GamesFPSThe FinalsThe Finals Season 2 is a shopping list of community requests combined with a lore dive I don’t think anyone really asked forWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
GamesFPSThe FinalsThe Finals Season 2 is a shopping list of community requests combined with a lore dive I don’t think anyone really asked forWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
(Image credit: Embark Studios)
Put simply, the headline change in The Finals Season 2 is everything that players have been asking for. Every class is getting a new gun - a FAMAS rifle for Mediums, a machine pistol for Lights, and a mean-looking slug shotgun for Heavys. In addition, each class is getting new gadgets or specializations intended to patch up the holes in their relative arsenals, or counter particularly potent enemy strategies.
Go Go Gadget Gravity Cube
Beyond the players, The Finals devs have plenty of other changes to make. A new Battle Pass adds new items, but there’s also the addition of the ‘Career Circuit’, a set of weekly challenges that will offer rewards but also encourage a wider variety of playstyles for those who want to complete everything. Changes to Ranked play are coming, with the caveat that these will likely be subject to further testing as the community gets involved. Private matches - apparently one of the community’s most-requested features - are also being introduced.
A new game mode, a more casual 5v5 mode called Power Shift, allows for a more flexible experience. A Payload mode that shows off The Finals' destruction tech better than any gadget I’ve seen so far, Power Shift will allow players to change their class more easily, adapting to the needs of the team and the situation they’re facing. Finally, a new map completes the community shopping list, but that’s where one of my biggest Season 2 question marks arises.
Hacker Voice
(Image credit: Embark Studios)
Eagle-eyed Finals lore hounds have noticed CNS lurking in the background, but they’ll be a far more tangible influence on Season 2. Horizon will push players' parkour skills to the limit, with glitches and floating geometry promising a very different approach to the far more solid foundations of other maps. With their impact being felt directly on the game, it seems that The Finals' showrunners will be scrambling to try and shut down these rogue broadcasts.
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New maps, modes, weapons, and gadgets are exactly what The Finals needs. Power Shift offers the best new game format so far, and the new map and new gadgets in particular show how different even a relatively minor set of new toys can make the experience feel. But I’m torn on CNS. It was the destruction tech and the Cashout game modes that drew me to The Finals, not its game show framing. The idea that there’s a deeper story lurking behind that framing seems like something that might appeal to some players, but I don’t think this is a game that warrants an exploration of some deep lore. As Embark Studios promises that Season 2 will show us how much The Finals can grow and evolve, I hope that evolution focuses more on gameplay than on storytelling.
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Master Chief’s absence from Halo Wars wasn’t Bungie’s fault, it was a move to make players “care about everybody else” in the RTS
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1Nemesis review: “A magical sense of tension”
1Nemesis review: “A magical sense of tension”
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Nemesis review: “A magical sense of tension”
2Arcs review: “A whole lot of game in a small package”
2Arcs review: “A whole lot of game in a small package”
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Arcs review: “A whole lot of game in a small package”
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3Path of Exile 2 review: “A stellar start to a thrilling and brutal dark adventure”
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Path of Exile 2 review: “A stellar start to a thrilling and brutal dark adventure”
4Indiana Jones and the Great Circle review: “The best adventure Indy has embarked on in over 30 years”
4Indiana Jones and the Great Circle review: “The best adventure Indy has embarked on in over 30 years”
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Indiana Jones and the Great Circle review: “The best adventure Indy has embarked on in over 30 years”
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5Marvel Rivals review: “So preoccupied with trying to be like Overwatch that it forgets to play to its own strengths”
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Marvel Rivals review: “So preoccupied with trying to be like Overwatch that it forgets to play to its own strengths”
1Sonic the Hedgehog 3 review: “Keanu Reeves as Shadow is wasted whilst Jim Carrey steals the show”
1Sonic the Hedgehog 3 review: “Keanu Reeves as Shadow is wasted whilst Jim Carrey steals the show”
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Sonic the Hedgehog 3 review: “Keanu Reeves as Shadow is wasted whilst Jim Carrey steals the show”
2Mufasa: The Lion King review – “It’s no Hakuna Matata but this Disney origin story is a class above the 2019 movie”
2Mufasa: The Lion King review – “It’s no Hakuna Matata but this Disney origin story is a class above the 2019 movie”
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4The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim review – “An uninspired expansion of the most iconic screen take on Tolkien”
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2Secret Level review: “An uneven experience with serious highlights that ultimately make up for the misses”
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