Not Final Thoughts on The Finals

 The Finals is an objective-based game where teams of players compete to "cash out" of a futuristic kill-or-be-killed game show complete with bombastic announcer.  Featuring a heavy dose of destruction (that matters) it is easily the most refreshing FPS experience I've played in a long time.  

  I knew I was in for a ride when in my first game I started the match out with a building collapsing around me and players making a mad scramble up the crumbling pieces to fight over a cashout box.  A lot of games promise destruction, but there is nothing quite like the destruction that The Finals allows for.  Destruction is as much of a strategy as coordinating movement with your team.  Objective on the floor above you?  Destroy the floor and bring it down to you.  Team defending a hardened upper floor in a building?  Bring the entire building down like a lumberjack bringing down a tree.

 To go with destruction there is also a plethora of traversal options for players (worth noting that destruction itself is a traversal option).  Grappling hooks, ziplines, wall running, invisibility grenades, and anything a creative mind can come up with like jumping on an exploding bottle and hitting it to send it off like a rocket.

 The game breaks down into three classes: light, medium, and heavy.  Light is light and mobile but are paper thin.  Medium are the support class and the main healing class, but is no chump as they are able to dish out damage. Heavy is a bulldozer; whether sledge hammering down a building or Juggernaut-style charging through walls (in fact it makes me want to say the line every time I use the charge ability).  

 Each class has access to it's own set of gadgets and primary weapons so each class can carve out its own role.  The game also allows a backup inventory that can be changed out between respawns.  The backup is not a full selection so there is decisions to be made going into matches.  This isn't that much of a concern in quick play matches but I suspect it will be a big part of competitive play.  For my casual games so far it's been nice to be able to change stuff up to try things out inside of a match instead of having to wait between matches.

 What I like most about The Finals is that it doesn't take itself too seriously.  There are so many "that doesn't make sense but I'll allow it" moments.  The moment I realized you can melee attack an exploding barrel while holding it to "prime" it's explosion like a grenade was awesome.  Seeing folks slap C4 to casino chairs to use as mobile bombs, watching someone climb a building using turrets as a ladder, and using fire bottles as rocket sleds (stand on top of them and shoot the valve to give it a whirl) are all amazing moments you don't find in other games these days.

 The shenanigans may also be what gives the game a shorter shelf life than other FPS games.  For every eye catching moment there is a "what the..." moment to go with it. Much of those moments take away from an otherwise sensible objective-based game.  The disparity will grow between players who know the game's hi-jinks and those that are just jumping in for some fun which may leave this game to just the ultra competitive crowd which would be a shame.  Matches are becoming more and more lopsided as each day passes and for those of us not interested in rank play that may end the fun sooner than later.

 Over all the game is a blast to play and since it is free to play I would encourage anyone interested to give it a try.  If anything just load up the heavy class with a sledge hammer on the practice map and enjoy destroying the buildings there.