THE FINALS: The Final Preview
It’s official. THE FINALS is out now. The announcement was made during The Game Awards 2023 earlier tonight in what is arguably the best tactic for developers to capitalize on hype: the ole’ “ and it’s available now! ” approach. We had another opportunity to go hands-on with THE FINALS just last week, and here are some of our key takeaways from Embark Studio's first debut title.
I played THE FINALS for the first time at a preview event earlier this year alongside our own Joseph Bradford, but you can read more about his impressions some other time. Both then and now, the “buzz word” that kept flying around THE FINALS was ‘ fun ’. During this most recent preview event, Executive Producer for THE FINALS , Rob Runesson, reiterated this point:
“THE FINALS isn’t another battle royale, military sim, or tactical FPS – there are plenty of those out there. It’s an entirely new take on shooters. [It’s] the world’s biggest and most explosive combat-entertainment game show. You are a contestant in this gameshow and you’re here to fight for fame, money, and favor of this season’s sponsors. It’s a game where you have to master chaos and build stardom. Where the entire world in the game is your toolbox. THE FINALS is about having fun.”
What a strange basis for a video game, right? But coming after a wave of big competitive multiplayer arena shooters such as Splitgate, Quake Champions , and Halo Infinite just to name a few – which I have always found highly stressful – I think I could do with some of this so-called ‘ fun ’.
Most of what I experienced in playing THE FINALS earlier this year had remained the same. The biggest addition this time was the reveal of a brand new map: Las Vegas. This brings the total map count up to
Read more on mmorpg.com
