When Embark Studios began working on The Finals, executive producer Rob Runesson wanted to create a game that allowed his team to say “yes” more than “no.” Can they set it in different locales? Yup. Can they have people dressed as pandas? Why not. What if UFO suddenly invade the area? That’s a bit crazy but OK.

That’s how you end up with a game like The Finals, which announced that it’s launching during The Game Awards. It’s a free-to-play team-based arena shooter for PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and Series S. It’s a title that’s built on the premise that players are contestants in the ultimate combat entertainment game.

They can choose from a light, medium or heavy character. Each one has a distinct playstyle, weapons, gadgets and special abilities. Light characters are quick, and deal damage with weapons such as SMGs but have low health. Medium characters attack from the midrange with assault rifles and heavy gadgets such as jump pads while heavies carry machine guns, deployable shields and fire grenades. They also soak up the most damage having the most health.

Players form squads of three and battle it out against other teams. The announcers in The Finals hand the teams random names and call out the action. They detail whether teams wipe or who has the most points. The goal in the Finals is to grab a money-filled vault and move it for deposit in the cashout stations, which teams have to defend during the process otherwise other teams could steal it.

It’s a concept that forces conflict as teams fight over vaults, or if they fail to snag one, they rush over to the deposit receptacles to head them off. The Finals is a game of constant offence and defence, but one big issue is that there’s a lot of chaos going on.

No matter how well the teams turtle in and defence, they’ll be exposed. That’s because The Finals has destructible environments. If enemies are waiting with guns pointed at the door, the other team can surprise them by using a heavies rush to bust throw a wall Kool-aid man style. Players basically create their own entrance and ambush the team on defense.

If players need to get a cashout station quick, they can tunnel through floors by using a sledgehammer on the ground to break holes they can drop through. In the short demo, I had with “The Finals” I was forced to expect the unexpected and be more aware of the environment. The world is malleable right down to the UFOs that rampage in certain stages.

For old-school fans, the game has a Smash TV-type of vibe, and there’s a feeling that anything can happen. My three-person squad played a few matches trying to make our way up the tournament ladder, but we were unsuccessful in the mode.

We ended up playing a non-tournament mode called Bank It, where players collect coins from dead player and deposit them for the team. It’s another take on the Tournament competition but more casual.

With different maps based on locales such as Monaco and now Las Vegas, players will have different terrain and strategies to employ. It will feature a 12 level battle pass and 96 rewards. The Finals is a title that has the potentially to have plenty of depth while also reinvigorating this competitive gaming space.

 - TNS