Vortex Gaming

Embark Studios' free online FPS, 'The Finals', a subsidiary of Nexon, is starting a new season today (14th).

'The Finals', which is celebrating its 3rd month since its official release on December 8th, plans to reverse the atmosphere through this season. Just before its release, the game recorded over 260,000 concurrent Steam users during the test alone, and maintained a decent concurrent user record until the initial release, but suffered from issues such as hacking (illegal programs) that occurred as the service continued. 'The Finals', which has shown a steady decline in concurrent users over the past three months, has maintained around 25,000 concurrent Steam users since last February.

Is it to confidently confront the illegal program problem that has had a major impact on the game? Embark Studios has set the concept of the new season as 'Arena occupied by hackers'. In addition to the new map where glitches occur everywhere, a feature is the addition of gadgets that can directly affect the in-game environment.

A new mode will also be added. In the 'Power Shift' mode, where two teams face off in a 5vs5 format, a thrilling battle to occupy one platform heading towards each other is expected.

Prior to the official Season 2 update, the detailed features of 'The Finals' Season 2, which were examined through pre-experience opportunities, are as follows.

Arena occupied by hackers, new map 'SYS$HORIZON'

First of all, the main stage of 'The Finals' Season 2 is 'SYS$HORIZON', a stadium occupied by hackers. It is a self-made arena where the international hacker organization CNS created resource files by hacking, and its characteristics are vaporwave-style neon colors, system errors occurring here and there, and terrain that looks like texture loading is incomplete.

The first impression of the SYS$HORIZON map was that there were very few detailed objects throughout the map. Even inside the building, there are only tables and fire extinguishers placed here and there, and even when going between buildings, you will use flat square blocks that are not fully loaded. As a result, I could feel that color search was relatively easy.

The existing mode 'Quick Cash', where you could check the new map, flowed with the same rules as before. It is a form in which you succeed in cashing out $20,000 faster than the opposing team. However, in addition to the new map, the new gadgets given to each body type character add changes to the overall gameplay. The newly added gadgets also show the appearance of changing the terrain of the game in line with the season concept of 'hacking'.

New special skills and gadgets that add dynamism to the game

With the new season, new skills have been added to each body type character. It is expected to bring big changes to the overall gameplay as it enables a variety of movements that were not possible before.

First of all, a 'Gateway' gadget is added to small physique characters. It is a grenade-type throwable gadget, and you can create a portal that connects the first thrown gadget and the second thrown gadget. Players as well as objects can move through the portal, allowing for strategic play such as quickly reaching difficult-to-access places or quickly approaching positions that target the rear of the opposing team.

Another feature of Gateway is that the created portal can be used by 'anyone'. It is important to place it carefully as opposing team members can also use it, but it is also worth looking forward to using it to lure enemies to the cliff.

As teleportation becomes possible, small characters with relatively low health are able to increase their sustainability through their special skill, stealth, and Gateway gadget. It feels easier to disrupt the rear of the enemy as you can quickly escape from dangerous areas when surrounded by the opposing team and in danger.

Medium characters have a special skill called 'Dematerialization Tool' and a gadget called 'Data Modification Tool'. Both technologies have performance and uses that are very faithful to the concept of 'hacking'.

'Dematerialization Tool' is a special skill that can be carried instead of the existing protection turret or healing ray, and is a technology that can temporarily 'erase' the terrain around you. As you can erase and break through objects that are physically restricted from access, such as walls, ceilings, and foam, the building destruction ability that could not be expected from medium physique until now has been created.

Another feature of this new special skill is that it does not make much noise when destroying buildings. Until the previous season, loud noises accompanied ceiling or floor blasting, so you always had to engage in battle with the opposing team who noticed this immediately. 'Dematerialization Tool' can remove the ceiling and take out the cashout without making a sound, so those guarding it need to watch the cashout more carefully.

