The Finals comes with new weapons, gadgets, and a new 5v5 mode at the start of Season 2. Is it worth returning?
The Finals celebrated its release in December 2023 and shortly thereafter became a hit on Steam with up to 242,000 concurrent players. Many players praised the shooter, and for me, The Finals was even the best shooter of the year.
However, in recent months, player numbers have dropped significantly while games like Palworld and Helldivers 2 have exploded. Season 2 starts on March 14, and I had the opportunity to preview the new content.
To ensure we are all on the same page, here is a brief summary of all the new content in Season 2:
The Finals Season 2: All new content
New Mode:
- Power Shift – this is a new 5v5 game mode that works similarly to Payload. Two teams try to escort a platform through the arena and can switch freely between classes, gadgets, and weapons.
New Weapons:
- 93r (Light) – A pistol that fires in bursts
- FAMAS (Medium) – An assault rifle that fires in bursts
- KS-23 (Heavy) – A pump-action shotgun
New Gadgets and Specializations:
- Portal (Light) – A new gadget that can be thrown. It creates 2 connected portals through which you can teleport yourself or other objects and gadgets like grenades.
- Dematerializer (Medium) – A new specialization that temporarily dematerializes surfaces like walls, ceilings, and floors, allowing you to walk through, shoot, and move objects. The surfaces can also be rematerialized, thus sealing them off again.
- Data Transmorpher (Medium) – A new gadget that allows you to transform objects like glass bottles, but also chairs and flower pots into another object. For example, a table can suddenly become an explosive barrel.
- Anti-Gravity Cube (Heavy) – A new throwable gadget that negates gravity in a certain area, causing players and objects (including the cashouts) to float.
New Map
- SYS$HORIZON – a “glitched”, neon-lit city landscape
Is it worth returning to The Finals for Season 2?
Yes and no – it might be worthwhile for the moment, but probably less so in the long run.
The new gadgets are cool, which I will explain in more detail throughout the text, and the new weapons made a good first impression. In my opinion, it is definitely worth playing The Finals again at the start of the season.
However, I doubt whether the new weapons and gadgets are enough to retain players in the long term. I will probably play it again for a few weeks and then switch back to other games.
My hope for long-term motivation was the new 5v5 mode, but this still needs some adjustments before I really have fun with it.
My highlight of Season 2: the Dematerializer
The new medium-class specialization, the Dematerializer, is so far my highlight of the new season. It is particularly well-suited for vertical play in the battle for the cashout. For example, it is possible to briefly open the floor under the cashout, allowing the cashout to drop a floor lower, and then close the hole again.
In this way, you force your opponents to react and either run a floor lower or blow up the floor to prevent you from stealing. With a bit of luck, there may be enough time, and the cashout belongs to you before your opponents can shoot at you. This feels like an improvement over the old strategy of bringing the cashout down a floor through an explosion but creating a permanent hole that your opponents could also use.
Additionally, you can create an access point to a room with the Dematerializer, through which your teammates can then throw gas grenades or similar. To ensure that the opponents have no escape route, you can simply close the passage and set a trap at the actual door – for example, with a heavily armed Heavy.
Overall, the Dematerializer encourages creative play – something that has rather been lacking with the medium class so far.
The new gadgets are cool but haven’t convinced me yet
I liked the idea behind the new gadgets and find them significantly more creative than simply bringing new grenades or explosives. However, in the test rounds, they simply did not have a significant impact on the outcome.
The range of the portals, for example, was very limited. Instead of opening a portal where I would have liked it, the portal simply opened in mid-air. While this is just a matter of practice, it also pointed out to me that I can use the grappling hook of the light class at almost the same distance and carry the momentum from movement with me.
The Data Transmorpher of the medium class, on the other hand, is very dependent on the playstyle of the opponents, as it is mainly useful for transforming enemy turrets or mines into harmless objects like flower pots. On the other hand, transforming a flower pot into a barrel or a gas canister has proven to be less profitable.
The same applies to the Anti-Gravity Cube. The effect is quite funny and also allows the heavy class to reach higher places, but in the battle for the cashout, it is too situational. You theoretically need to use it to prevent theft through weightlessness, but unfortunately, the cube can be easily countered by simply destroying it with shots.
The new gadgets still have potential
The biggest problem with the new gadgets in the test rounds was that my opponents sometimes preferred to play the old, proven gadgets rather than test the new ones. While I was trying to find the best application area for the portals, there was a Heavy with a shield, a rocket launcher, and a healer behind him lurking on the other side.
Nonetheless, I believe that the new gadgets might indeed have the potential to be used in one round or another.
- The portal can serve as an escape route that has been prepared for a flanking attack. Or you can use it not for traveling but to throw grenades or similar through it.
- The Anti-Gravity Cube can at least temporarily prevent the theft of a cashout or even lift the cashout one floor up in combination with the Dematerializer.
- The Data Transmorpher can harmonize with a Heavy carrying C4s, creating gas canisters or barrels that the Heavy can throw with a C4 attached.
- Against teams that play heavily with turrets and mines, the Data Transmorpher can also be a direct counter.
Especially the first weeks following the season start will show what creative applications the community finds. The potential is definitely there to shine with the gadgets in certain situations – even if I was mainly beaten by old meta loadouts.
The new mode disappointed me, even though the idea is great
The new mode “Power Shift” was a bit disappointing for me. I generally prefer 5v5 over 3v3v3(v3) and also have fun with the Payload mode in Overwatch 2, but I did not like the implementation in The Finals yet.
My main criticism is that there is no limitation for the classes. You can switch as you like and theoretically show up with 5 Heavies to sit on the platform with a heap of shields. This might just be my personal opinion, but I appreciate that Overwatch provides me with modes that have a role limitation.
Moreover, many of the truly unique gadgets of The Finals seemed comparatively useless in Power Shift. The shields of the heavy class and the healing beam dominated strategically. The disruptor grenade of the light class was a good counter against the shields, but many players preferred to use invisibility in combination with the Taser to achieve kills.
The Anti-Gravity Cube, the portal, and the Data Transmorpher found little application. The same goes for the Dematerializer, as it has no effect on the platform, which is almost constantly moving. I hope this will look different at the proper release.
Unfortunately, I can’t say much about the new weapons. In testing, I had a lot of fun with the 93R and the FAMAS, but the developers pointed out that they will make some changes to the recoil before the season starts.
This makes sense since the recoil was almost non-existent, but it also prevents my perception of the weapons from aligning with the final build.
Overall, you should definitely take a look at the content of the new season. I find the new gadgets and the new specialization really interesting and am curious to see how they will be used in the future. Even if The Finals can’t keep you in the long term with Season 2, you could have some fun with the shooter in March.
If you want to prepare for Season 2 with a few beginner tips, you can find a small list on MeinMMO: The Finals: 10 tips I wish I had known before my first match
