THE FINALS review: More than a Quick Cash-grab

As someone who grew up on multiplayer first-person shooters, it feels as though the scene has become a bit of a chore these days. Most new major titles come stuffed to the brim with live service elements or convoluted unlock systems, preying on players' attention and ensuring they have little time for anything else.

In this regard especially, THE FINALS feels like a complete breath of fresh air from developer Embark Studios. While this free-to-play development from ex-Battlefield devs does rely on some live-service elements to keep it afloat, it’s not the crux of why I’ve been returning to it every evening for a week. Put simply, THE FINALS is bloody brilliant fun.

Enter the arena

Gameplay in THE FINALS revolves around a simple mantra: get money, cash out. Whether it’s taking possession of a deposit box in the Quick Cash mode, or scrapping with enemy players in Bank It, you and your two other teammates need to rely on tactics as well as brawn in these tight, 15-minute matches.

Each match is set in a fictitious, grandiose arena akin to something out of The Hunger Games. Players storm into the map in a flamboyant intro sequence and are instantly met with a gorgeous map that’s surrounded by grandstands in the sky. Crowd cheers and an ongoing commentary from pundits narrate the whole experience, which does wonders for making each match feel intense and important.

While you can queue as a solo player, you’ll always enter the arena in a team of three. As such, THE FINALS is undoubtedly better with friends, as there’s some coordination to be had with a variety of class builds. These are manifested in the literal sense of the word, with choices between either Light, Medium, or Heavy character models, each of which dictates their abilities and equipment.

The Light class has a super small character model, making them speedy and nimble, but a small health pool that renders them squishy. Medium characters are a jack-of-all-trades, dealing good damage while also being able to heal teammates and revive them instantly. Meanwhile, Heavy builds are much like tanks in the amount of damage they can both dish and take, while also able to destroy environments at the press of a button.

Coming up with a team combination of different builds is all part of the fun, and we’re yet to discover certain team compositions that are vastly overpowered. In fact, THE FINALS feels remarkably balanced right out of the gate, which is likely thanks to the fact that the best players needn’t rely on their aiming abilities at all.

Smashing the skill ceiling (literally)

The secret sauce of THE FINALS is destructible environments, which I’ve never seen executed as impressively as it’s presented on this scale. Pretty much any building, ceilings and all, can be levelled on each of the four maps, and boy are you given plenty of tools to do it.

Build gadgets like the Rocket Launcher, Breach Charge, or abilities like Charge ‘N’ Slam can be used to decimate areas, blowing holes in walls and ceilings as much as you like. There’s also a vast collection of throwable canisters littered around the map, so even Builds without explosive equipment always have the option of going loud. 

Take out every supporting wall, and the floors above will tumble downward. This all happens in real time, with no noticeable slowdown to the frame rate or server latency, which is perhaps the most impressive thing of all.

Where this really comes into play is how it affects objectives. Cash Out stations where you need to deposit cash and then defend for a minute or so aren’t fixed in space. Take out the floor beneath it, and it’ll plop neatly to the floor below. Alternatively, drop the floors above on top of it to ensure no one else can steal the cash inside.

Yes, pumping enough bullets into enemies will take them out, but with unlimited respawns, they’ll always come back. Winning games in THE FINALS is about tactics, especially since anyone can steal the Cash Out station at any moment. The more creative you are with both your tools and environment, the more likely you are to win - and that’s where the fun is to be had.

After a week of play, I’ve already had several water-cooler moments that I’ve later explained giddily to friends and colleagues. We’ve sneakily blown through the ceiling to steal the Cash Out at the last moment while two other teams were fighting it out. We’ve placed Jump Pads underneath the Cash Out station, sending it flying to the other side of the map to buy us more time from ruthless attackers. THE FINALS is something that I think about constantly, long after the PC is switched off.

Where next?

So, THE FINALS appears to have made a massive splash with its debut, delivering an unbelievably fun experience that’s refreshing for the shooter crowd. The question is, does it have enough to sustain itself? Halo Infinite benefitted from similar praise about its gameplay at launch, but a lacklustre post-launch support plan left it on its knees.

At first glance, the amount of content available right now is a few notches above barebones. Quick Cash and the Competitive Tournament modes stand out, with Bank It feeling a little bit more of an afterthought - it certainly doesn’t deliver matches as tense as the other two.

There are four maps available right now, which may sound like very few, but the randomised elements help to keep things fresh here. There are alternative times of day galore, alternating weather effects, and even randomised stage events. Occasionally, raised platforms will appear on the map, or the entire centre of one map will be elevated high above the rest, all creating variety between each match.

One aspect that does feel repetitive is the sports-like commentators that narrate each match. Embark caught some flak before launch for opting to use AI to record these voice lines rather than employ actual actors. After hearing them in practice, it’s difficult to justify why AI has been used. 

While lines sound okay for the most part, you’ll often hear something that sounds just a little bit off, especially when sentences are strung together or the two pundits are bouncing off one another. What’s more, I’ve already heard the same voice lines repeated more than a few times, meaning these lines aren’t being generated on the fly - they’re pre-recorded. As such, this only furthers the case for why real actors should have been used in the first place.

The biggest aspect Embark needs to take a look at is the progression. Using equipment and weapons gradually unlocks new cosmetic items for each, but it’s currently painfully slow. The same goes for career progression, which unlocks stylish items to adorn your contestants with. However, after over 10 hours of play and nearly 50 matches, I’ve only been awarded a crossbody bag and some rather dull-looking joggers thus far.

Cosmetics are of course supplemented by a microtransaction and Battle Pass system, which do offer some genuinely exciting items to dress up with. It’s worth mentioning that all of the microtransactions on offer are cosmetic only, with nothing affecting the minute-to-minute gameplay of matches.

A lack of something bigger to work towards is a little concerning, but it’s almost negated by just how darn addicting THE FINALS is to play. Matches are short enough to warrant that golden ‘just one more match’ thought that’s kept me up late more times in the last week than I’d care to admit.

If Embark can tighten up the speed of its progression systems and lay down a solid drip feed of exciting new content when its first season ends in three months, then THE FINALS certainly seems to have a very bright future ahead of it.

The Verdict

THE FINALS is some of the most fun I’ve had with a first-person shooter in years. The impressive technology that enables real-time destruction on such a scale creates a playground that’s joyous to experiment with and rewards creativity.

With a core gameplay loop that stands solid and a decent foundation to build upon, Embark Studios is all set to support a shooter that can finally rival the likes of Call of Duty and Battlefield.

4.5/5

Reviewed on PC.