The 'Data Modification Tool' gadget newly given to medium characters has the function of changing various objects in the game into something else. For example, it transforms mines or turrets laid by the enemy into chairs or desks. If the enemy has laid a number of mines around to protect the cashout, it will be possible to easily neutralize the area, but it was difficult to greatly feel its effectiveness as there was no team that showed this play during the demonstration. However, as there is a technology that easily neutralizes the enemy's protective turret, which is subtly annoying, a new meta may emerge after the official release.

Large characters have a gadget called 'Anti-Gravity Cube', which is a throwable gadget that floats all objects and personnel in the activated area into the air. Through this, you can easily climb to high ground or use it to interfere with cashout, but it seems likely that it will also be used to disrupt the position being guarded by the enemy by utilizing the characteristic that the body floats in the air.

A new weapon has been added for each body type. A 3-point burst weapon (93R, FAMAS) has been added to small and medium characters, and a shotgun (KS-23) that fires slug rounds has been added to large characters. The combination of the characteristic of 3-point burst and the fact that the recoil is not large made close and mid-range engagements smooth, but there were many cases where you had to reload if you shot recklessly because the number of bullets was not very large (27 rounds based on FAMAS). In the case of slug bullets, it is powerful, but the delay after firing one bullet is greater than expected, so it seems that preferences will be divided depending on personal play style.

5vs5 New Mode 'Power Shift' Preview

'Power Shift' is a new 5vs5 battle mode introduced in Season 2. It is a somewhat honest mode because two teams, not three teams, face each other, and the respawn time is considerably shorter than Quick Cash, so it is possible to be quickly投入back into the engagement, further enhancing the casual aspect.

The most important axis in this mode is the 'platform' that crosses the stadium. The platform moves in a direction that is advantageous to the team that occupies it, and the team that reaches the end of the opposing side during the game time or moves the platform to the more side within the time limit wins.

Because the platform has an open form in all directions, it is not easy to block the offensive of enemies attacking from the surrounding roofs in the early stages of the battle. It was important to prepare for this because the enemy could infiltrate in any direction, and the side occupying the platform with large characters with various defense gadgets showed a favorable appearance. However, you should consider that a space defense built alone can be easily penetrated as the opposing team is also composed of 5 people.

As one team consists of five people, it was also important to play each role well. All players can hang on to the defense of the platform, but it is also possible for two or so people to reside in the building and roof and block enemies heading to the platform in advance. The more disruption in the rear, the fewer enemies heading to the platform, and the easier it is to defend the platform.

However, some special skills or gadgets often did not show great effectiveness in the mode. This is the case with the medium character's new gadget, 'Data Modification Tool'. Unless you meet a team that defends the platform by laying mines, other gadgets felt more useful than the Data Modification Tool in general situations. The large character's anti-gravity cube can also temporarily disrupt the platform being occupied by the opponent, but it was difficult to think that it had a significant impact on the overall game progress.

One more thing, the platform crosses the battlefield and destroys all the buildings located in the middle as it moves forward. The location is also different, such as approaching the ground and then rising into the air, so a build or team composition suitable for the situation is required. In 'Power Shift' mode, you can freely reconfigure the build upon death, so use appropriate weapons and gadgets depending on the location of the platform or the surrounding structure.

Even if you succeed in securing the platform and reach near the end, you cannot easily afford to relax. In addition to the orbital laser attack that begins in the second half, if the confrontation continues, the trailing opponent is given a chance for a come-from-behind victory. The orbital laser falls on random players as before, and if all players are on a small platform, they may be in danger of being wiped out. If you allow the enemy to occupy the platform during this gap, you may be reversed even if you have 선점ed a favorable position throughout the game, creating an absurd scene.

The first impression of The Finals Season 2, which was confirmed through the demonstration, is that the basic gunplay is solid, and a more dynamic gameplay environment has been created with the addition of new gadgets. In addition, the Power Shift mode, which is played in 5vs5, enhances the casualness and allows you to experience tense battles in a short time.

Of course, the key is how well you prevent external issues that have been raised in previous seasons. If solid operation that can highlight the new concept and mode is supported, it may be possible to capture the attention of turned players. Let's keep an eye on the second season of The Finals, which starts today.

Webzine InvenReporter Kim Gyu-man
2024-03-14