On a relaxing Friday night, quick keyboard clicks and laughs can be heard as people queue into a game of “THE FINALS”. This game is a first person shooter developed by Embark Studios and is available on Steam, Playstation and Xbox. Teams of three have the objective of stealing cash and depositing it before other teams do. Although it was released on December 7, 2023, the game has since surged in popularity. It is chaotic with a small game size, making it accessible for players with limited storage on their device. “THE FINALS” is a fun game where the chaos is thrilling and addicting.
When the game first opens, the player chooses between three different characters: the light build, medium build or the heavy build, which all have different playstyles.
The light build is a mobile, low health character who can navigate the map easily and dodge bullets with abilities unlockable through progression. This build is the most fun for me as it enables the ability to dodge with its quick movement. The medium build is a well balanced character who is slightly slower and has a different class of weapons. Personally, the medium build is more suitable for me because it is most similar to other games I have played such as Apex Legends. The heavy build has high health but is slow moving, starkly contrasting the playstyle of the light build. It feels slow to play and the larger hitbox makes myself an easy target which I am not a fan of. This system of having three unique characters adds variety to the game so it doesn’t get boring, and makes it more difficult as you need to learn the abilities of each character.
There are two main game modes, “Quick Cash” and “Bank It.” In “Quick Cash,” the objective is to steal two of three vaults before other teams do. “Quick Cash” isn’t as fun as there are only three objectives that every team is around, making you feel helpless. “Bank It” has four teams competing to steal money scattered across the map. I enjoy this game mode more compared to “Quick Cash.” There are more opportunities for teams to obtain money and you can kill people and steal their money when they get too greedy.
The movement and destruction in this game reminds me of the game Apex Legends but with a new experience as players have to steal money in order to win. There is also a level of strategic depth to these game modes because if players are holding money when they die, they drop all of it for other people to pick up.
From my experience, the gameplay forces you to be strategic as it isn’t possible to bank everything, but instead have to scout for enemies, use abilities and coordinate with your team. The other teams are usually waiting for someone to walk in while they camp in corners so they can get easy kills on people who do not strategize.
I enjoy playing this game because it is chaotic and fun. The energy surrounding the game creates a unique environment which keeps me invested and excited to play. “Bank It” is my favorite game mode, especially playing as a light build because of how quickly I can move to the banks across the map. These vastly different abilities are what keep me going back to the game as there is so much to discover. I definitely would recommend this game to others as it is free though it may be hard for people with little experience playing these kinds of games.
