cap is raised to $40.000 instead, and players now drop money on death. Team composition changes to 3v3 v 3v3; this means dying in a fight is more likely to get your team to lose a match, too, so it's better not to screw up. Boxes do spawn again, but with $5000 instead of $10.000, it is quite slow to play by the boxes, so frags are always welcome in order to finish faster. One little thing to note, you have to deposit the money you currently hold to be available in your account; enemies can still shoot you down and get your hard-earned cash into their pockets instead.

Now that the premise of the win conditions is out of the way, we can talk about how gameplay settles out everything. THE FINALS takes the better path of multiplayer shooters, for sure. Instead of making a hero that represents a playstyle, The Final offers three different classes and gear unlocks to make those classes play uniquely on their own. Light, Medium, and Heavy are the classes, and their abilities, combined with their unlocks, provide matches that are different every single time. However, there are some problems balancing out the classes that need to be addressed in some way.

As the names of these classes suggest, Light is more vulnerable with lower health but has mobility and can dodge incoming attacks. Medium is more of a team-oriented class with its mixed style of dealing with damage and supporting teammates. Heavy, on the other hand, has the ability to dish out high damage with defensive options, but lacks overall mobility. Weapons and special gadgets available for these classes also expand upon their playstyle without steering too much off from their core gameplay- except for the invisibility of the Light class, which is one of the complaints I have so far.

I have taken a look at the community hub before trying THE FINALS to see what’s the opinion of the masses, and apparently, the Heavy class was nerfed recently to meet the overall demand. Although the Heavy days are over, now the invisibility of the Light class makes me want to pull my hair out due to how easy it is to spam and get away from close encounters. I assume that is the second problem Embark is going to look after because invisibility in a very cluttered, action-packed game seems a bit too powerful to abuse.

One of THE FINALS' biggest aspects is the weapons' effect. Each class has special weapons, but as a starter, you would have only one or two unlocked from the beginning. Unlike other free-to-play games, THE FINALS offers the opportunity to buy new weapons as you keep playing. Depending on your overall score, you gain coins, and you can use them in the market to purchase new gear and weapons to spice up your gameplay however you like.

There is a second type of currency that can be used to purchase cosmetics, but as you can guess, the cosmetics do not affect the game besides letting you look stylish from other players. Unless you really care about your appearance in the game, there is no reason to go for in-game cosmetic purchases. However, the inclusion of a progress bar with rewards and cash feels right for an online shooter.

Weapons themselves differ from class to class, as you can predict. The Light gets SMGs, sawn-off shotguns, blades, and throwable knives and is based on mobility with its faster speed. The Medium gets an assault rifle, shotgun, heavy-damaging revolver, and riot shield for protection; it can sometimes be lackluster to play The Medium as it is hard to put out damage with provided weapons. The Heavy gets the big machine gun and melee weapons that cause massive damage, and he is responsible for opening the way by damaging walls, too, so he is not only a bullet sponge.

Saying bullet sponge made me realize the inconsistency between weapons has a considerable margin. While you expect the Medium class to dish out at least moderately high damage, a single focused fire from the SMG of Light apparently can kill any class in short to medium range. In contrast, medium and heavy fires' respective high-rate fires cannot kill an enemy despite the focused fire. Headshots are a thing, but in the chaos that is the battlefield of THE FINALS, going for any sort of damage is better than none you get while aiming for the head.

One of the most important bits of THE FINALS is its destructible environments on the maps. I am pretty sure this decision is made deliberately as it adds a more fun and complex way to the game, whereas destroying flats and walls has its own merits when it comes to engaging with combat. Explosive weapons and abilities of The Heavy can easily crumble walls and destroy flats, allowing every player to reach the designed point or the cashout objective. I have to consider this a valid and positive point due to how it plays out in actual combat and how linearity in a multiplayer shooter game is usually frowned upon.

So, a well-balanced game, lots of players, unlock to go through, and a thriving scene… Does THE FINALS even have any negative sides that stick out? Even if it's a live service game with a dedicated developer behind it, some small things can pass through the cracks. The game is protected with something called Easy Anti-Cheat software. While booting up and adding that to my game, I felt quite safe as cheaters can be a huge nuisance for everyone who wants to enjoy their games nowadays. It was in my first hour that I found a cheater in my team; it's no joke.

Despite all the fuss about anti-cheat software, THE FINALS can and do have cheaters in the game. So, coming across a competent player who knows what they are doing also can be deceiving as they have the possibility of being a cheater instead. It, unfortunately, forces approach every encounter with prejudice instead of adequately managing how to get out of the situation. Even if I am a dedicated FPS person, which I am, trying to beat a cheater in their own game is quite challenging, to begin with, and coming across with one right away in a newly released title is a downer, no matter how you look at it.

THE FINALS also missed the point while designing the combat encounters you encountered during your gameplay. The first rule while making a shooter game is that you have to make the enemy stand out from the environment by giving them different colors from the background; it helps with team recognition. THE FINALS completely bypasses this and gives everyone the same colored outfit. The only time you realize the person you come across is an enemy is when they get highlighted with a different color, which can be too late to notice.

I kid you not that team recognition is the key while designing because, in one of my matches, someone on the other team had a unique skin that was completely white. You might have thought the whole white color would stand out in the open, but it was ultimately the opposite. When that person was in sight, I knew it was an enemy due to their bright-colored skin. But unfortunately, THE FINALS throws that idea out of the window. If you are someone who is inexperienced with shooters, it might take you a while to get used to finding enemy combatants in certain areas.

Just like other online-based games, THE FINALS also has its own daily and weekly objectives to boost your EXP meter so you can level up higher. It may seem very intuitive to get levels easier by doing tasks, but the hidden meaning is that you have to play the game daily to get rewards, which fuels the addiction. These tasks range from easy to figuratively hard to accomplish, so you just find yourself grinding to get just some EXP, which will be available in one way or another in the next week anyway. For the longevity of THE FINALS, it is a great solution, but in the long run, it will become rather exasperating to play through the same set of tasks.

THE FINALS has brought some fresh vibes to the market, and people seem to like it for a good reason. It is dynamic, engaging, and is on the right path to provide players with content. Although some aspects do require focusing, like cheaters, the game itself already showcases great promise in upcoming years and has no way of being irrelevant soon.

Atilla Turan (@burningarrow)
Editor, NoobFeed