The Finals game review: Good game, but there is room for improvement

The Finals is a game developed and published by Stockholm-based Embark Studios. The game uses Unreal Engine. The Finals couldn’t have been released at a better time. The fact that the game is free to download and was released when Activision messed up the Call of Duty Warzone character and inventory files of its players during the season 1 update gives the finals an excellent opportunity to speed up extending its player base.

The Finals and Warzone are not in the same subcategory. It’s an extraction shooter, but both are FPS games; therefore, I will compare this game to Warzone because it’s what I have been playing a lot lately under the same main category. I’ll also compare it to Team Fortress because it’s one of the legends in its category; what else? I also think they are similar enough to be compared regarding the general feel of the game, the balance of weapons and classes, and the gameplay experience.

The Finals revolves around players who compete against each other in front of a virtual stadium audience accompanied by hosts commenting on the players’ actions and developments during the match. It reminds me of The Running Man by Arnold Schwarzenegger, Gamer by Gerard Butler, or The Hunger Games for those not old enough to remember these. Embark Studios has even stated that it has some inspiration from The Hunger Games and the Gladiator. 

The point of the game is snatching various amounts of money from different places on the map or eliminating other players and collecting whatever they dropped and depositing it on deposit points. In this regard, it’s very similar to “capture the flag” games. “Coins” are a big deal in this game. The players explode into coins, you always hear jingling, clinking, or ka-ching sounds according to what you do, and you see an “insert coin” warning blinking at the bottom of the screen, just like the old arcades, when you are waiting to respawn. The game and its interface are pretty easy to understand, and after three or four games, you may start to feel very familiar with it like you have been playing it for months.

I will not delve into the details more because I’ll cover them in the sections below. Still, before that, I must indicate another interesting aspect of this game: everything can be destroyed, including the buildings. Every couple of years, there is this one game that claims everything in it is destroyable, and usually, it is not. The Finals, though, keeps this promise to a very high extent. I have to admit that I haven’t tried destroying “everything,” but even the main buildings and their framework can be destroyed. Breaking walls with the heavy to create shortcuts is also very fun.

The Finals: Technical aspects

If you have read my review of Ratchet & Clank – Rift Apart, you already know I don’t have a high-end PC. I don’t like pushing my graphics settings to the highest, and I did the same here, but I must say that I set them considerably high and never had any problems with FPS or lag. The Finals is not a very demanding game despite its graphics are very good.

The Finals Gameplay

This is the part where I have the most to say and compare it with those two other games. I’ve mentioned the trailer before and must express that it was stimulating. It was fast-paced, chaotic, fun, and wild. To the point that it almost intimidated me. Making me think it was too fast-paced or chaotic for me to adapt and get used to. I must say that I’m a bit disappointed. I have played two modes of the game: Quick Cash and Bank It. Maybe the other modes, like the tournament, don’t have this problem, but the game was slower than I thought it would be. It was also less chaotic than I expected. Of course, sometimes it becomes hectic, and you start shooting without knowing where to aim, but the general feeling doesn’t keep you on the edge most of the time. 

Let me give you an example of this. In Call of Duty Warzone lockdown mode, I always feel on the edge regardless of whether I’m trying to get the zone points or going for the kills. No matter whether I’m defending a point without knowing from which direction the next enemy will rush in or rushing into a room full of enemies pumped with adrenaline and expecting me. Those moments where the point you defend isn’t attacked by anyone miraculously are precious times to rest your tense hands and catch your breath. The Finals doesn’t keep me on the edge that much that often. Maybe it’s because of the general vibe of the game, but I think it’s the number of players and the size of the maps. There are three teams in quick cash, and four are in bank it mode. Maybe the addition of more teams per match could stir things up.

There are three types of players in the game. Light, medium, and heavy. They are what their names imply, except the medium. Light is the fastest and the weakest; heavy is the slowest and strongest. I would think that medium would be an assault unit, but no. It’s a support unit. It can heal other players very much like the medic and deploy mines and turrets like the engineer in Team Fortress. I think the medium is a bit wasted here in this regard. It doesn’t entirely feel like a medic or an assault type of character. Another thing I noticed is that medium runs at the same speed as the heavy. I’d expect it to be faster than heavy while still being slower than the light.

I think the same balance problem may extend to weapons as well. When I got enough money to upgrade my medium, leave my AKM, and buy a FCAR, I thought it would be a considerable improvement, but no. The new weapon I acquired with in-game money was much worse. It provided almost half the ammo, the same damage, slower fire rate compared to my default weapon. Its only obvious advantage was its optics, which are not vital in this game, unlike the Warzone.

This brings us to weapon options. There are lots of gadgets and auxiliaries in the game, but there are so few options when it comes to primary weapons. Adding some would improve the game and add variety to the play styles. I must also add that I don’t like that the characters don’t have sidearms. When your ammo is out, you are out. I know this may be a gameplay design choice, but I am not a big fan of it. 

The reload times of weapons also seem to need some balancing. I’ll elaborate on this with another example from Warzone. In that game, there are very slight differences, even between very similar weapons. For instance, the fully upgraded M4 magazine has 60 bullets, while ISO Hemlock has 45. But ISO hemlock has slightly higher damage and a slower fire rate and reloads a bit slower. The differences may be in the range of milliseconds, but I discern it when I’m trying to reload while the enemies are around the corner. And believe me, those slight differences and 15 bullets in the magazine determine your fate according to your play style and game mode. 

Even the ADS (aim down sights) speeds of the weapons are also different. In The Finals, ADS is very fast for almost all weapons, as far as I can perceive. I think the light machine gun of the heavy should have been slower, while the submachine gun and the assault rifle of the light and medium should have been faster. It cannot be said that Warzone has no flaws and is the perfect example, but it’s a good one regarding weapon complexity and balance. Similarly, when it comes to class variety and balance, Team Fortress is a good example. 

The Finals: General vibe of the game

The game gives the impression of a televised competition very well. The players are presented by the hosts and jump into the match through a virtual gate. And when you get out in the open parts of the map, you see the stadium stands, the crowd far away, and hear the cheering in the background. I don’t know how the audience can watch us when we fight indoors, but the game gives that feeling well. The hosts are a good addition, and careful players will also gather intelligence about other players, their actions, and developments in the map from what they say, similar to the voice of overwatch in Warzone.

The sound effects are just at the correct dose. They don’t give you a headache but will keep you pumped throughout the game. The colors, design, and every element of the game correspond to how the developers are trying to make the players feel. It’s colorful and bright but not as cartoonish as Valorant. And I have to say I love that the buildings in the game are destroyable. It adds a surprise element, a pinch of unpredictability to the game. The way some players take advantage of this will definitely annoy you, but I couldn’t hold myself appreciating these when they happened. 

Overall, The Finals is well-thought, designed and made. It has room for improvement but has vast potential. Being free and not technically very demanding makes it more accessible. It’s straightforward to grasp. Its files are not gigantic like some other games out there, and I think if it’s improved cleverly, it will take place along with games like Valorant or even above them. The developers seem keen on this, too, since the game occasionally asks for player feedback. If you haven’t played it already, you should absolutely try it. I congratulate the developers for a good start and hope they get the audience they deserve. 

The Finals

Platforms: Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S

Developers: Embark Studios

Release Date: December 7, 2023

Genres: First-person shooter (Extraction shooter)

My score: 82 (I’d give it higher but left room for improvement)

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